Power Up

Monday, August 3, 2009

Do you live at “high speed?” I know I do. Do your days get so full of “comings” and “goings” that you fail to spend meaningful, quality time with God? I’m really good at those quick, flash prayers that I utter throughout the day. It’s often hard to make time to really pour out my heart to God in prayer and praise and meditation. I wrote this poem to describe my typical pace.

Power Down Power Up
I live at high speed.
Moving at 95 decibels like a Subway train
Speeding at the 19,000 RPMs of a Formula One racing car
Thriving on Megawatt energy at 1 million watts
Racing around 180 miles per hour at Nascar speeds
Hair drying on high speed
Wearing “Unstoppable” eyeliner
Brushing lashes with “Voluminous 4X extreme volume
Yes, my pace is powered up.

It is not until I power down, re-charge, and rest that I hear the voice of God.

Dial back to 0 decibels
Slow the rpms to the second hand on the clock
Move from a Megawatt to a microwatt
Idle my engine
Because that’s when I’m able to hear God, see Jesus, feel the Holy Spirit, smell the fragrance of his beauty, and taste the sweetness of his glory.
I power down to power up.

We need to slow our pace in order to get a power surge from God. I sometimes use the Lord’s Prayer, the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples, as my outline for a “power up” prayer. I break it down into eight lines and stop to meditate on each one.

"Our Father in heaven" – The first word tells us we are not alone. God is the Father of all of us. We address our prayer to God who is a father, our kin.

"Hallowed be your name" – We must acknowledge the holiness and awesomeness of God. We might call out to him names of adoration: Awesome God, King of Kings, Creator, Lord, Great Physician.

"Your kingdom come" – When we pray for his kingdom to come, we’re asking for God to reign on earth. We pray that until Christ’s return that we will feel his reign in our world today. We’re asking for a world that is run by God’s standards instead of man’s.

"Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven" – We pray for God’s will to become our will. We invite God to change us, to mold us, and to use it in whatever way he deems best.

"Give us today our daily bread" –We should ask God for daily provisions. It’s okay to say to God, “Bless me today. Give me what I need.” Notice the word daily. Just like the Israelites were to gather manna daily, we are to look to God daily for our needs. He sustains us one day at a time. We are to go to him daily for physical and spiritual nourishment. Notice the word us. He has provided us with the resources in creation to take care of our physical needs and it’s up to us to be good stewards of his creation and to share the abundance.

"Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us”—Now he get really personal! Forgiveness of others and ourselves is difficult. This speaks about forgiveness of everyone we come in contact with. If we can’t forgive others, then how can we expect God to forgive us?

"Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil" –God does not lead us into temptation, so this prayer is a plea for him to help us refrain from temptation. Jesus was teaching the disciples to ask God for help in their struggles. We are to ask God to help us steer clear of wrongdoing. Temptation always is a choice. We are to call on God in our moment of choice.

“For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever" – Some commentators believe that this line was added by someone other than the original writer. Even if that’s true, this phrase emphasizes the honor and praise that we should give to God always.

Use the Lord’s Prayer to “power up!”