My honey and I are doing a Precept Bible study on prayer. I've been praying all my life and I am 50+ years old. And yet, I've learned so much! If you have been reading my blog for any amount of time, you know that I love to do word studies. So many times we misinterpret what the Bible is really saying because we read it with a modern western mindset. Don't misunderstand - the Bible has always been and will always be relevant. But I have learned so much when I look at the definitions of the words and phrases in their original languages. So, when this Bible study referred to the Lord's Prayer, I pulled out my concordance and I learned some amazing things that I can't wait to share with you.
When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray in Matthew 6, He started by saying, " Pray, then, in this way." Let's break this down:
Pray - This literally means, "implies praying to God, whether for the obtaining of good or the averting of evil...embraces all that is included in the idea of prayer, thanks, asking, requesting special things."
By the way, it is in the present imperative active tense. That just means it's a command and something we should actively be doing...all the time!
In this way - In verses 5-7, Jesus tells them about two ways not to pray and one way to pray. First, He tells them not to pray like the hypocrites who pray in public so others will see and hear them. He also tells them not to pray like Gentiles who use meaningless repetition, thinking that a lot of words will make them be heard. What is really interesting and something that I am still pondering, He told them to go into a room where they could not be seen or heard and to talk to God privately. "And your Father who sees in secret will repay you." So does that mean we shouldn't pray out loud publicly? This is going to require more study... I love it!
Decor
It's a little embarrassing to think that I started on the guest bathroom renovation in May and it's now October. But, I am determined to get it finished this week! I've had the fabric for the valance for almost two months, but had no gumption to get it done. It didn't help that I just couldn't decide what kind of valance to make.
I seem to have more energy now that the weather is cooler. This last weekend, I bought new milky globes for the fixture above the vanity that match the new Walmart Better Homes and Garden ceiling fixture. I purchased the globes at Walmart and got all four of them for less than $25. The first picture shows the old globes - almost forgot to take a before shot and had already changed one of them before I remembered to get my camera. The old globes weren't awful; they just didn't match the other fixture.
Much better! Now I just need to get that valance done...
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