Grace College President Dr. Drew Flamm speaks during the local National Day of Prayer service on Thursday, May 4, at the Winona Heritage Room in Winona Lake.
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By Leah Sander
InkFreeNews
WINONA LAKE — How to pray is laid out by Jesus in the Bible.
Grace College President Dr. Drew Flamm made that point during the annual National Day of Prayer service on Thursday, May 4, at the Winona Heritage Room in Winona Lake.
It was put on by the National Day of Prayer Task Force and the Greater Warsaw Ministerial Association. The event has been going on since at least the 1980s, said The Salvation Army Corps Administrator Envoy Ken Locke, who served as emcee Thursday.
Flamm, the event’s keynote speaker, spoke on The Lord’s Prayer found in Matthew 6:9-13.
He said the prayer there can be broken down into the acronym ACTS.
The A stands for “adoration,” said Flamm.
“(Jesus) starts out His prayer with ‘Our Father Who art in Heaven hallowed be Your Name,'” said Flamm. “He starts by recognizing Who God is, and He is Our Father, and He is honored when we call Him that.”
Flamm shared how sometimes his three sons will accidentally refer to him as “Drew” instead of “Dad.”
“And I quickly say, ‘I’m not Drew to you. I’m Dad,'” said Flamm. “One of my favorite moments each day is when I tuck them in, and they say, ‘I love you, Dad.'”
“Addressing God as Father is both respectful and tender. It’s a recognition that we are adopted daughters and sons of the King of Heaven, and this Father of ours is to be hallowed, which means holy, revered, honored,” said Flamm. “To start our prayers in humble reverence is the only appropriate way to approach the God of the Universe.”
He said the C in the acronym stands for “confession.”
“We read in verse 12: ‘Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors,'” said Flamm. “Confession is asking God to forgive us and then asking God to help us forgive others. This section reminds us of our sinful state to a Holy God and our debt to Him, and when we confess to do it in a straightforward manner.”
Flamm said what should be avoided is saying to God things like: “I’m sorry I yelled at him, but I was super stressed.”
“Confession is a deep recognition of our debt of sin, past, present and future and acknowledgement of the incredible grace of God,” he said. “God can and will forgive our entire spiritual debt, and He’ll give us the strength to do it for others.”
The next letter, T, represents “thanksgiving,” said Flamm.
“Even though thanksgiving is not explicitly mentioned in the Lord’s Prayer, I think it’s implied by the petition: ‘Give us this day our daily bread,'” said Flamm. “This part of the prayer could be seen as preemptive prayer for all God’s going to provide. It’s waking up and saying, ‘God, thanks for what you’re going to give me today.'”
The last letter, S, stands for “supplication,” said Flamm.
“Supplication is a begging for something,” he said. “In the Lord’s Prayer, we see this reflected in verse 13: ‘Lead us not unto temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’ And this can raise the question, would God actually lead me to tempt me to sin? But we have other parts of Scripture like (in) James 1 where it says, ‘God will not tempt you.'”
“The Lord’s Prayer recognizes that while God does not tempt us, he does control the circumstances that we may see as temptation,” said Flamm. “Jesus is teaching us to beg God to deliver us from our own weakness and the flesh that entraps us. To pray “Lead us not unto temptation’ is to lead us to recognize that only God can keep us from falling.”
“Jesus taught us to pray plainly, He gave us a pattern for prayer, and … (He) exemplified the power of prayer,” said Flamm.
In addition to hearing Flamm speak, attendees sang “The Star-Spangled Banner,” “I Then Shall Live,” and “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.”
Different people then prayed regarding several topics. They were: Warsaw Community Church Executive Pastor of Ministries Bonnie Swanson for ministry and missions; accessibility advocate Mason Metzger for families; Lakeland Christian Academy Middle and High School Principal Rebecca Monsma for education; WFRN marketing consultant Karin Baker for media members; Medartis USA President Rod Mayer for business; local veteran Joseph E. “Joe” Banks III for the military; and Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer for government leaders.
Warsaw Community Church Executive Pastor of Ministries Bonnie Swanson prays during the service.
Accessibility advocate Mason Metzger prays.
Lakeland Christian Academy Middle and High School Principal Rebecca Monsma prays.
WFRN Marketing Consultant Karin Baker prays.
Medartis USA President Rod Mayer prays.
Local veteran Joseph E. “Joe” Banks III prays.
Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer prays.