Christian Tips

On the Lord's Prayer - 3

"When we say: Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven, we are asking him to make us obedient, so that his will may be done in us as it is done in heaven by his angels."

--Saint Augustine

On the Lord's Prayer - 2

Part II of Saint Augustine on the Lord's Prayer:

"And as for saying: 'Your kingdom come', it will surely come whether we will it or not. But we are stirring up our desires for the kingdom so that it can come to us and we can deserve to reign there."

On the Lord's Prayer - 1

Saint Augustine wrote some of the most insightful and helpful advice concerning prayer, specifically the Lord's Prayer. It's easy for Christians, and all people, to be so familiar with it that they fail to feel its meaning anymore, so I thought I would publish some of Augustine's advice in a series on prayer.

"...when we say 'Hallowed be your name', we are reminding ourselves to desire that his name, which in fact is always holy, should also be considered holy among men. I mean that it should not be held in contempt. But this is a help for men, not for God."

The Lord's Prayer

Almost everyone, Christian or not, is familiar with the Lord's Prayer, also called the Our Father: Our Father, who are in heaven...

These are the words Jesus specifically gave us to pray. They also serve as a model for all prayer. We can meditate on the different parts of the Lord's Prayer for a long time, but here are some essentials.

It's good to remember what the basic parts of our prayers should be. They should remember God is our father, more powerful than we, loving and caring, attentive, but also the one who knows what's best for us. Proper and effective prayer is not badgering God into doing what you want or demanding presents and gifts - "THY will be done", not yours. It's good to remember when praying that all things on heaven and on earth are God's will for some reason, not just the things you like. Also, you can't communicate with God while you harbor hatred and grudges against others. God forgives you as you forgive others.

Joyful 'Toons

Cartoonist Mike Waters produces a well-done one-panel Christian comic called Joyful 'Toons. He originally started them for his own church's bulletins, but has made them available online. Each 'toon features a Bible verse and a cartoon illustrating the point being made. The strips are amusing without being mocking or irreverent. They are also available en espanol.

Joyful 'toons

www.joyfultoons.com