Document Type

Article

Publication Date

6-2019

Abstract

Introduction: "It is a sad truth, though not surprising, that Christians with little understanding of their Christian faith often have great difficulty maintaining their faith. It is equally true that the last kind of sermon most Christians want to hear is one full of theology; that is, they do not to want to develop a deeper understanding of Christianity. This is a recipe for a crisis of belief that often leads to giving up one's faith, especially when a personal tragedy occurs such as the loss of a loved one, loss of a job, loss of financial security, disappointment with other Christians, or even discouragement with the condition of the world in which we live.

I am afraid there is no remedy for this problem short of studying Christian theology. This is so important that our Lord Jesus Christ instructed His followers to dwell on the basic theology of our faith when he asserted that we should daily pray the prayer he taught His disciples. Christians may be surprised to learn that the Lord’s Prayer is not a magic incantation of perfect words, but an exercise in understanding Christian theology while we ask the all-powerful God of the universe to listen to our pleas.1 In other words, if all we do when praying the Lord’s Prayer is mouth the words without a deep understanding of the meaning, we have become the very thing Jesus told us not to be: Gentiles (heathen or pagans). Matthew tells us that Jesus said, “And in praying do not heap up empty phrases [italics mine] as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard for their many words” (Matthew 6:7). Let us study, then, the theology, the meaning, of the Lord’s Prayer."

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