Patrick Mays, Ph.D., Campus Pastor
2021 is a banner year in the history of LeTourneau University. We are celebrating our 75th anniversary; we are making a presidential transition; we are initiating a new strategic plan; and we are launching the largest capital campaign in the history of the university. Any one of these events is significant. The confluence of all four indicate momentous and joyful opportunities. We also face uncertain and challenging times as a Christian institution, in a world with strong, opposing forces to our mission. These challenges and opportunities present a crucial moment to trust in the power and provision of Jesus Christ. It is, therefore, prudent for us as a Christ-centered community to answer an intentional call to prayer.
The three years that the disciples spent with Jesus in his ministry were intense. The entry of Jesus, God Incarnate, into the fabric of human history shook foundations and brought transformation both to corporate systems and individual lives. The disciples had a front row seat through it all. In the midst of those tumultuous times, Jesus prayed and taught his disciples to pray.
The prayer that Jesus taught, the Lord’s Prayer, has remained a constant in the practice and worship of Christ’s followers down through history. It has become a kind of rock, an anchor, when the joys and the troubles of this world have threatened to overwhelm.
As LeTourneau University boldly moves forward in faith, we place our confidence in the God who has led us in the past, leads us today, and will lead us into the future. Therefore, we, the people of LeTourneau University, are called to prayer for the 2021-2024 strategic plan. As was the case with the first disciples and with the historic church, we will be guided by the Lord’s Prayer.
There are many good resources on the Lord's Prayer that we encourage faculty & staff to access to go deeper as we pray as a campus. One example is N. T. Wright’s book, The Lord and His Prayer. It is a short, yet thoughtful, reflection on The Lord’s Prayer and will encourage us as a community as we intentionally pray together. In it, he focuses on the Lord's Prayer in six summary sections as follows.
A Summary Outline of The Lord’s Prayer (Mt. 6:9-13; Luke 11:2-4)
I. Our Father in Heaven:
The Lord’s Prayer invites us with boldness to address our heavenly Father as the true God of the universe. The One who holds all creative and sustaining power of the universe counts us as children. With this comforting address, we bow in worship to the only God who is worthy of glory and honor.
II. Thy Kingdom Come:
This first petition is a prayer of integration. God’s kingdom, indeed, will come, and there is no human act that can stop it. The prayer, then, is an obedient act of the human will to participate with God’s redemptive activity in the world.
III. Give Us This Day:
God confronts human greed with His grace. The prayer for bread, and all that it symbolizes, is both a petition for and a recognition of God’s blessings that He graciously offers His children. Thus, all of God’s blessing should be received with thanksgiving.
IV. Forgive Us Our Trespasses:
The plea for forgiveness is a reminder that “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8). The prayer reminds us that we are all prodigals, and God runs to us ready to offer forgiveness (Lk. 15:11-32). In turn, we should freely forgive others who have wronged us.
V. Deliver Us from Evil:
The world is dark with temptation and evil. Christ’s followers are not called to remove themselves from the world, but rather to be sent by Christ into it so that the world will know the Father (John 17). The need for protection from evil in this calling is real.
VI. The Power and the Glory:
The concluding summation of the prayer clearly identifies that prayer is significant work that invites the establishment of the reign of God, a time and place in which creation is restored to its intended order. God is King, and He alone has the power to grant petitions, and He shall receive the glory.
Using the Prayer Guide
The Strategic Plan Prayer Guide is set up on a work-week schedule and incorporates the six sections of The Lord’s Prayer. On Tuesday through Friday, one of the four Mission Critical Objectives (MCO) of the Strategic Plan will be highlighted each day. As you pray through each section of the Lord’s Prayer, we encourage you to reflect on the amplifications that are offered for each MCO. Please feel free to use these words and offer your own. For Mondays, we encourage you to gather in your departments and hallways in corporate prayer for the Strategic Plan and for campus and individual praises and concerns.
