4.12.24
Hey, Calvary Fremont –
Even as you need to keep your body stretched, you need to keep your soul stretched, too. Here are some of the benefits of stretching your muscles – it increases flexibility / improves range of motion / increases blood flow to the muscles / great for stress relief / calms the mind…
Here are some of the benefits of stretching your soul. It increases your spiritual flexibility – you can move better through life’s ups and downs. It improves range of motion – you can serve God with greater endurance. It increases blood flow – you keep the cleansing blood of Christ flowing through your soul. Stretching your soul is great for stress relief and it calms the mind.
How can I keep the stretch in my soul? Praying the Lord’s Prayer with intentionality – and not just mindless repetition – will keep you spiritually limber. Praying the Lord’s prayer is bending and stretching your soul toward God. Here are some suggestions as to how the various movements of the Lord’s Prayer keeps the stretch in your soul.
“Our” – The Lord’s Prayer shatters my individualism and acknowledges that I belong to a vast, millennia-spanning community confessing supernatural truth.
“Father” – I acknowledge that God is not an impersonal power, a fickle monarch, nor an indifferent Creator. He is a Father. I am not the product of blind mechanical forces or chance chemical processes, but belong to a Father who loves me.
“Hallowed be Thy name” – I recognize God’s character; I recognize that the very center of all things is an unfathomable beauty – a gloriously pure and holy God who pulls me toward Him.
“Thy kingdom come” – This movement of the Lord’s Prayer recognizes the inability of man in his fallenness to achieve perfect justice. It defends me against the empty promises of social elites and utopian visionaries. It keeps me from being swallowed up by earthly causes.
“Thy will be done” – Earth is the arena of the battle of the wills. I want one thing, my boss wants another thing, the social elites are imposing their will on me – and then there is the will of God. Here, I am stretching my soul toward the word, the will, and the ways of God while denying all others.
“Give us this day our daily bread” – This stretches my soul toward the simplicity of provision for today. Many of us are years out in our planning and are thinking of retirement and Social Security. This request reels my mind back to today and God’s promise of daily provision.
“Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” – This is a reminder that failure is not fatal and that we are to extend to others what God has so graciously bestowed upon us.
“Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil” – This stretches my soul to acknowledge and discern the presence of supernatural evil and my tendency toward self-fulfillment.
“For Thine is the kingdom…” – Finally, it’s not about me – it’s all about God.
What a great way to daily stretch your soul toward God! It will increase your spiritual flexibility and will help to relieve your stress and calm your mind. When you get uptight and anxious – lift up this prayer again and stretch your soul to God. Keep the stretch in your soul.
Be blessed and stay healthy and follow Jesus – Pastor Tim
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