Jesus’ story didn’t end on Good Friday. 

Early Sunday morning, the ground began to shake. That stone was rolled away. His buried body began to breathe. The Son of Man rose again and ascended to God’s right hand to be worshiped by angels and men according to the Father’s plan.

In Him, the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.

Through Him, He reconciled all things to Himself.

By Him, everything was created in heaven and on earth.

To Him, be the glory, the head of the church.

He lives forever. He reigns on high. Forever He will be magnified.

God’s Kingdom, His power and glory, is magnified in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 

Whenever you find yourself in a difficult situation, sometimes the bravest thing you can do is to admit that you’re stuck, or to ask for help.

Jesus gave us words for moments like this. Words to pray when we feel afraid, weak or overwhelmed. 

One of them is the last phrase of the Lord’s Prayer: “But deliver us from evil.”

The Lord’s Prayer is not for the strong. It’s not for the self-assured. It’s not for those who believe they can handle life on their own.Rather, it is a prayer for the weak. It is for those who know how easily their heart can wander. It’s for those who have stumbled before and know they can stumble again.And that is what makes this prayer such a gift. Jesus gives us permission to come before the Father, not with our strength on display, but with our need lay bare.

What’s the point in asking God for forgiveness, if we’re already forgiven by God?The fifth petition of the Lord’s Prayer, “Forgive us out debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” isn’t about justification. It’s not about asking God to be made righteous in his sight based on Christ’s righteousness.It’s about restoring daily fellowship and intimacy with our heavenly Father.God is not only our judge who pronounces us as innocent or guilty. God is also our Father in heaven. This is the primary lens in which we are to approach God in prayer. Just as we are to pray for our daily bread, we are to pray for our daily forgiveness. Why? Because sin is what hinders us from our fellowship with God. And if relational intimacy with God is not something that you want. Then something is off.Either your heart is hardened towards God or you love something or someone more than God.

When it comes to the fourth petition in the Lord’s Prayer, “Give us this day our daily bread,” the vast majority of scholars today believe this petition is actually talking about bread. And this includes all of our daily needs such as food, water, clothing, and shelter.

God cares when we pray these big kingdom-size prayers (the first three petitions of the Lord’s prayer), but He also cares about the mundane and ordinary prayers of our every day life.

He cares about our spiritual needs as well as our physical needs. But the order matters.

As we come to the fourth petition, we have to keep in mind the first three petitions. And if we do so, we will have the proper perspective.

We all have moments when the ground shifts under our feet, when life turns in a direction that we didn’t expect. 

Suddenly the future seems uncertain, and we’re left asking, “What now?”

Maybe it’s a cancer diagnosis. Maybe it’s watching your own marriage fall apart. Maybe it’s at work where you’re giving everything you have but you’re not sure how long you can continue. 

It’s in moments like those when our prayers get real and simple. We don’t have the strength to be eloquent, instead we have just enough strength to be honest.

That’s exactly when we need the words Jesus gave us, “Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

And the beauty of this prayer is that it’s not a sign of defeat, but rather it’s a declaration of trust.   

Everyone draws lines, we build walls, we defend our turf because we have this drive for control.Deep inside, many of us are exhausted from trying to rule our own lives. But thank God, He steps in and reminds us that this is not our kingdom, but His.His kingdom is not fragile or temporary. It is a kingdom of love, justice, and peace.And it is good news that He is king and not us.That’s why Jesus teaches us to pray, “Your kingdom come.”It’s a prayer of surrender and a prayer that reorients our hearts.

If you take a look at the Lord’s Prayer, there are two clear halves.

The first half focuses on God, on His holiness, on HIs sovereignty.

But the second half focuses on our need and our utter dependence on God.

This order is significant.

When you pray to God, do you just go into prayer listing off all of your needs and wants. 

Or do you begin with worship and adoration, seeking first His kingdom and His righteousness?

When you first come to God in prayer by prioritizing who God is, it gives us the right perspective when we pray about our needs.

Because when we pray for our daily needs, for forgiveness, and for pursuing righteousness, we will see God as our provider and we will trust in Him. 

We will ask for forgiveness knowing we are already reconciled in Christ. And we will pursue righteousness knowing God is with us always even in the darkest valleys.

It will change the way we pray and change our hearts as we pray.

A growing trend in today’s society is that we are choosing to do things in solitude that we used to do communally.

We used to watch movies with friends in theatres. But these days, many of us watch alone at home on Netflix, Prime Video, Disney Plus, Apple TV Plus, HBO Max.

We used to go out and eat together at restaurants just because it was Taco Tuesday. But now we rather just order UberEats or DoorDash or SkipTheDishes where we can enjoy a meal without ever leaving the house. 

In a 2024 paper published in Sociological Science called “Homebound", data showed that Americans (which can easily be extrapolated to Canadians) are now more likely "to take meetings from home, to shop from home, to be entertained at home, to eat at home, and even to worship at home.”

If we’re honest, many of us might even prefer this more sedentary lifestyle with minimal engagement from others, and everything working around our personal schedule.

But in John 13:31-35, we’ll see that if we are Christian, if we are true disciples of Christ, we must obey Jesus’ command to love one another. 

And one of the best ways we can do this, where we stop living selfishly as the world does, and start living selflessly as Christ did, is to be part of a Christ-loving community. 

Nehemiah's story is about what happens when faith meets fear.

It is about those defining moments when God calls His people to step forward not knowing what lies ahead, but trusting that He does.

Moments when God stirs something deep within us whether it's sharing the gospel with someone, or stepping into a new calling that feels beyond us.

Or standing firm in our convictions when it would be easier to just stay silent.

But the beauty of Nehemiah's story is that it's part of a much larger story where God steps into broken places to bring restoration.

Nehemiah's courage to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem points us to Jesus who came to build what sin had shattered.