Botlhale IV: The Lord's Prayer

We hear almost too often that ‘we are created in God’s image’. Whether that is true or not is everyone’s personal spiritual journey to explore. You should learn to pray in your own language, from my experience, it seems like ‘indigenous’ prayers reach their destination much quicker. Think of all the times in the Holy book where you hear “The word of the Lord came to” someone. Being fluent in your mother-tongue is extremely important, if not for yourself and the spiritual journey with God, atleast do it for your kids.

The following is an interlude of some sort, a longing to speak about an encounter that set the tone. Another embrace of encouragement for anyone looking to find their way.

And so it goes;

Re bokeng hararo ea kaletseng maru,

Ea tshabehang,

Re re O moholo, moholo, moholo!

O re fe dipelo tse o tshabang.

Sefela~2

Let us praise him in Holy trinity,

He who is seated above the clouds,

He who is to be revered, to Him we say,

You are Great, Great, Great!

Give us hearts that revere you.

Hymn 2

Our Father, who art in heaven…

In the same way a mirror reflects your face when you look into it, the same is true about heaven and earth. When we pray we kneel down, in reverence of He who is above all, we do not pray laying down. We do this because as He is, in heaven, so is He, here on Earth. It is good for a woman to pray with her head and shoulders covered, that is why it is said that a man who finds a wife from the Lord finds a good thing. It is good for a man to pray by himself first before he prays together with his partner, that is why it is said that I the Lord am the head of man, and man, the head of woman.

Holy is your name…

Be assured, cleanliness is next to Godliness, do not take that for granted because our God does not. You cannot begin prayer without confession, since a relationship without honesty is relatively immature. Even water from the rivers and dams need filtering and cleansing before we can consume it through our kitchen taps, so then filter your rivers and dams’ worth of prayers through the cleansing of genuine honesty. We need maturity to move forward in life.

May your Kingdom come; may your Will be done.

Ecclesiastes 3 v1-8

Mathew 19 v26

On Earth as it is in Heaven.

Ntate ha ke sa sepela,

Hole le lehae la heso,

O nthuse, ke tsebe ho re,

Ho lokile.

Sefela~110

Father as I go on my way,

Far out away from home,

Help me, to know that,

All is well.

Hymn~110

Give us today all that we need…

I was taught early on in my journey to seek God fully but to never desire seeing his face. The wisdom was that one should ‘Never open the door while God is taking a shower, if you do, you’ll fall blind forever’. We have read many times about the story of Adam and the tree he was forbidden to eat from, you too, do not eat from it. Do not desire to see more than you should, do not desire to know more than you need to, and do not ask for things that are out of your reach. The one who has mastered the ability of knowing when to stop, when enough is enough, is a step closer to finding lasting peace.

Forgive us our sins…

You have heard it said that you cannot pour out from an empty cup, there is wisdom in that. Even better though is the understanding that you cannot fill your own cup. You do not get to choose who fills your cup, the choice is only to receive or not to receive. God works in mysterious ways, through mysterious people. The better you are at allowing other people to fill your cup, the easier it will be to accept forgiveness. Do not be stubborn.

Give us the capacity to forgive others…

If you struggle with this, try spending time with young children or elderly people. They are a great place to find inner healing. Yes, elderly people and young children are pretty much the same, care-free and easy-going – God’s little secret for those of us in-between. Learn from them.

Lead us not into temptation…

Be wise and avoid falling into the temptation of thinking that your life needs to be this and that by a specific time. Pray that you do not fall for the temptation of thinking that you can have a relationship with God, without baptism. Do not waste your time trying to prove your parents wrong, they make mistakes just like you. The fourth commandment of the 10 is critically important, do not lose your life due to an inability to let go of the past. Once you start counting all the things other people have, that you don’t, it’s time to go church. 

Deliver us from the evil one…

Matters of heart are difficult to resolve because the heart is a difficult thing to understand. Both God and the devil look for a person’s heart, whoever finds it first wins the game. Don’t play games with your heart, matters of the heart are difficult to resolve.

It is your Kingdom, your Power and your Glory…

Life is long for those who are wise and short for those who make hasty decisions. Do not be hasty to dismiss good advice, especially the call to change your old ways. We fear God because we understand that he can be your best ally and your worst enemy efficiently so. The person you marry represents your kingdom, your power and your glory. So then, when you decide to commit, do not be hasty, do not rush - be wise.

Why?

Matters of the heart are difficult to resolve forever and ever, amen.

Jeso ke setshabelo botlhokong ba pelo,

Madi a hae ke tefo E lefang melato.

Re mo tshepeng kaofela, Dibe a di tlose.

Sefela~109

 

Lord Jesus is our refuge through life’s challenges,

His blood is the ransom for all of our sins.

Let us all put our trust in Him, we will find forgiveness.

Hymn~109

This is just a leaf from my tree, the result of my faith within.