Note: This is an old series. I'm sure there is a lot I can add now to this study, but for now, this will do. One thing I really need to mention, the last entry in this series is about the final part of the Lord's prayer, which, I have since learned, is a later addition and was not there when Jesus originally uttered the prayer. I don't think that changes many things, but it's always good to be factual.
Part 1 Commentary (from January 10th, 2021):
"Prayer is just so important. Without prayer, how can we have a personal relationship with God? We all need to spend much more time in prayer. I hope this comic will teach us to have more reverence and respect for God!
The Lord’s Prayer is a prayer that Jesus prayed when people asked Him how to pray. This means that this is a model prayer, a prayer that is 100% pleasing to God. In this series, we will dissect the different sections of this prayer to see what makes a good prayer pleasing to the Lord. That’s not to say every prayer needs to follow some sort of rigid rule. But if Jesus specifically told us to pray like this, then there must be something to it!
This comic is not to say that our intimacy with God is nothing. Yes, we call Him “Abba, Father”. What a privilege that is to be so close to God. However, this intimacy we have with Him does not make Him any less worthy of honor and worship. We can be respectable and give God the Glory that is due Him and have an intimate relationship with Him at the same time.
Getting too comfortable with communicating with God however you want can be...disrespectful. I say can because only God knows your heart. But don’t take my word for it, take it from Jesus! And all the other great men of faith that prayed in the Bible! Those prayers are FILLED with reverence and praise!
And honestly, when I start off prayer with worship, thanksgiving, and humility, that’s when my prayers feel most genuine!
As a side note, I just wanna say I appreciate all of you so much for being a part of this community, for all your prayers and encouragement. Seriously, you all have helped me through hard times and will help me through many more I’m sure. You guys are an irreplaceable part of my life and no doubt the Lord showed my comics to exactly the right people. Such a blessing. "
Part 2 Commentary (From January 17th, 2021):
"Reliance to the Lord has always been something that everyone talks about. However, I don’t think I’ve seen too many people who actually practice what Jesus taught on the mount: do not worry and depend on God. We worry. A whole lot. Doesn’t matter what walk of life you’re in, there is always something to worry about. When you’re young, you worry about your future career, your romantic life. When you get older, you worry about providing for your family, or your health. Even if you’re filthy rich, healthy, have everything you want, there will always be things that keep you up at night.
We build our lives on the wrong foundations. We think these foundations are solid, things like money, friends, love, education, we stand on these foundations. Sadly, one day they will all crumble. I think this is why Jesus instructs us to pray for our daily bread and mentions no other material request. When your foundation is solely on God, you don’t even have to worry about your daily needs. God will provide. And that is a fact. The ultimate goal is to have your whole mindset on Christ.
Now, this is not me saying just name it and claim it and not work for the rest of your life. The point isn’t about how great it is to not worry about anything. The point is no matter your situation, you will have the mindset to always look toward Christ and not worry about yourself. I’m thinking about those great missionaries who kept on serving the Lord even when they had nothing, the brothers and sisters in poor countries that still worships the Lord in midst of poverty and persecution. That’s what I’m talking about.
My biggest hope for you and me this week is that we can be so satisfied in Christ, that we can forget about all the troubles of this world and look towards the Eternal Kingdom that we will one day inherit. I hope we will be satisfied each day with God’s provisions and His Word. Let our prayers be filled with less selfish requests for material things, but only with the request that God will sustain us with exactly what we need."
Part 3 commentary (from January 24th, 2021):
"Out of all of the words in the Lord’s Prayer, this is the only phrase that describes an action that we do: forgive someone. The Lord really values forgiveness, right after the Lord’s Prayer, He tells the people that if they don’t forgive, neither will God forgive them. That’s pretty serious stuff if you ask me.
Forgiveness might be an easy thing to talk about, it is easy to forgive when someone just gave you a minor inconvenience, hey, it might even be something pleasurable, you’re not really losing a lot and you get to gain face with all the people that witnessed your forgiveness.
However, forgiveness all of a sudden becomes the hardest thing in the world when you won’t get anything out of it. When someone has hurt you so bad, and it’s all their fault. When someone has done something that ruined your life. Heck, maybe that person doesn’t even know what they did or isn’t apologizing for it. In this situation, forgiveness becomes almost impossible.
I know many stories of childhood abuse and other similar terrible things that people do to another person. it takes years and years for those traumas to heal. Asking the victims to forgive those who treated them so terribly seems unethical almost. That is a topic that I am not qualified to talk about. What I can say is that I have personally known people who have done just that (forgive) after they found Christ. After they learn about the love of Christ. Despite all of our sins against Him and all that we do to others, He would still die for us. That kind of love really changes lives.
Now let’s talk about those who wrong us to a lesser degree (but they still wronged us nonetheless). Our pride and self-righteousness want to punish them for what they have done. Well, too bad, you’re a Christian and Christian values go against your own desires most of the time. Vengeance is the Lord’s, He will deal with those who have done you wrong. He also knows all things so He will deal with the situation as He sees fit, perhaps there are things that you didn’t know that had to be taken into account. Just remember, if they really did wrong you, they are in a whole lot of trouble. "
Part 4 commentary (from January 31st, 2021):
"Temptations are actually the worst, the frustration when you know what you’re about to do is wrong, but you always lose that war within your members.
Lust among all other sins is so terrible. They anger God, grieve God, and those who do not repent from it face God’s wrath. Do we really understand that? Do we really think it’s that serious? Because from what I see in my own life, apparently not!
For too long it’s been me vs temptations. The Bible tells us to flee from it, yet here I am fighting it all on my own. It works for a bit, but eventually, it gets the best of me. Satan is great at placing me in tempting situations, and I’m great at giving into them. I never thought about praying about it, even though it’s right there in the Lord’s Prayer.
You gotta pray this daily, as a reminder to yourself as well as ask God for help. This battle cannot be won by yourself, you are too weak, your whole nature is against you. However, once you ask God and put on His armor, you are no longer in it by yourself. Will you still fail? Yes, I’m still failing too. But the process is taking place, you’re no longer going in a cycle of failure and trying again, rather you are on an uphill battle and making small progress! That is what sanctification is like!
Please do remember to ask for this daily. For God to remove you from tempting situations and from attacks from Satan, the reality is you can’t handle it on your own, and you will need help from God. Interestingly, the second you give up on your own strength and realize your need for reliance on God is the second you’ll start having victory in Him!"
Part 5 commentary (from February 7th, 2021):
"Hey guys, just want to give you a reminder that even when you don’t believe it, God is powerful, Holy, and He is King over everything. When you do believe it, please don’t forget to treat Him like He deserves, especially in your daily prayers.
I hope this series was encouraging and helpful (and maybe even convicting) to you all. Your prayer life is so, so important, the intimacy of your relationship with the Lord really depends on it, so please don’t ever forsake prayer. Even when you are down in the valley of the shadow of death, don’t forsake prayer. Even when you are so sad and you can’t even find the words to pray, don’t forsake prayer, just sit there and be in God’s presence... the Holy Spirit will pray on your behalf. And it’s okay to cry out to the Lord, ask Him why and pour out all your sorrows and pain before Him, He listens. On the good and happy days, be sure to give Him prayers of worship and thanksgiving always, it’s easy to forget that when life is good. Always pray for others, prayer is the best help you can ever give someone.
Remember the prayer practices we talked about in these past weeks: start off a prayer in worship and humility, ask God for your daily provisions, remember that He has forgiven you, repent your sins, and remember to treat others as He did you. Pray that God will keep you safe from Satan and temptations, lastly, end once again in worship.
And everyone says amen!"
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