22. Small groups cultivate an environment in which the Lord is present with us! Jesus said in Matthew 18:20, “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” When the Twin Towers came down in the awful terrorist attack on the US in 2001, my wife and I met a couple of days later with our small group of young single adults. With the emotions of this horrible tragedy still raw in our minds and hearts, we gathered together that evening to worship and pray to the One who could make sense of it all. We spent the evening simply worshiping God, praying for the victims and their families and for our nation. The sense of God’s presence among us was overwhelming.

23. Small groups often give us the opportunity to watch God draw the unsaved to Himself.  Many years ago, when my wife and I were missionaries in Austria, a young lady began attending a small group in our home as a guest of one of our small group members. For the first few weeks Sabrina simply sat on the couch with her head down and her hands in her lap. She didn’t say a word and wouldn’t establish eye-contact with anyone. Frankly, I was surprised she continued to come, but we extended her love and included her in any way we could. Then, slowly, over a period of many weeks, Sabrina began to open up. She had a Bible with her, would read with us and began to enter into conversations. She often asked tough, probing questions. Finally, one week she came with a big smile on her face and announced that she had surrendered her life to Christ! Over the next months and years, it was our privilege to watch Sabrina grow in her relationship with Christ and with others.

24. Small groups offer deep, meaningful fellowship and good, clean fun! When my wife and I lived in Alaska, we led a small group of young single adults. One of our traditions was to take a midnight hike thru Conner’s Bog every New Year’s Eve. Such a trek through the frozen trails of this bog were fun and a bit crazy! The moonlight reflecting off the snow usually sufficed so that we didn’t need flashlights or headlamps. Sometimes we’d encounter a moose! But we had a blast together simply spending time with each other and enjoying God’s beautiful creation.

25. Small groups provide an opportunity for its members to serve one other! Acts 2:44-45, “All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.” Each week our small group members take turns serving one another by bringing hors d’oeuvres and sharing with each other in other creative and hospitable ways. These small, hospitable acts of kindness allow us to demonstrate Christ’s love by serving one another. There’s also something about eating together that brings a group together in sweet fellowship!

26. Finally, small groups help us identify and equip new and more leaders in the church. Nothing stretches a follower of Jesus like being asked to lead others into deeper relationship with Christ! Leading small groups can be a tremendous joy, but also can provide significant challenges. As we identify and train new leaders, they experience their relationship with Christ and others in new, exciting and sometimes stretching ways. And as a result, everybody wins–the small group leader, his/her small group members, and the church as a whole!

©2012 Rob Fischer

17. Small groups provide us with the accountability that we desperately need! A few years ago, I was leading a men’s small group over the lunch hour. One of our guys (I’ll call him Kent) came in late and was noticeably troubled. We greeted Kent and I asked him what was wrong. He blurted out that he had just had a fight with his wife. I asked him if he had reconciled with her, to which he answered no. He explained what their argument was over and it was crystal clear to all of us that Kent was being extremely unreasonable and unloving toward his wife. Playfully, we told him to get back home and make things right with his wife and to let us know how things went. To Kent’s credit, he did! Kent was grateful for our tough love for him (and so was his wife!).

18. Small groups enable us to gather with other followers of Christ around God’s Word regularly! Acts 2:42, “they devoted themselves to the apostle’s teaching.” That’s the Word of God. Recently, the small group that I lead launched into a three week overview of Joseph’s life from Genesis. We read several chapters aloud each session and then discussed how God was working in Joseph’s life and how his story applies to us. All of us found Joseph’s story to be profoundly relevant and significant in our lives. This is just one example of how we spend time together in God’s Word and how powerfully His Word impacts us!

19. Small groups launch us into God-focused prayer with other followers of Christ! A number of years ago, Linda and I were leading a small group in Texas. A couple, Randy and Debbie, were members of our small group. They had been trying to have children for seven years, but to no avail. We had prayed for them often. However, on one evening in our small group, we read the passage in Luke 1 about how God gave Zacharias and Elizabeth a child (John the baptist) in their old age. As I was reading this passage, the Holy Spirit impressed on all of us, “I want to do this for Randy and Debbie too.” God’s leading and communication were so clear, that I confirmed with the rest of the group to see if that’s what they were hearing as well. And indeed, all had sensed the same message from God. So we stopped and prayed right then and there. A few weeks later, Debbie announced that she was pregnant and today they have two beautiful children!

20. Small groups provide us with first-hand experience at watching God work among us! The story I’m about to share is bazaar! I almost hesitate to share it, but I’ll tell it just like it happened. On another occasion, we were leading a small group in Post Falls, Idaho. The couple in whose home we met had a small “designer” dog that they loved. However, when we showed up for small group that night, Larry was holding their dog in his lap and the dog did not look well. Larry had been staining a fence earlier that day and the dog had unwittingly lapped up a considerable amount of stain and had gotten very sick. They rushed the dog to the vet and he did what he could for the dog, but sent the dog home indicating that he doubted that she would live.

There we were that night, looking at this pathetic little dog draped over Larry’s lap. The dog was listless and breathing short, rapid breaths. About ten minutes into our Bible study, Larry suddenly looked up and said to his wife, “Shirley, the dog is gone!” The dog was now completely limp. We stopped what we were doing and prayed. We prayed for the dog, but mostly for God’s comfort in Larry and Shirley’s life. The moment we said, “Amen,” the dog snapped its little head up, jumped off Larry’s lap and ran over to her water bowl and started drinking! We were all dumbfounded wondering what we had just witnessed!

Now, I’m not saying what you’re thinking! All we know is what we saw and experienced. But the real meaning in that incident for all of us that night was that God was present with us and He loves us and cares for us intimately–down to the smallest matters in our lives!

©2012 Rob Fischer

7. Small groups follow Jesus’ example with His twelve disciples! Jesus chose twelve men…that they might be with Him…(Mark 3:14)Jesus spent time with many others too, but he focused on the twelve. There is a limit to the number of people we can impact deeply with our lives. Small groups provide a great environment in which to influence and impact a few deeply.

8. Small groups are one of the most effective means of caring for others! (Small groups are our first line of defense at Southside Christian Church!) Late last fall, a family in our church lost a family member in a tragic farm accident. This family’s small group rallied around them providing love and meals. Additionally, their small group mustered over 50 volunteers to come to their farm to finish fencing in their land before winter set in.

9. Small groups offer spiritual partnership! Proverbs 27:17, “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” We all need that sharpening, that honing that takes place in deep relationships! Next to the Word of God, I’ve personally found spiritual partnership to be the single most powerful lever in my life for bringing about spiritual transformation.

10. Small groups provide us with ways to bear one another’s burdens. Galatians 6:2 says, “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” A great way we carry one another’s burdens is by praying for each other and this occurs hundreds of times weekly in our small groups!

©2012 Rob Fischer

2. Small groups meet our God-designed need for relationship! God created us for relationship with Him and with others. Small groups can provide an ideal environment for us to cultivate deep, lasting relationships.

3. Small groups enable us to stay small as the church grows larger! While large churches enjoy many advantages, they also struggle with how to provide meaningful, caring relationships. Small groups offer a great solution to this challenge. And even smaller churches need small groups!

4. Small groups keep us from isolation that the evil one loves to use against us! For whatever reason, when we are down, discouraged or depressed, our natural tendency is to isolate. Isolation is right where the evil one wants us. Eccl. 4:10 (NLT), “Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. 10 If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble.”

5. Small groups meet our need for others to help us all grow in Christ! Do you know that we cannot fully develop in our relationship with Christ apart from community with other followers of Christ? The nature of the change that Christ wants to bring about in us can only occur in the context of community, because the change involves character and relational issues. The character of Christ is more caught than taught. We become more like Christ chiefly by watching His character modeled by others and being coached by others.

©2012 Rob Fischer

In the Lord’s Prayer we are asking Him for strength to resist temptation. The New Living Translation renders it, “And don’t let us yield to temptation.” Another way to put it might be, “Lord, please lead me out of and away from the things that tempt me!” Jesus warned His disciples on the night He was betrayed, “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Matthew 26:41) As we’ve seen elsewhere in this prayer, we are dependent on our heavenly Father and in this case, we’re dependent on His strength to resist temptation.

Where does temptation come from? The Scriptures point out at least three sources of temptation: the world system, our own fleshly desires and the devil (see 1 John 2:15-16; James 1:14; and John 13:2). The world and its ways are contrary to God. There’s nothing mysterious about this. The world calls good what God calls evil; and it calls evil what God calls good. Abortion or the killing of unborn children is one sober example of this horrible distortion.

One significant way in which we are led astray by the world is through others who aren’t following Jesus. Paul warns, “Do not be misled: ‘Bad company corrupts good character.’” (1 Corinthians 15:33) The world offers enticements that lure us away from God’s pure character toward lewd and baser things. The world cries out to us, “Come run with us.” “Everybody’s doing it!” “No one will know.” “It’s fun, try it!” “It doesn’t hurt anyone.”

Clearly, a second way we are led into temptation is through our own fleshly desires stimulated by greed, lust, envy, jealousy, and pride. The Bible refers to this as, “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.” (1 John 2:16) James explains, “Each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.” (James 1:14-15) Because our flesh is weak, it’s so important that we ‘feed’ our spirit with God’s Word, fellowship and prayer.

Finally, some temptations come from the evil one, the devil. Jesus was tempted by the evil one, yet He resisted his temptations and did not sin. Peter warns us, “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith.” (1 Peter 5:8-9) The devil wants to trip us up. He wants to foil God’s plan to transform us and make us more like Christ. He lies to us in much the same way he lied to Adam and Eve in the garden.

Coming back to the Lord’s Prayer, we ask God to help us resist temptation and to protect us from the evil one. This prayer presupposes that we will obediently avoid such situations that would place us in harm’s way. In other words, don’t go to places where you know you’ll be tempted. Don’t hang out with others who are constantly trying to lead you into temptation. And in some situations where temptation simply appears unannounced, we must flee! We must not flirt with temptation, but flee from it! We’re told to “Flee from sexual immorality!” (1 Corinthians 6:18) “Flee from idolatry!” (1 Corinthians 10:14) Flee from the lure of riches. (1 Timothy 6:11) And “Flee the evil desires of youth.” (2 Timothy 2:22)

“Father, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”

©2011 Rob Fischer

As we read or pray this prayer, it would be easy for us to see our “daily bread” or the “forgiveness of our debts” as the focal things, but they aren’t. The focal thing in this prayer is God and our relationship with Him. When we express our need to Him for bread and for forgiveness, we interact with Him in a way that cultivates our relationship with Him and acknowledges who He is. God is not merely the “bread-Giver” or “Forgiver,” He is our Father. “If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:11)

I also recently heard someone claim that if one is “in Christ,” then that person is already forgiven all past, present and future sins and need no longer ask forgiveness. This statement is an attempt to reduce our relationship with God to mere dogma or theology. Think of this in terms of relationship instead. If a husband says, “I don’t need to tell my wife I love her, she already knows that,” he is depriving his wife and himself of the expression of and cultivation of their love relationship. The same is true for us if we say we don’t need to ask God forgiveness.

When we sin, we need to confess our sins, humble ourselves before God and ask His forgiveness. Sin rifts any relationship. Forgiveness repairs that rift. Theologically we know that God will forgive us before we ask Him, but experientially we need to ask Him. We need to express our sorrow over sin and resolve to love and follow Him. This is all necessary for a healthy relationship. (See 1 John 1:9.)

But there is a second part of this prayer of forgiveness. We’ve already asked for God’s kingdom to rule in our hearts and lives. One of the ways we live that out most fully is by forgiving others when they sin against us. We want to be like our Father, who is loving, long-suffering and forgiving. Can we really expect Him to forgive us if we refuse to forgive others? In fact, shortly after this prayer, Jesus commented, “For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” (Matthew 6:14-15)

A friend who discipled me many years ago coached me to “keep short accounts” with God and with others. What he meant was to attend to our relationships in such a way that we would never be harboring ill-will toward someone or withholding forgiveness from someone. In this same spirit we pray to our heavenly Father, “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.”

©2011 Rob Fischer

Asking God to provide for us is not an abdication of our responsibility to work hard for ours and others’ needs. Rather this request simply acknowledges that everything we have and enjoy is a gift from God. We look to Him as our loving, sovereign benefactor. The psalmist expressed to God: “You send rain on the mountains from your heavenly home, and you fill the earth with the fruit of your labor. You cause grass to grow for the livestock and plants for people to use. You allow them to produce food from the earth—wine to make them glad, olive oil to soothe their skin, and bread to give them strength.” (Psalm 104:13-15 NLT)

Our request for God to “give us today our daily bread” also emphasizes a daily, habitual looking to Him for all our needs. In our culture, we often think of dependency as a negative thing. But dependency on God is always healthy, “For in him we live and move and have our being.” (Acts 17:28) When a small child depends on its parents for everything that child needs, this represents a good and wholesome relationship. So it is in our relationship with our heavenly Father.

Finally, we recognize in asking, “Give us today our daily bread,” it would be foolish of us to rant and rave like a spoiled child demanding things from our Father that we do not need or should not have. God is not a genie who appears on command to fulfill our every wish! Yet He is not stingy either. Paul urged Timothy: “Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.” (1 Timothy 6:17-19)

The things beyond our needs that God has given us, we enjoy due to His kindness and gracious provision. He is so good! He wants us to continue to trust in Him and to learn to be like Him and give generously to others just as He has given generously to us. Thus we humbly pray, “Give us today our daily bread.”

©2011 Rob Fischer

Imagine God’s kingdom, a kingdom in which there is no sin, evil or anything wicked. Our world today is polluted and permeated with sin and evil. God will one day renew the earth and set up His eternal rule. The apostle John, seeing and hearing a preview of God’s coming kingdom, writes, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” (Revelation 21:3-4)

But the Lord’s Prayer is not merely looking forward to the future. There is a very present sense of longing for God’s kingdom and seeking for His will to be done. Read what Jesus said about His Father’s kingdom, “So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:31-33)

We mistake this “seeking first God’s kingdom” as a matter of priorities. When we establish priorities, we complete the top priorities and move on to lesser priorities. But that’s not what Jesus is saying. “Seeking first God’s kingdom” is not an issue of priority setting, but one of singleness of heart and mind. We must learn to seek God’s kingdom in all facets of life. God does not wish to be a priority among priorities! He is the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, the I AM. He asks us to set up His kingship in every area of our lives. No aspect or element of our lives should fall outside of His kingly rule and authority!

I urge you to pray with me, humbly and with full knowledge of what this means, “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

©2011 Rob Fischer

When we pray to God, “Hallowed be your name,” we both declare that God is holy and that we desire our lives to honor Him as holy. We profane Him when we ascribe attributes or works to Him that are not holy or are inconsistent with His character. Paul warns in this regard, “For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.” (Romans 1:21-23)

We also profane, rather than hallow God’s name, when we think, speak and behave in a manner inconsistent with who we are as His children. God had appointed Israel to serve as a light to the Gentiles, showing them the way to God. But through disobedience to Him, the Scriptures declare, “God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.” (Romans 2:24)

When we pray, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,” we are declaring and rejoicing that our heavenly Father is holy. And in the same breath, we humbly bow before Him, desperately asking Him to make us holy as He is holy (1 Peter 1:15-16). To hallow His name is to glorify Him and one of the simplest ways we glorify Him is by enjoying Him. John Piper reminds us, “God is most glorified in us, when we are most satisfied in Him.”

“Father, You are holy, holy, holy! May my life proclaim and exhibit Your holiness to all around me. Remove from me anything unholy or unclean. Father, You are my joy and delight! Hallowed be Your name!”

©2011 Rob Fischer

That our Father is in heaven is not meant to frighten us, but it should awe us with a sense of reverence (godly fear) and wonder! The fact that God is both our very present Father and our exalted God in heaven is also extremely comforting! For He is not like an earthly father who may disappoint, act selfishly, capriciously, or weakly. Listen to His voice as he calls:

“Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” (Isaiah 40:28-31)

That’s who our heavenly Father is! He is the Creator. He is all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-present. He is neither bound by time, nor by the physical laws that bind us. He is infinitely greater than all that. He is “our Father in heaven.” There is no place from which He cannot hear us. He is sovereign—there is nothing that surprises Him or escapes His notice. He knows us intimately—even our very thoughts and desires.

Knowing all of the above, King David prayed, “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” (Psalm 139:23-24) (See all of Psalm 139!) We pray to “our Father in heaven.”

©2011 Rob Fischer