BLOGGING THE LORD’S PRAYER: STRAIGHT TO THE TOP

Matthew 6: 13      …For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

My father taught me to go straight to the top when I need something done.  Buford Graves said, “There’s always somebody who can say ‘No’ when everyone else has said, ‘Yes’ and ‘Yes’ when everyone else has said ‘No.’  That’s the person you talk to.”

Jesus gave the same advice when He taught the disciples how to pray.

Jesus taught the disciples to praise God for His holiness, to seek God’s coming kingdom, to desire God’s will in every plane of existence,  to ask God to provide what they need, to ask God to forgive and to make them forgiving, to seek God’s preventive and redemptive protection, and His rescue from the evil one. 
Jesus taught His disciples to do all of that For (meaning Because)  Yours  is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.

We acknowledge that angelic authorities, powers, principalities exist and affect us; but

when we really need to get something done we go past angels and straight to the top.

Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels (Colossians 2: 18)

We recognize and respect the status of human authorities.  We deal with bosses, managers, gatekeepers, and colleagues, rendering to Caesar what Caesar is due; but when we really need something, we go past people and straight to the top.

Do not put your trust in princes,

Nor in a son of man, in whom there is no help.

His spirit departs, he returns to his earth;

In that very day his plans perish.  (Psalm 146: 3-4)

Why? 

[Because] Yours  is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.

David was the greatest king in the Old Testament, and David said: “Blessed are You, Lord God of Israel, our Father, forever and ever.

11     Yours, O Lord, is the greatness,

The power and the glory,

The victory and the majesty;

For all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours;

Yours is the kingdom, O Lord,

And You are exalted as head over all.” (1 Chronicles 29: 10, 11)

David was at the top of the political game, but he understood that he wasn’t at the very top. 

And when we need something, we go straight to the very top.

God loves us.  This we know because the Bible tells us so.  But we don’t pray to God just because He loves us. 

Mama loves you.  Your pet dog, cat, parrot, iguana, or rock loves you.  But you don’t pray to those. 

(You don’t, do you?)

Despite the love, you don’t (I hope you don’t) pray to those because their power to answer your prayers is limited.

If God loved us as much as He does, but He was limited as other entities are, then it wouldn’t be feasible to pray to God.   It would be like praying to mama, or your pet rock, or to an angel. 

But God is far beyond your pets, your guardian angel, and even your mom.

Those have some power.  Those possess some glory.  Those, like King David, operate in authority over certain territories or kingdoms.

But God----- God has THE power, THE glory, and THE kingdom.

That is to say:  God has ALL power, ALL glory, and ALL kingdoms.

And God the Father has manifest His Son Jesus Christ far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.

 And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church (Ephesians 1: 21- 22)

That’s Jesus---for through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. (Ephesians 2: 18)

Why would we give our worship to peons when we know Who’s at the top?

Why would we bow our hearts to the people of this world who say “No” when we know Who has the ultimate “Yes”?

Why would we submit our lives to the cultural influence that tempt us with “Yes” when we have heard God’s ultimate “No”?

Why would we yield the fate of our souls to those who like us are mortal and created, when we can appeal directly to the infinite and eternal Creator?

Why wouldn’t you bow to the One to Whom every other power, glory, and kingdom ultimately submits?

So Jesus said to them, “When you pray, say… For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen

---Anderson T. Graves II   is a writer, community organizer and consultant for education, ministry, and rural leadership development.

Rev. Anderson T. Graves II is pastor of Hall Memorial CME Church in Montgomery, Alabama, executive director of the Substance Abuse Youth Networking Organization (SAYNO) and director of rural leadership development for the National Institute for Human Development (NIHD).

Email atgravestwo2@aol.com

Friend me at www.facebook.com/rev.a.t.graves

To listen to sermons and learn more about the ministry at Hall Memorial CME Church, visit www.hallmemorialcme.blogspot.com .

You can help support my ministry. 

Support by check or money order may be mailed to

Hall Memorial CME Church

541 Seibles Road

Montgomery, AL 36116

A WORD TO THE WISE. Proverbs 31: 4-7

Proverbs 31: 4     It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, nor for princes intoxicating drink;
5     Lest they drink and forget the law, and pervert the justice of all the afflicted.
6     Give strong drink to him who is perishing, and wine to those who are bitter of heart.
7     Let him drink and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more.

Proverbs 31: 4-7.  Talk about an endorsement!  With Lemuel and his mother speaking in this passage, we have a king, a former prince, a queen, and a woman who fought for her place as 1^st lady of the nation all  endorsing the message: Getting drunk is not a good look for a success.   Getting high is not what you do if you want to stay on top.

God blesses people to attain success and power so that they can use their success and power to help others.  The chemicals make you forget that.  The chemicals make you selfish, immoral, and unjust.  The buzz and the high draw you off the path of God’s favor and place you on track for destruction.   Outside of God’s favor there is personal and spiritual poverty.  Outside of God favor there is misery.  Outside of God’s favor there is death in spirit and in truth.

The sad irony is that the closer you get to bottom (to the point of perishing) the more miserable you become and the more you need the buzz to forget how poor and miserable you’re becoming.  And yes, while the chemicals are active in your system, you do forget; but you don’t change.  You’re still impoverished.  You’re still pitiful.  You’re still dying.

And the kings and queens of the culture look down on you and say, “He’s got nothing else.  Let him have another drink.  She’s not doing anything with her life anyway.  Pass her another blunt.  But oh, no.  Nothing for me.  I have a meeting in the morning.”

It doesn’t matter how you categorize your drug of choice. It doesn’t matter if it’s liquid or leafy, synthetic or “social,” packaged or prescribed.  If it’s intoxicating then it’s not helping you succeed.  It’s holding you back.

Since you’ve been intoxicating yourself, you’ve not gotten better have you?  Your relationships aren’t more stable are they?  For all the stuff you’ve dreamed you haven’t actually achieved anything more, have you?

And when you look closely at the bottle-popping, drug-passing imagery you notice that the ones who are fully intoxicated are in the background, servants to the one pouring into their glasses or sitting sober and clear-headed while everybody else gets drunk and high, trying to forget how successful they are not.

Yeah, I know what the songs say.  But  pay more attention to what God says.

Pay more attention.

If you want to be a king, if you want to be a queen -------- you’ve gotta get sober.

---Anderson T. Graves II   is a writer, community organizer and consultant for education, ministry, and rural leadership development.

Rev. Anderson T. Graves II is pastor of Hall Memorial CME Church in Montgomery, Alabama, executive director of the Substance Abuse Youth Networking Organization (SAYNO) and director of rural leadership development for the National Institute for Human Development (NIHD).

Email atgravestwo2@aol.com
Friend me at www.facebook.com/rev.a.t.graves

If this message helps or touches you, please help support this ministry. Send a donation of any amount by check or money order.
Mail all contributions to :
Hall Memorial CME Church
541 Seibles Road
Montgomery, AL 36116

 

Proverbs 31: 4-7

Proverbs 31: 4     It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, nor for princes intoxicating drink;
5     Lest they drink and forget the law, and pervert the justice of all the afflicted.
6     Give strong drink to him who is perishing, and wine to those who are bitter of heart.
7     Let him drink and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more.

Proverbs 31: 4-7.  Talk about an endorsement!  With Lemuel and his mother speaking in this passage, we have a king, a former prince, a queen, and a woman who fought for her place as 1^st lady of the nation all  endorsing the message: Getting drunk is not a good look for success.   Getting high is not what you do if you want to stay on top.

God blesses people to attain success and power so that they can use their success and power to help others.  The chemicals make you forget that.  The chemicals make you selfish, immoral, and unjust.  The buzz and the high draw you off the path of God’s favor and place you on track for destruction.   Outside of God’s favor there is personal and spiritual poverty.  Outside of God favor there is misery.  Outside of God’s favor there is death in spirit and in truth.

The sad irony is that the closer you get to bottom (to the point of perishing) the more miserable you become and the more you need the buzz to forget how poor and miserable you’re becoming.  And yes, while the chemicals are active in your system, you do forget; but you don’t change.  You’re still impoverished.  You’re still pitiful.  You’re still dying.

And the kings and queens of the culture look down on you and say, “He’s got nothing else.  Let him have another drink.  She’s not doing anything with her life anyway.  Pass her another blunt.  But oh, no.  Nothing for me.  I have a meeting in the morning.”

It doesn’t matter how you categorize your drug of choice. It doesn’t matter if it’s liquid or leafy, synthetic or “social,” packaged or prescribed.  If it’s intoxicating then it’s not helping you succeed.  It’s holding you back.

Since you’ve been intoxicating yourself, you’ve not gotten better have you?  Your relationships aren’t more stable are they?  For all the stuff you’ve dreamed you haven’t actually achieved anything more, have you?

And when you look closely at the bottle-popping, drug-passing imagery you notice that the ones who are fully intoxicated are in the background, servants to the one pouring into their glasses or sitting sober and clear-headed while everybody else gets drunk and high, trying to forget how successful they are not.

Yeah, I know what the songs say.  But  pay more attention to what God says.

Pay more attention.

If you want to be a king, if you want to be a queen -------- you’ve gotta get sober.

---Anderson T. Graves II   is a writer, community organizer and consultant for education, ministry, and rural leadership development.

Rev. Anderson T. Graves II is pastor of Hall Memorial CME Church in Montgomery, Alabama, executive director of the Substance Abuse Youth Networking Organization (SAYNO) and director of rural leadership development for the National Institute for Human Development (NIHD).

Email atgravestwo2@aol.com
Friend me at www.facebook.com/rev.a.t.graves

To hear sermons, read devotions, and learn more about the ministry at Hall Memorial CME Church, visit www.hallmemorialcme.blogspot.com .

If this message helps or touches you, please help support this ministry. Send a donation of any amount by check or money order.
Mail all contributions to :
Hall Memorial CME Church
541 Seibles Road
Montgomery, AL 36116