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Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. These words, found in Matthew 6 are the start of the most famous prayer in history: the Lord’s prayer. It was a response to Jesus’ disciples asking him to teach them how to pray. Many people use it as the basis for their own prayer life, and it can be a helpful tool to teach your mentee how to begin theirs. John Barnard from Middleman Ministries is back with Zach this week to talk through what exactly these words mean and how they can encourage us on a daily basis as we meditate on them.
Show Notes
Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. These words, found in Matthew 6 are the start of the most famous prayer in history: the Lord’s prayer. It was a response to Jesus’ disciples asking him to teach them how to pray. Many people use it as the basis for their own prayer life, and it can be a helpful tool to teach your mentee how to begin theirs. John Barnard from Middleman Ministries is back with Zach this week to talk through what exactly these words mean and how they can encourage us on a daily basis as we meditate on them.
Reach out to John:
john@middleman-ministries.org
Check out Middleman Ministries:
https://www.middleman-ministries.org
Purchase the You Can Mentor book:
You Can Mentor: How to Impact Your Community, Fulfill the Great Commission, and Break Generational Curses
youcanmentor.com
Reach out to John:
john@middleman-ministries.org
Check out Middleman Ministries:
https://www.middleman-ministries.org
Purchase the You Can Mentor book:
You Can Mentor: How to Impact Your Community, Fulfill the Great Commission, and Break Generational Curses
youcanmentor.com
Creators and Guests
What is You Can Mentor: A Christian Youth Mentoring Podcast?
You Can Mentor is a network that equips and encourages mentors and mentoring leaders through resources and relationships to love God, love others, and make disciples in their own community. We want to see Christian mentors thrive.
We want to hear from you! Send any mentoring questions to hello@youcanmentor.com, and we'll answer them on our podcast. We want to help you become the best possible mentor you can be. Also, if you are a mentoring organization, church, or non-profit, connect with us to join our mentoring network or to be spotlighted on our show.
Please find out more at www.youcanmentor.com or find us on social media. You will find more resources on our website to help equip and encourage mentors. We have downloadable resources, cohort opportunities, and an opportunity to build relationships with other Christian mentoring leaders.
You can mentor is a podcast about the power of building relationships with kids from hard places in the name of Jesus. Every episode will help you overcome common mentoring obstacles and give you the confidence you need to invest in the lives of others. You can mentor.
Speaker 2:Mentors and mentoring leaders, Zach Arse here with the You Can Mentor podcast. I got 3 things that I would like to ask of you today. Number 1, if you are a mentoring organization and you would like to be on our podcast or learn more about the best practices of mentoring, please reach out to us, www.youcanmentor.com. You can send us an email, zach, zach@youcanmentor dot com, or stephen, that's with a p h, at you can mentor dot com. You can also find us on social media.
Speaker 2:Give us that DM, and we'll get back to you. We just wanna get to know you, and we wanna learn more about what you're doing in your communities to advance mentoring. And we believe that interaction leads to innovation. So let's work together and advance the team in through mentoring. Number 2, if you know of someone who would benefit from the You Can Mentor podcast, please share our podcast, share our information with them.
Speaker 2:That would be super helpful. And then lastly, if you could rate our podcast on Apple Podcasts, give us that 5 star. It will help spread the word about mentoring and, You Can Mentor podcast. Because we really do want every mentoring org in America who is trying to make disciples through mentoring to know about us. We wanna get to know about them so we can learn from them and work together to help kids reach their full potential.
Speaker 2:So that's what I got. Please do those things. Reach out to us. Share and rate. Appreciate you.
Speaker 2:You can mentor. Welcome to the You Can Mentor podcast. Zach and John are here. We're currently in a fight.
Speaker 3:I think we're in a we're in a heated exchange.
Speaker 2:John John wants us to to not, like, introduce ourselves, but to flow in, like, enter the podcast in mid conversation.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Like, when you walk into a restaurant and you see a couple of your friends having lunch and, dude, what you do, you just pull up a chair.
Speaker 2:That's not what this is. Oh, okay. This is a podcast, John. I still I still don't get it. Jeez.
Speaker 2:Welcome to the You Can Mentor podcast. I'm here. My name's Zach. This is John.
Speaker 3:Thanks for tuning in. Like, thanks for finding the the station that this thing is on.
Speaker 2:That's not how podcasts work. You have to scroll Apple Podcasts, Spotify. Oh, that's a lot. That is a lot. Okay.
Speaker 2:John, I am giving you the keys to the car today. Tell us what's going on. John's got this thing that he wants to talk about, which is actually really, really important, and I'm super pumped about it. So what's going on today, John?
Speaker 3:For sure. So we are going to be able to to to talk about, to share about, to get a little bit deeper into the Lord's prayer.
Speaker 2:Right? Yep. That's it. Love it. And, honestly, whenever John said, hey.
Speaker 2:I think we should talk about the lord's prayer today, I was like, okay. That's great. But as we've continued to discuss it over the last 16 hours over text, I think that we're really onto something here. So there are a number of things that we can talk about regarding the lord's prayer, but, ultimately, as we as mentors, as we are trying to cultivate a deep intimacy between the Lord and our mentee, as we're trying to teach them how to have a relationship with Jesus, praying is a is a foundational piece of that. And so the lord's prayer, sometimes whenever I think about it, I just think of it as this thing.
Speaker 2:Like, oh, yeah. That's just the lord prayer. It that's that's just something that we say. But, really, it's it's Jesus teaching us how to pray, which is a huge deal.
Speaker 3:100%. So Yeah, man. And so if it if it's works for you and for your listeners, let's also apply the head.
Speaker 2:Our listeners, John, our listeners, you're part of the family now. This is like your, like, 10th episode.
Speaker 3:So good. It's so good. If there was some kind of a ritual where I was given maybe, like, a memento, a ring for my finger, I don't know, a robe, that'd be great. I I don't know. Let's workshop that idea.
Speaker 3:You know, maybe even just a letter for my jacket. Whatever.
Speaker 2:I'll figure something out.
Speaker 3:As I was saying, man, let's let's also look at this passage of scripture with that head heart hands kind of approach Mhmm. Which is to say for ourselves, what is this saying to us? How can we kind of understand it? How can it be something that we that we jive well with at the at the head level? And then as we consider it, this truth that Jesus is speaking to his disciples.
Speaker 3:Right? The mentor to the mentees that he that that we also can kind of apply that to the the very foundation, the definition of who we are as believers as that affects us. And then also, man, what do we do with this now? You know, how do we how do we live this out on a daily basis in our own faith and then also encourage our mentees and theirs?
Speaker 2:I think that's great. Why don't you talk a tad bit about, like, how how you talked about Jesus as the mentor and the disciples as the mentee and why that dynamic is so important here?
Speaker 3:For sure. You know, the setup where Jesus does say, you know, when you pray, this is this is how you do it. It really is preempted by the fact that this was a time in his ministry when his disciples, right, his buddies, his those that he called to live daily with him were seeing the power of God through Christ's words and through his actions. And so it's pretty awesome. It almost is reminiscent of that great verse in first Peter when he says, hey.
Speaker 3:Be ready to give an answer for the hope that you profess, but do it with gentleness and respect. I share that verse a lot because what it means is that we preempt our explanation with action. And so what what Jesus was doing in his ministry at the time was he was doing the will of the father, right, each and every day. He he, in fact, said nothing I do is of myself. It's all from the father.
Speaker 3:I'm here to do his work. And so at a point, the disciples said, we're seeing the power of your prayer. Like, it is obvious. So what do they say? Lord, teach us to pray.
Speaker 3:You know, you as our mentor, we as the mentee, and that's why it's so relevant to the relationships that we have as mentors to our mentees is that Christ's own disciples said, we we have to know how to do this thing because we see it in your life being worked out in such a great way. Mhmm. So no wonder it's the foundation for you know, I was sharing with you earlier. I'm I'm now attending a church that each and every week, the Lord's prayer is recited together. And and what kind of a beautiful moment, right, when everyone in the room says this prayer together that it's a that it's a component of worship.
Speaker 3:Also, I really love that so Brennan Manning, you've read Ragamuffin?
Speaker 2:Oh, yeah. Okay. It's great.
Speaker 3:I can't remember if it
Speaker 2:Man, you're just having a hard time.
Speaker 3:I knew that it was gonna happen.
Speaker 2:Why does that always happen to you? Is it because you're old?
Speaker 3:Yeah. I think that it is. Yeah. Things get stuck. You know?
Speaker 3:Things don't move as as easily. I'm almost 50, man.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Yeah. So You're almost 50. I'm almost 40. We're probably not gonna make it too much longer.
Speaker 2:No.
Speaker 3:I don't think so. Yeah. One one story that I love then, I can't remember where he wrote it, but he said, each day before I you know, as my eyes open, before my heat my feet hit the floor, I recite the Lord's prayer. And I think that that is is telling because it really is a great way to just prepare our minds, prepare our hearts, and prepare our bodies for that which the Lord has us to do that day. Right?
Speaker 2:Well, Anne, I think it's so important that sometimes whenever I'm thinking about my relationship with God, I think it's different than most relationships. Right? I'm like, okay. I've gotta clean myself up. I've gotta make sure I say the right words.
Speaker 2:I've gotta do this. I gotta do that. I gotta have a quiet time. I gotta make sure I'm but if you step back and you're like, okay. How how do most relationships work?
Speaker 2:Whether it's between me and you, me and my wife, me and my children, communication is a really big deal. If I don't talk to my wife, we're probably not gonna have a really good relationship. If we don't talk every day, it's probably not gonna be as strong as if we did. And so what I love about the the Lord's prayer is this is a this is a daily opportunity for us to have communication with the Lord, and he wants that. He he wants to hear from us, and he wants to talk to us.
Speaker 2:And if me, who you know, I'm almost 40, like I say every podcast, I feel like I am a little bit mature. I've got a college degree that I don't use. All of these things. If I have a hard time communicating with God, how much more does the 16 year old who I'm mentoring have a hard time? Right?
Speaker 2:Especially amongst the busyness, amongst the schedules, amongst the sports, amongst the friendships and the texting and the social media and all the stuff, and I just sound like Bill Cosby. And then, like, why is it so important that we talk about this? Because what a great opportunity we have to instill into our mentees. Hey. Every day, it's a relationship.
Speaker 2:It's you need to talk to the Lord, and the Lord talks to you, and it's consistent, and it's this ongoing conversation. This isn't just a on Sunday from 9 to 10:30, we talk. No. It's a it's a daily conversation. And,
Speaker 3:For sure. And Did you say it's almost like it's like a tour guide relationship? Like
Speaker 2:Take it back.
Speaker 3:Like, if we're not there, how would we expect someone else to to to be there as well?
Speaker 2:That's great. And if you do this every morning, that's why it's so important to spend time with the Lord each and each and every morning is because it just centers you. It kinda all of the rat race stuff, it kinda slows that down, and it focuses in on that which will not pass away.
Speaker 3:Yeah. And you know what also, Zach? I think it's it's good to mention that it's not about circumstance. Right? Because aren't there times when you actually feel like praying more than others?
Speaker 2:For sure.
Speaker 3:And so yeah. It's actually that. So it's like, man, you know what? I don't wanna be motivated by the rote kind of experience. I don't wanna do a thing because it's just the thing to do, but I also don't wanna be led by my by my emotions because
Speaker 2:Mhmm.
Speaker 3:That's all about being hot and cold about stuff, and that that means that I'm going to be vastly inconsistent.
Speaker 2:And, like, that's you know, I'm on this big kick right now. I'm a pretty emotional guy. I've got high highs, low lows. I'm all about experiences. I tend to kind of be that hot and cold.
Speaker 2:And over this past season, I've gotten really into reading and listening to people who were following Jesus back in, like, the, like, before Christ. Obviously, you couldn't follow Jesus before Christ, but, like, they were spiritual, like Marcus Aurelius and Tolstoy and, like, all of these, like, super old school people. And, you know, most of my following Jesus has been experiential, has been high highs, low lows, kinda going to summer camp each summer and allowing that spiritual high to kinda feed me for the whole year. And now I'm, I'm kinda diving into the day by day, the step by step, the every breath, the moment by moment, the old school stuff. The this isn't a sprint, but it's a marathon.
Speaker 2:It's a how how do I follow Jesus for the long haul? It's yeah. Someone once said that following Jesus is oh, no. I forgot it. It's got something to do with, like it's a long obedience in the same direction.
Speaker 2:Mhmm. I was just like, hey. How do I get through today? And I think that the Lord's prayer is an opportunity to help us get through today with our eyes fixed on him.
Speaker 3:For sure. For sure. And, you know, I think it's I think it's true because I probably I mean, who didn't have that kind of experience and motivation, like, say, as a teenager, you know, in youth group? I'm thinking, would we really have responded to kind of the disciplines and the, right, and the the slow and steadiness of it? Probably not.
Speaker 3:Because we really weren't at that place in our lives. We weren't responding to really anything in that way. It was it was kind of all about the emotion. You know? So it's that balance of, like, yeah, that's that's definitely needed.
Speaker 3:The problem would be if we continue to maintain our faith based on that, then, oh, man, it's it's you know, then then the strength of our faith is about the next worship album that comes out. Right? Or the next kind of fuzzy feeling of of worship that we get as opposed to the balance between emotion and everything else.
Speaker 2:That's it. Okay. So we just talked about the Lord's prayer for 15 minutes. So let's actually get into the Lord's prayer. Cool.
Speaker 2:So so this is kinda what we're gonna do here just to kinda set you guys up. We're gonna actually talk about it line by line, and then we're gonna discuss kinda what we believe the main takeaway is that you, the as the mentor, can kinda give to your mentee. So
Speaker 3:Absolutely. Starting off, our father in heaven or our father who art in heaven as some might kinda know that line to be. I mean, we get it right off the bat. Right? His words at the beginning, our communal father.
Speaker 3:He doesn't address God as as Lord in this moment, right, as creator, but very specifically, he sets the tone as saying our father in heaven. So how important is that? Anyway, and how does that the beauty of that word, what it does is it recognizes who God is. It also gives us that self identity of who we are relating to him.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So the main the main thing that we kinda talked about as the takeaway here is we've got god is a good father who calls us son and daughter. So it talks about who who god is. You know, god is not this old man sitting up in the cloud with his white beard just waiting for us to mess up. No.
Speaker 2:He's a father. And at that, he's a good father. And then who are we? We are part of his family. We are sons and daughters.
Speaker 2:We have a seat at the table. And I know that we talk about this a lot on this podcast, but that identity, kinda who God is and who we are and whose we are, it's that is the bedrock. If we can only teach our mentees one thing, you know, it's who god is and who we are, and that he's a good father, and that we are sons and daughters, and that we are invited into his family. We have a seat at the table. Has nothing to do with our performance.
Speaker 2:It's got everything to do with who he is, and you get that through a relationship with Jesus Christ. And so I just that is something that you can come back to each and every day because you always need to be reminded about that. So
Speaker 3:That's it. I mean, we could shut this thing down right now, and that could be it. You know?
Speaker 2:But But there's more. There is more. There is.
Speaker 3:So what does he say next? He says, hallowed be thy name. And I think that's really interesting because it kinda helps us understand what the word hallowed really means, and you might kinda think of it verbally if you don't see it written. You're thinking, wait a minute. Is it saying God's name is hollow?
Speaker 3:Like, is it empty? And, of course, it's the opposite of that. It's holy. It's substantial. It is 100% pure.
Speaker 3:It is set apart. That's what we understand really what holy is defined by, and, obviously, there isn't another that is holy other than God himself.
Speaker 2:And I think for us as mentors, especially if your mentee is younger, I think the best way to describe, like, what holiness really is is to kinda give examples of what it's not. Mhmm. And so, you know, I I like to compare God to the people that my mentee look up to the most. Right? So here is this person.
Speaker 2:Well, you know, they they're awesome. They have money. They have success. They have this and that, but, you know, let's compare them to God. Right?
Speaker 2:And so I think that anytime that you can really kind of explain to your mentee what holiness is and kind of paint that picture, I think that's really, really important because for a long time, me, as a kid who grew up going to church camp and things like that, I I heard words like holy. I heard words like like salvation and god's grace, and I had no idea what those words are. I I knew that they were important, but no one actually sat me down and said, hey. Tell me what you think holiness is. Tell me what you think grace is.
Speaker 2:I remember going to a church camp whenever I was 17. That's old.
Speaker 3:Mhmm.
Speaker 2:And on the back of the shirt, it said, God's grace because that was, like, you know, the camp theme. Mhmm. And I re remember being like, yeah. That's a great theme. I love it.
Speaker 2:In my head, I'm like, what the heck does that mean? Like, I have no idea what grace means.
Speaker 3:Mhmm.
Speaker 2:And I don't think I found out till I was in my early twenties. Yeah. But so we as mentors, my encouragement here is, let's don't assume that our mentees know what holy means. It's up to us to kinda paint that picture for him.
Speaker 3:For sure. And that leads into also really good conversation too about some of these very words that we use within the church and that, yeah, I think that we either don't have a good enough understanding ourselves, or we may assume that our mentee knows exactly what we're talking about when we talk about sanctification. Right? So maybe even be you know, take a beat and kinda think about, oh, you know, I would probably use these half a dozen words, and I think that they're very important to doctrine and to theology and to say, I really wanna make sure that they break this down. And I think that's something that we're even talking about this morning with the Lord's within the Lord's prayer because each one of these words really means something valuable.
Speaker 3:And so well done to to have us remember that. Again, don't just assume somebody knows what holy means. We know God as being holy, but really take that moment to think, okay. Is this something that I can maybe share as a metaphor, as an example to really flesh this out so that this kid realizes the the power of these words?
Speaker 2:And I think one thing that we can do with our mentees is, hey. Like, go line by line here. Like, our father in heaven. Hey. Why don't you tell me what you think that means?
Speaker 2:Mhmm. Hey. Hallowed be your name. Tell me what you hear whenever we say that line. Mhmm.
Speaker 2:And then you can start that conversation.
Speaker 3:Yeah. It might even be if you have a weekly meeting with your mentee to say, I wonder if maybe just bringing a verse in each week if the conversation lulls a little bit, or that could be something a practice that we do to just say, hey. I wanted to share, like, this week's verse with you, and then it might have a word that you really kinda wanna center on and say, hey. What do you think that means as you mentioned? I mean, that gives them the the opportunity to, as we like to say, whoever's talking is learning.
Speaker 3:So don't turn this into a sermon. It's not a lecture fest. It really is, hey. Let me share this verse, and why don't you kinda share with me what you think it means? And, man, that's gonna be really telling and gives you an opportunity to ask really good questions.
Speaker 2:That's great. Alright. So we've got God who's holy. He's unlike any other. He's set apart.
Speaker 2:He's true. And what's next?
Speaker 3:Your kingdom come. Alright. Capital k. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. And that, my friends, those three lines, there's a lot of good stuff right there.
Speaker 3:That's condensed.
Speaker 2:And I think this I don't wanna say that this is the most important part, but, man, this is this is the meat right here. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. I love how it's not it's not talking about my kingdom. It's not talking about my will.
Speaker 3:Mhmm.
Speaker 2:It's implying a total submission. It's implying, hey. This isn't about me. It's about you, Lord. Mhmm.
Speaker 2:It's taking the focus off of ourselves and onto him, and that's something that's rare.
Speaker 3:For sure. I mean, again, what what have we done so far? We've we've recognized God as our father. We've recognized the fact that he is holy. He is set apart unlike any other.
Speaker 3:And the very next thing that we do instead of saying, and, Lord, bless my work today. Lord, if you would just, you know, be able to sanctify and redeem all the many things that I will do. Right? It is instead to say, God, before I even think about me, this has nothing to do with me. God, your kingdom come.
Speaker 3:Your will be done around me where where it is around you. Make the reality of heaven something that I can see in in the course of all my temporal goings on today. Like, I wanna I wanna see heaven on earth.
Speaker 2:And I think for our mentees and even for me, you know, if if you don't see God as father, if you don't know that you're a part of a family, if you don't understand that God is holy and he's set apart and he's gonna take care of you, and that you don't have to create your own way and that you don't have to make it happen. But, lord, this is all about you, your will, your kingdom, you, you, you. The only thing that I have to do is stay in communion with you and obey what you tell me to do. I think that can take the load off of our mentee. Now how do you get them to see life like that?
Speaker 2:Now, I mean, that's some that that right there is some some big time stuff.
Speaker 3:Mhmm.
Speaker 2:But I think there's an opportunity for us to remove anxiety, to remove fear and worry by saying, hey. Look. This isn't about you. It's actually about God, and we can trust him, and he's good, and we want what he wants. We don't want what I want.
Speaker 2:For sure. Talking about selflessness, humility, all of the hard stuff.
Speaker 3:Mhmm. And also, like, really great connection because think about it. God, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. God, who are you going to use to do your work on the work of heaven here on earth. Right?
Speaker 3:It goes back to that that passage when Jesus famously says, oh, man, the the harvest is plentiful. The workers are few. And what does Jesus say next? He says pray to the Lord of the harvest for workers. What does he do in the very next chapter?
Speaker 3:He sends them out. Right? This is this is that Matthew 10 where he sends them out 2 by 2, and he says, you guys are going to have a message for the lost sheep of Israel. You're gonna tell them this. You're gonna go to the to these people, and you're gonna do these amazing things in my name.
Speaker 3:And that that's always interesting when it's about, oh, you know what? God, we would love for your will to be done on earth, and then it turns right back to us to say, oh, wait a minute. How is your how is the kingdom going to be manifested here on earth? It's gonna be it's gonna happen in my own life because why? I'm a child of God.
Speaker 3:And so if I'm praying for God to do these things on earth, well, how great is it that he includes us in that as well?
Speaker 2:And I think as we start to talk about heaven, as we start to talk about on earth as it is in heaven, I mean, I I know for me growing up, there were things that I I did. There were thoughts that I believed. There was the way that I saw the world that was totally wrong, but I just didn't know any better. Like, I didn't have anyone who said you're growing up without without a dad around. You know that's not how it's supposed to be.
Speaker 2:Right? Or, hey. Like, you're going out and you're putting all of your effort and all of your time into sports or into partying or into girls and, like, you know that you were meant for something else. Right? And so I think just bringing up the conversation of heaven.
Speaker 2:Hey. Like, tell me tell me what you see on earth, and tell me what you think heaven's gonna be like. And then kinda if you can if you can compare those 2 and if you can ask questions like, hey. Like, do you think that there's anything wrong with that? Do you think that there's anything wrong with people being in poverty or people being without a home or, you know, us striving to make so much money?
Speaker 2:Like, do you think that's how it's gonna be in heaven? And then that can be a really good conversation starter.
Speaker 3:Yeah. For sure. And even when you start thinking about, well, oh my goodness. You know, I'm so unsure about what heaven looks like, what it feels like, where it is, and and also, like, when it is, you know, to say, well, okay. Hold on.
Speaker 3:You know, when when does that become a reality for me? Is it is it after Jesus comes back? Is it or is it after I I leave this earth? You know, there are a lot of really good questions to ask about just the presence of and the reality of heaven, but I think that we can rest assured that when we have conversation with our mentees about heaven and about this idea of heaven on earth, we can start using terms like and ideas like, well, you know what? I don't know specifically what it looks like.
Speaker 3:I don't know if we're walking around on on clouds. I don't know about the pearly gates and the streets of gold and and all that. But what I do know is that heaven is about ultimate connection. I do know that that heaven is about, endless worship of God. I do know that heaven is about completeness.
Speaker 3:Right? Because there is you're not suffering, and you're not lacking in anything. And that kinda opens up that conversation when you mentioned about poverty and things that were kind of our reality to say, that's where I'm starting to see some of that contrast. But also just relationally speaking, we can say, you know, doesn't it feel like heaven on earth when we are 100% connected to one another? You know?
Speaker 3:And what's that experience for you look like? Is that Christmas morning? You know? For me, it's when I can get my family in the car, and we can go on one of our family trips. I just love I just love that experience because the schedules are all together that my my people are all together.
Speaker 3:Like, we are just about one another, and we're about experiencing, like, a great time together without any other anything else giving us trouble burdening us in any way. And so it's that completeness. Right? And that might be a good way to kind of talk about the reality of heaven on earth when we get glimpses from time to time when everyone is at peace, when there is nothing lacking, that kind of thing. And that kind of begins to flesh out some of that.
Speaker 3:That might kind of seem like an abstract topic.
Speaker 2:And those are the things that we can strive for. Yes. We can strive for connection. We can strive for godliness. We can strive for peace.
Speaker 2:We can strive for joy. Maybe it's not so good to strive for money and for status and for power and for all of this other stuff. But it's up to us as mentors to help our mentees see that and to help that what the world says will bring life, most of the time, doesn't and what, you know, God says does. And just help them walk through that. I mean, that's that's the hard thing for us to grasp, but what a great opportunity we have to help them grasp that.
Speaker 3:For sure. For sure. So just before we get off this passage, one more idea about that is to just say that, you know, for the mentor, our hope would be that we have a vision, right, for our mentees and even for our own lives. And so when we say, lord, that it would be on earth as it is in heaven is also an opportunity for us to just kind of take some time to think about and to even use our imagination, and I know that that's kind of a scary thing sometimes because, like, woah, man. I don't know about imagination of the church.
Speaker 3:We get kind of freaked out about that, but, you know, imagine when you consider the life of your mentee and think about this kid being successful to experience heaven on earth right now. What would it mean? Would it mean that a troubled relationship that you know that they're having that that that there would be peace there? Would it mean that, you know, that they're struggling in a in a financial way, that their family's struggling, and that that those needs would be met? What about if you have the vision to think, you know what?
Speaker 3:In 5 years, what would I just dream and imagine for my mentee's life to look like where there is sustainability and where there's health and where there's certainty, where there's a solid foundation? What would I what would I envision for them? What would heaven on earth be in their lives in 10 years when they could be a loving father themselves, right, or or a a really healthy nurturing mother? Man, that's where the rubber meets the road on this as well, where we can say, Lord, give me a vision for what this kid who you love and who you have given me the opportunity to invest in. Like, what could their life look like in x amount of years, and what would that take?
Speaker 3:And how could I be a part of that process too of just nurturing and being consistent in their life so they would realize that the reality of your love for them?
Speaker 2:And some of those things that just come to the top of my head is, like, anger. Like, it's pretty easy to spot anger in your Minty. It's pretty easy to spot unforgiveness and bitterness. It's pretty easy to spot insecurity. And so if we see these things in our Minty, I'm like, okay, Lord, would those things be in heaven?
Speaker 2:Okay. Well, if the answer is no, then the next question is, okay, Lord, show me how I can help remove those things that are not bringing life with the things that do bring life. Okay, Lord. My mentee doesn't forgive. Help give me the tools to teach him how to forgive.
Speaker 2:My mentee's anger. Okay. Help me guide him through what it looks like to be at peace and to be gentle. And so I think that that's a that's a great question to ask is, with this aspect of what my mentor of what my mentee is going through, would that be in heaven? If the if the answer is no, it kinda gives you, kinda gives us a spot to start from.
Speaker 3:For sure. What a good filter to run through. Great. Okay.
Speaker 2:Alright. Next up, give us today our daily bread, that manna.
Speaker 3:That's it, man.
Speaker 2:I know that. I like, this is this is your jam right here. Like, you love this part right here.
Speaker 3:I really do. For sure. But, again, man, think about it. What we said definitively, God, we know who you are as our father. We know that you are holy, that your even your name is holy.
Speaker 3:God, we have had this we have this desire to submit ourselves understanding that we want your will to be done, that heaven can be on earth, and that you allow us to partner with you in that. Amen to that. But then what do we say next? Right? What do we now we're ready because we've identified these things.
Speaker 3:These are these are reality to us. Now we're able to say, and, lord, give us today our daily bread.
Speaker 2:Which we say the main takeaway is when we seek him each morning, he will provide for our needs daily in his perfect timing.
Speaker 3:Amen. And this is like this is the dramatic and the spiritual and the big and the, you know, Right? Like, the revelation, but it's also isn't it Zach like just, hey, man. Like, I I I need I need to I need to fill my belly today. You know?
Speaker 3:Like, it is it is the temporal in that sense as well, and to say, Lord, you give us the big things. You give us an understanding and experience of sanctification, but also on that Tuesday morning, you give us eggs and toast. You know? Like, we need it, and it is only through you that all of our needs are met physical, emotional, spiritual.
Speaker 2:So talk about how this is played out in the book of Exodus.
Speaker 3:Right on.
Speaker 2:Let's go old school here.
Speaker 3:So we're gonna go back to Exodus where if you remember, the Israelites had just been freed from their captors in Egypt, and they were out there for 40 years, and they needed to eat. And so what did God do? He provided in such a way that every morning when they woke up, they found manna on the ground. It was to be harvested and to be eaten that day, and manna is described as like this this thin kind of flaky kind of almost like when you wake up and you see, like, the dew on the ground, it would be something kind of equivalent to that. And so God's people were instructed to go out and to collect as much as they needed for that day.
Speaker 3:And interestingly enough, on the 6th day, what were they what were they told to do? Collect enough for 2 days because there was the Sabbath the next day. However, don't collect any more than you need because God is saying, I will provide for you daily my people. Okay? If I have ordained this for you, if I've told you to do something, I'm gonna make a way for you to do it.
Speaker 3:But what I need you to understand is that I will be with you and for you on a daily basis. So do not let that fear creep into your heart, which says, wait a minute. I I there may not be enough for tomorrow. Right? Hold on.
Speaker 3:I I may need to store up, you know, in my barns. Right? As scripture says even well, then again, my storage barns may not be big enough. I may need to do big build bigger storage barns because there's not going to be enough. This this what is it?
Speaker 3:That's it's the approach of of scarcity, the scarcity mentality, which says there are more people than there are resources, and so when the when the trouble hits, we've gotta go out to the store, and we've gotta buy as much with it paper as possible.
Speaker 2:Just paper towels upon paper towels.
Speaker 3:Yes. Yes. Because what do we do? We it's that it's that scarcity mentality that says there's there's just simply not enough, and that's where the enemy can kind of creep his way into our hearts and minds and say, oh, but you're not doing enough. Oh, but you're going to be left out in the cold.
Speaker 3:Oh, yes. God created you, but he he will not sustain you based on your maybe even your own, you know, obedience. God will will will not do what he said he will do. So, man, when we say give us today our daily bread, we are really saying a lot.
Speaker 2:It's a metaphor for us today because we know God's mercies are new every morning. And this communion, this enjoying being with him, that's meant for for daily experience. Absolutely. It's a God has created in such a way where we need him daily. Like, we can't just survive on being with him one day a week.
Speaker 2:Now society and this world and things like that have created things in such a way where it seems like that and where, you know, being self sufficient, being being a self made man, all of these things are things that the world celebrates. Mhmm. And this is hard for me as a guy who thinks about the future and who prepares and strategic plans and where am I gonna be in 3 years and da da da. But god you know, while while god says that there's wisdom in, you know, thinking thinking about tomorrow Mhmm. He calls us to be dependent upon him today.
Speaker 2:And so my kids are dependent upon me. Like, if if I don't feed them breakfast, they're they're not gonna eat breakfast. And they burst into my room every morning at 6:35 because they want breakfast. And God kinda wants us to be that way too. Hey, God.
Speaker 2:First thing that I'm gonna do in the morning is I'm I'm I'm gonna come to you, and I'm gonna ask for everything that we need today. Right. Every connection, every idea. These aren't just physical needs. They're emotional needs.
Speaker 2:They're social needs. They're spiritual needs. It's everything that I need in every category. I'm dependent upon you for those things.
Speaker 3:Absolutely. Down to the breath that we breathe. Right? Like, again, that is not our own doing. That is from the Lord.
Speaker 2:That's alright. Forgive us our trespasses as we have forgiven those who trespass against us. Kind of the main thing that we wanna point out here is we will fail, and we will fail others. That's just gonna happen.
Speaker 3:Mhmm.
Speaker 2:But we forgive as God has forgiven us. And so, I mean, this is there's so much here because you get to help your mentee understand that they're not perfect, that they're going to fail. It's just part of life that people are going to hurt them, that things are not going to go as planned. But, you know, as we look to God who forgives us a thousand times each and every day, he calls us to do the same as well.
Speaker 3:For sure. So I think this might be a a cool thing to to consider when you do have that time with your mentee, and I would preface this with use discernment, obviously. But, you know, something that we have to be mindful of if we're not careful is we kind of build up this maybe idea from our mentee that we have it all together. Mhmm.
Speaker 2:And I
Speaker 3:just wanna kinda speak into that. As you mentioned, like, we all we always need to understand that God is is in the constant business of forgiving us. Okay? That that's what the Christ of the cross of Christ has done. Yesterday, today, and forever, we are forgiven in him.
Speaker 3:However, sometimes if we're not really be not really thinking about being able to be vulnerable enough to kind of show our mentee that that even we rely on his grace on a daily basis. Right? Because how would you define grace today? There was a time you wore it on your t shirt, and you didn't have any idea, but just quick definition.
Speaker 2:The unmerited favor of God.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Being given a gift you don't deserve. Right? Think about it that way. Isn't it funny that our birthdays, we, like we we think we we deserve something because it's the anniversary of when we were born?
Speaker 3:Man. But we really don't deserve anything, do we?
Speaker 2:Don't don't start down that path. Don't start down the, like, I don't oh, hey, man. Awesome job. Oh, no. It totally wasn't me.
Speaker 2:It was a 100% God. I'm like, I'm pretty sure God didn't make that speech. Now God God might have given you the idea, then we can praise him for that. But you actually did a really good job. You prepared.
Speaker 2:You spoke. You know?
Speaker 3:Is that is that here? Because That
Speaker 2:that is something that you wrote, but that drives me crazy. That's called false humility.
Speaker 3:Thank you for identifying with that because that that kinda drives me nuts. Zach, that might be the only thing that you and I have in common. The fact that that drives me nuts too.
Speaker 2:It's not true. We have a lot in common. Do you both have hair? We do. We do.
Speaker 2:I mean but we're kinda getting off top of here. But but yes. So, like, we we I see what you're saying here. Like, I think it's up to us as mentors to model this. Hey.
Speaker 2:It's okay to talk about you screwing up. In fact, it's actually really good because you confessing, you being vulnerable as you see fit Mhmm. Obviously Yeah. It gives them permission to do the same thing. Hey.
Speaker 2:It's okay to apologize. It's okay to say, man, I was hanging out with my kid, and I yelled at him. And that's not cool. And I messed up. And I was hanging hanging out with my wife, and she was cleaning up the house, and I sat on my couch and watched TV.
Speaker 2:That's not cool. Like Mhmm. Just confessing ways that we fail. And then it's also okay to talk about ways that people hurt us because you want your mentor to be able you want your mentee, excuse me, to be able to relate to you, and then always point it back to God. You know?
Speaker 2:Yeah. Well, that's that's kinda like whenever I do this, that hurts God. But how kind is he to forgive me? How often not 7, but 7 times 70.
Speaker 3:For sure.
Speaker 2:Yeah. That's good stuff.
Speaker 3:You ready for that last bit?
Speaker 2:May I I'll just I know we talk about this a lot, but the forgiveness piece if the only thing you do as a mentor is help your mentee learn how to forgive, that is gold. Mhmm. Like, the anger, the bitterness, especially with kids who have gone through trauma. Like, my mentor helped me forgive my father. And when that happened, it was like he unlocked a whole new world for me.
Speaker 2:And I understand that there's timing, and I understand all of that stuff. But if you can get your your mentee to start thinking about this, hey. You think you're punishing the person who hurt you, but you're really locking yourself in prison. You know? What's all that anger doing to you?
Speaker 2:What's all that you know? And so that's a that's a really big deal.
Speaker 3:That's a big one.
Speaker 2:So what's next?
Speaker 3:Deliver us not into temptation. Let me take that back. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.
Speaker 2:So the main thing that we kinda focused in on here is only you, god, can help us follow you. Please help us do that so we can do your will and give you glory and honor. It's all about him, and we need him daily. We cannot do this thing called life on our own. And when we do, it goes bad.
Speaker 3:You got it. You got it. So asking for God to, like, put these parameters in our lives. Right? To say, Lord, you know my weaknesses.
Speaker 3:You know my struggles. Father, manifest yourself in such a way. Like, give me wisdom to know that, I don't need to make that choice because when I make that choice, it leads to 2 others. And then by the time I'm done, I have I've ruined myself. Right?
Speaker 3:So it's saying, Lord, don't lead me down that path, but instead, like, deliver me because you are the deliverer. Okay? Keep me from evil. And then recognizing that it you and you alone. Just as we mentioned, father in heaven, your name is holy.
Speaker 3:We now end this by saying it's your kingdom and your power and your glory, and these things are forever. And and that's different than anything else on earth. Right? That that is that difference between the temporal and the permanent.
Speaker 2:In that amen, I mean, that's that's all you need right there. Yeah. It's like, hey. Let's see here. Our father in heaven, like, we're focused in on you.
Speaker 2:You're good. You're father. We're sons and daughters. Hallowed be your name. You are holy.
Speaker 2:There's none like you. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Your way is better than ours, and we trust you. It's all about you.
Speaker 2:It's got nothing to do with us, although you do use us. Thank you, Lord. Give us today our daily bread. When we seek him each morning, he will provide for our needs daily in his perfect timing. Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive.
Speaker 2:You know, we will fail. People will fail us, but we forgive because we've been forgiven. And then, Lord, we need you to lead us not into temptation. We need you to deliver us from evil. Why?
Speaker 2:Because yours is the kingdom. It's your power. It's your glory. It's all about you. Amen.
Speaker 2:End of story. Nothing else needs to be added there. Yep. And that's just so powerful because I know me, I focus in on I need to learn how to pray better. I need to learn how to pray longer.
Speaker 2:I need to seem spiritual, and we get to teach our mentees no. Like, this is it. Mhmm. Me and my son were watching The Mandalorian. He's been asking me to watch it for, like, 6 months.
Speaker 2:And finally, I said, okay, son. Fine. And we watched it. And there is this guy who helps the Mandalorian, throughout his journey, and I don't know what kind of creature he is. But he says something, and then the Mandalorian asked a question, and he says, I have spoken.
Speaker 2:And I'm just like, I have spoken. I was like, he's done. Like, he he ain't saying anything else. Like, he has said what he needs to say, and he you don't need anything else. And that's what I think about with this prayer.
Speaker 2:This is the prayer. You don't need anything else. Like, this is it. Period. End of story.
Speaker 2:Amen. He has spoken. And we get to walk our mentees well, heck, we get to walk ourselves through this
Speaker 3:Mhmm.
Speaker 2:Daily. And as we do it, we get to invite our mentees into the process, and we get to teach them how to do all of these things daily, moment by moment, day by day, month by month. And so so yeah.
Speaker 3:That's it, man. It's important.
Speaker 2:Teach us how to pray, God. Teach us how to pray.
Speaker 3:Yeah. And even that final word, you know, what are you what are you saying when you say amen? What what did you kinda what have you learned? I've never learned that. Why why we say or or what what the word really kind of represents.
Speaker 3:Nope. It's awesome because it actually kinda translates into let it be so or so be it. And so what the cool thing about that is, you guys, is that as we as we say this prayer, we can be as abstract and we can be kind of as metaphorical as we wanna be because it's all just words. But then when we say amen, what we're saying is let this idea let this thing that has been communicated that you, God, have communicated to me that I have been able to reflect back and communicate to you. Let it be reality.
Speaker 3:So when we talked about that idea of taking head, heart, hands, it's as if we say, Lord, everything that I just said, let it be real. Like, let it be so. Don't just let it this be an idea that makes me kind of feel good for a little bit, but instead put it into practice on a daily basis.
Speaker 2:Great. Prayer, one of the foundations of having a relationship with Jesus. Communication is vital in relationships. What a great opportunity we have to teach our mentees to pray, to talk to God, to walk in the spirit, to be with him daily. And what a great opportunity we have to do this.
Speaker 2:Got it. Hope this was worth your time. Hope that you picked up some things. Hope the Lord spoke something, stirred up your heart, and that's all I got.
Speaker 3:So Same here. Alright.
Speaker 2:Thanks, John. You can mentor.