Here’s how you can live the words you pray in the Lord’s Prayer:

“Our Father”:  Pray for a healthy image of God that reflects Jesus’ experience as “Abba” – an affectionate term for a Father who loves deeply and unconditionally.  God isn’t a cold, aloof Creator who has abandoned His people; nor is He an insensitive judge who nonchalantly rules creation heartlessly.  God is close to you, pouring out His love into your life no matter what, and offering you strength and courage whenever you need them.  Let your gratitude for God’s deep love in your life motivate you to perform selfless acts of sacrificial love for others – just as Christ has done for you.  Recognize that you’re part of a huge spiritual family: All people are made in God’s image, and fellow believers are your brothers and sisters in Christ.  Since God is “our” Father, spiritual formation is about God, others, and you.  Ask God to give you the love He wants you to have for other people.   Intercede in prayer for them regularly.  Pray for opportunities to use what you’ve learned through your own suffering to help other people who are struggling in similar ways.  Welcome and accept all people – no matter how different they are from you.

“Who art in heaven”:  Since the God who lives in heaven has taken on human flesh as Christ, He has made it possible for you to experience the extraordinary in the midst of the ordinary.  Ask God to help you be alert to what He’s doing in your life right here and now.  Don’t try to limit God to just what you can understand of Him.  He transcends all images and descriptions people use to represent Him.  Expect that you may learn something valuable about God from interacting with the people He has made in His image.  Avoid judging people based on superficial attributes like their appearances.  Get to know them and look for the Holy Spirit at work within their souls.  Keep in mind that God is just as much at work in people who our culture tends to ignore – such as the disabled, the elderly, and the poor – as He is in other people.  Look for reflections of God in every person you meet.

“Hallowed be thy name”:  As you walk in God’s constant presence with you, you become aware of your own sinfulness contrasting with His holiness.  That leads to humility, in which you recognize just how much you really need God.  Recognize your own unworthiness, and remember that God is the source of all of your gifts, accomplishments, and talents.  He gave you life and salvation.  You owe everything to God, so live each day to please Him, as a way of expressing your love and gratitude.

“Thy kingdom come”:  God wants to use you to help bring more of His kingdom to our fallen world.  Your words and actions can help bring about God’s intentions for the world.  When you pray for God’s kingdom to come, you help answer that prayer by engaging the world and bringing peace, love, and justice to it – one person and situation at a time.  Whenever you respond to God’s call in the midst of ordinary moments by planting seeds of peace, love, and justice, they grow and blossom, expanding God’s kingdom on earth.

“Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”:  Discerning God’s will isn’t about figuring out exactly what God is thinking about every decision you face.  Instead, it’s about learning how make faith-based decisions – to let your faith guide your decision-making process so you can choose what’s best.  When you become aware that you’re approaching a critical juncture in your life that demands that you make a wise decision, aim to respond thoughtfully and prayerfully, rather than simply react.  Try to distance yourself from your ego (your obsession with self-concern, self-image, self-preservation, and self-gratification).  Remember and respect the commitments you’ve previously made to God, other people, and yourself.  As you reflect on various options, reject ones that will feed into a self-centered agenda and seriously consider those that will help you draw closer to God.  Think about which options are consistent with your values and the direction in which your life has been moving.  Let Scripture inform the process by reminding you of what God calls you to be.  Dialogue with other believers, asking questions and discussing how you and others may be affected by your decision.  Consider your energy and passions – whether or not you have a natural inclination to pursue a particular option.  Do you want to do it, and are you capable of carrying out that decision?  Then take action at the right time (when you’re not experiencing too much emotional stress).  Expect that, when you’ve made a wise decision, God will often respond by giving you peace afterward to confirm that you’ve chosen well.

“Give us this day our daily bread”:  When you pray for God to provide for your daily needs, you recognize your absolute dependency and existential poverty before God.  He has given you everything – from your looks and personality, to your friends and job, and even the air you breathe when you take your next breath.  Through teaching you to pray for something as ordinary as bread, Christ teaches you that no concern is too trivial to place before God.  Pray about everything that concerns you – no matter how insignificant it may seem – trusting that God cares and will answer in His way and in His time.  Pray for humility and childlike faith in God’s providence.  Then seek to become what you receive, by serving others every day so God can use you to help meet their needs through your life.  Volunteer at a food bank or hospital.  Visit lonely people in nursing homes.  Tutor children who are struggling in school.  The possibilities for you to help bring “daily bread” to others are endless.

“Forgive us our trespasses”:  God will free you from debilitating guilt when you pray for forgiveness.  No sin is written in indelible ink.  God’s mercy has no limits.  He will respond to your prayers for forgiveness by forgetting the past, welcoming you home with arms opened wide, and giving you the strength to help you move forward well.

“As we forgive those who trespass against us”:  Let your gratitude for God’s forgiveness of your own sins motivate you to obey His call to forgive others who have hurt or offended you.  Pray for the ability to avoid judging and condemning others, and the grace to break free of poisonous bitterness.  Rely on God to help you through the forgiveness process; remember that it’s always possible to forgive – despite your feelings – with God’s help.  Pursue inner healing by: remembering that Christ is always with you offering love and compassion, taking a fresh look at the past event and the feelings it raised inside of you (through praying about it and talking about it with people you trust, like friends, a counselor or a support group), step through your pain to temporarily put yourself in the place of the one who hurt or offended you so you can better understand that person’s heart and the brokenness in his or her life, asking Christ to do His healing work in your heart, and letting your healing lead you to greater compassion for others who are struggling and motivate you to reach out to them to help.

“Lead us not into temptation”:  Resist evil thoughts that attack your mind, affecting every part of your life.  Pray for the strength to counter tempting thoughts with corresponding saving virtues, turning the temptation of food to self-control, sex to chastity, material things to generosity, anger to patience, dejection to diligence, laziness to perseverance, vanity to humility, and pride to charity.  Scrutinize the motivations behind your feelings and desires.  Overcome evil with good through the power God will give you when you pray.

“Deliver us from evil”:  Encountering spiritual darkness can purify you from your ego and help transform you into a person who’s more like Christ.  When your faith is tested, you’re challenged to surrender to God with trust, and when you do, He will give you greater faith.  Respond to despair by crying out to God for the hope He offers you.  You can always count on God to deliver the hope you need in any situation.

I remember some things about the fall of 1987, but none nearly as vividly as our high school football team playing in the state championship. The whole city seemed caught up in the anticipation of what was happening. There was even a coach's quote that made it onto sweatshirts, bumper stickers and business signs: "never, never, never, never, never give up." Sadly, few in the stands wearing the shirts realized that they and the coach were actually quoting Winston Churchill. Nothing could deter our enthusiasm to cheer for our team! "NNNNNGU" was seen all over town. 

In the semifinal game, as time grew short and our team found itself behind, the chants from the stands came raining down on the field. "Never, Never, Never, Never, Never Give Up! Never, Never, Never, Never, Never Give Up!" Our team rallied to win and advance to the finals. It was all very cathartic for an entire town caught up in the exploits of its players. Those players would later say that hearing the cheers from the stands gave them encouragement to play well, but the truth is neither I nor anyone else sitting in the stands that night had any effect on the outcome of the game. The players had to pull it off. In fact, on the other side of the field was a group of fans equal in size and voice to our side. They cheered just as hard and just as loud – and their team went home defeated. We did all we could, but it was up to the team to pull it off... and they did.

Even though we would go on to lose the state championship, this great memory is replete with human drama and the glorious unknown. It makes for good inspiration. However, it parallels a disturbing trend I've noticed among followers of Christ to take this storyline and its exhilarating mystery and apply it to our spiritual lives. If I may oversimplify, I see two predominant schools of thought regarding how God is active in our spiritual lives. The core of the difference is who is central in the story. We love to be the center of the story and the focal point of God's affection. But when it comes to walking in the Spirit, is God my cheerleader, the one shouting "NNNNNGU" and praising my performance... or am I His? It may seem inconsequential, but what you believe about the roles in this scene has an impact on how the characters relate to each other, as well as how life's day-to-day events unfold.

In a recent devotional, beloved Christian author Max Lucado somewhat gave voice to the "God-as-cheerleader" viewpoint. In an excerpt from his book, Let the Journey Begin, Lucado, seeking to encourage the downtrodden, says:

"God is for you. Turn to the sidelines; that's God cheering your run. Look past the finish line; that's God applauding your steps. Listen for him in the bleachers, shouting your name. Too tired to continue? He'll carry you. Too discouraged to fight? He's picking you up. God is for you. God is for you. Had he a calendar, your birthday would be circled. If he drove a car, your name would be on his bumper. If there’s a tree in heaven, he’s carved your name in the bark. We know he has a tattoo, and we know what it says. 'I have written your name on my hand,' he declares (Isa. 49:16)." 

Now, obviously Lucado, who also authored a book titled It's Not About Me does not believe that we can find meaning by believing we are the center of the world. However, it sounds like Brother Max believes we can find value by believing that we are the center of God's affection. The logic would go something like this: Life is not about us, life is about God. And GOD is about us, so be encouraged. In this view, God's role in our life is as our biggest fan, perfect parent and consummate cheerleader. He wants your happiness even more than you do and he's cheering for it, so go out and get it!

To be sure, God has poured out His love on His children. He has loved us with an unfathomable love. He has demonstrated His love towards us by sending Jesus as our righteousness and our salvation. But whenever God occupies a grandstand in our lives and not a throne, we err terribly. At times (especially when time grows short and we find ourselves behind) we like to talk about God as our biggest fan. He cheers us on as we walk through life, telling us that we can do it – but ultimately having little to do with the final outcome. 

It feels good and right to be the center of the story and the focal point of everyone's attention. When we think of all that God has done in Christ for His children, it is easy to see how we can think that God is solely focused on doing all He can to cheer for us. The problem with that logic comes in what we have to do to God to fit him into a cheerleader uniform.

In a curiously antithetical article, John Piper states the counter-argument, what we'll call the "God-as-cheered" viewpoint, this way:

"God is the one Being in the entire universe for whom self-centeredness, or the pursuit of his own glory, is the ultimately loving act. For him, self-exaltation is the highest virtue. When he does all things 'for the praise of his glory,' he preserves for us and offers to us, the only thing in the entire world, which can satisfy our longings. God is for us, and therefore has been, is now and always will be, first, for himself. I urge you not to resent the centrality of God in his own affections, but to experience it as the fountain of your everlasting joy."

He WANTS us to choose him, to follow him, to know that we are special to him but that it is up to him to make things happen, to order our steps. The result of God-in-the-stands, however, has some serious personal and theological effects. It's tough to serve a cheerleader God. If he is in the stands and on the sidelines and at the finish line, then how am I gonna get there? If he carries me only when I am too tired, can I just admit right now that I'm tired? Out here running on my own, I keep going in circles. I have no idea where I'm headed. If he picks me up only when I'm too discouraged to fight, can I just admit right now that, if I'm fighting and he's cheering, I'm gonna get handled... and quickly.

I think maybe I'm tempted to put God in the stands when things aren't turning out quite how I'd hoped. If God is cheering but I am the one running, then I can always blame it on me when things go bad – thereby absolving God of any possible egg on His face and paying the price for my own failure. You see the problem there, no? Relegating God to a fail-safe and fall-back will always get you to the same place, failing and falling again and again until you see that it is God who wills and works, God who makes alive, God who remembers based on His own choice, not your ability to perform. 

For His own name and glory - God has created, worked, efforted, miracled. Now, needing fans, he has taken, among others, a washed up, tired, slow white kid named Jay and put HIM in the bleachers while placing himself on the throne of the victor. The race is over. The battle is won. The champion is seated on a throne... always has been. And, look at that, he does have a tattoo – only it's on his thigh... and it isn't MY name... it's his – King of kings and Lord of lords (Rev. 19:16) – and all us tired cheerleaders in the bleachers are going WILD.

In the final analysis it's fair to say that there is something of a "both/and" thing going on here, similar to the quote from that sage Forrest Gump when he said, "Maybe both is happening at the same time." There is a time to know that God is your biggest fan, that he has all your successes and hopes in mind, that he doesn't want you to lick the trash can. Our name is written on his hand, and his greatness is written on his robe and thigh. But it truly seems from both general and special revelation that God has no bigger cheerleader than himself – and he has invited you and I to have a seat in the bleachers and join in the celebration.

Or, as a popular website reminds us these days, God is First. I am Second.

J.H. Jowett once said, "The real measure of our wealth is how much we would be worth if we lost all our money." He was right. Earthly riches or the lack of them has nothing to do with real wealth. The only treasure that matters is the treasure you lay up in heaven.

Jesus taught, "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also" (Matt. 6:19-21). That is a mandate, not a recommendation. Invest in eternity!

What an appropriate message for a culture like ours. People in our society are wealthier than any civilization in the history of man. Sadly, they rapidly squander their blessings on things that cannot last. If our treasure reveals the condition of our hearts (v. 21), this generation is in serious spiritual trouble. Our buying habits show little concern for anything of eternal value.

Americans are spending a significant portion of their incomes on luxury items and recreation—and they are spending it fast. Why wait until you can afford something, if you can charge it and have it instantly? Outstanding consumer debt in this country has skyrocketed, leaving many in financial shambles. They pursue the "good life," the so-called "American dream."

But there is no "good life" you can buy no matter how much money you have. The "American dream" is nothing but an illusion and chasing the dream can become destructive. Statistics indicate the more money you have the more likely you are to commit suicide; life expectancy decreases as income increases. Money adds to stress, and that in turn takes years off your life. One study shows that wealth also intensifies moral decline and family disintegration. Marital infidelity and divorce rates rise with income levels. Obviously, money cannot buy happiness.

The apostle Paul was on target when he wrote, "Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith, and pierced themselves with many a pang" (1 Tim. 6:9-10).

While obsession with money incites crime, destroys families, and wrecks lives, the ultimate price for loving temporal things is eternal damnation. Jesus hinted at this when He asked, "What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul?" (Mark 8:36).

Perhaps the saddest observation of all is that the spending habits of people in the church differ little from those of the world. The lifestyles of most professing Christians are not substantially different from anyone else's. Too many in the church have adopted the world's indulgent attitude toward money. Almost every form of materialistic extravagance and excess has found its way into the fellowship of believers. It is as if the church has forgotten Jesus' mandate to invest in eternity.

When money-lovers creep into the pulpit to steal from the treasury, it's an obvious scandal. But isn't the money-lover in the pew—the person who refuses to at all—just as disgraceful?

One study of several denominations revealed a gradual decline in giving over seventeen years, though average income increased sharply in that time period. Material riches are proving to be a spiritual liability. Christians now have more money at their disposal than at any time in human history, but they proportionately invest far less in the kingdom. The same study further revealed that almost half of all charitable giving in the United States comes from households with annual incomes under $30,000. James 2:5 comes to mind: "Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?"

Hosea 13:6 sums up this tragic disparity: "Being satisfied, their heart became proud; therefore, they forgot Me." When we become prosperous, we become proud. Then we forget God. Frankly, for most people persecution is easier to endure than prosperity. In other words, there is a clear connection between your attitude toward money and your spiritual health. Where you invest your treasure reveals where you have set your trust and affections. That is why the Lord had so much to say about money.

Do you want to take your spiritual temperature? Look at your checkbook. Where are you investing your treasure? That's where your heart really is.

God does not give you riches to hoard, but to use for His glory. True enjoyment of wealth comes not from possessing it, but from investing it as God intended—in things that count for eternity.