Teach Us to Pray…
Pray, then, in this way:
Matthew 6:9-13 Abba – Daddy – Papa… (“Our Father”)
Matthew 6:9-13 You are mine – the BEST – none compare to MY DADDY!… (“Hallowed be Your name”)
Matthew 6:9-13 My future world – the perfect playground is coming. I can’t wait!… (“Your kingdom come”)
Matthew 6:9-13 Here I am, Papa, teach me Your way now, so I will be ready!… (‘Your will be done”… “On earth as it is in heaven”)
Matthew 6:9-13 You are my Provider… (“Give us this day our daily bread”)
Matthew 6:9-13 My Savior… (“And forgive us our debts”)… HELP – I want to forgive as You have forgiven me… (“as we also have forgiven our debtors”)
Matthew 6:9-13 My Protector… (“And do not lead us into temptation”) for we are clueless! (“but deliver us from evil”) and our enemy is ALWAYS looking for a fool without Your uniform – our washed white as snow garments. Sometimes mine are so dirty it is hard to see white!
Matthew 6:9-13 You alone are My God… To You alone I give my heart, my will, and my worship! (“For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever, Amen”)
… but… do not use meaningless repetition… I was (sometimes still) the queen of “yada, yada, yada”… how can you not do repetition? Especially when you’re taught that this IS “The Lord’s Prayer”!
And then it hits me… PARENT! (I think the Holy Spirit blew through) How does a child speak to his/her Daddy (or Mommy)? How did my kids communicate with me? How did I want them to communicate with me?
How often did I want them to talk with me?
What did I want to hear them tell me?
What words just wrapped my heart around their little fingers?
When each of my kids were toddlers, they would get up on my lap and snuggle as close as they could get. They would have gotten under and wrapped my skin around themselves if they could’ve. Now THAT is perfect communication communion!
When I was helping with the infants at church service, there was this little 18 month old girl who was so in love with her mom, that the joy she had when her mom returned (it felt like FOREVER) was undeniable. When her mom would turn her face to talk to us, this little one would take both hands and gently turn it back to her so she could SEE and BE SEEN by the ONE who loved her and the ONE she loved. The adoration was almost embarrassing to her mom… I say almost because who doesn’t want to be loved like that?
I suspect that is why the preferable characteristic in God’s kingdom is child-like. There is no “political correctness” in a child’s speech. There is no “masking” of the condition of their heart. Yes, they do TRY manipulation when it comes to presenting their case for answered “prayer” but even then you can SEE the fervency and commitment to getting the RIGHT answer!
When Jesus prayed in John 17 there was no stuffy, fearful, King James liturgy. There was COMMUNION with Father and Son, where no air space of disagreement or disappointment existed. It was the vision of parent and child, both, wrapped in closeness that both hated what was and had to be, and celebrated what was and is to come.
And what did Jesus “pray” for? For us to be one with them. For us to be joined in their unbreakable hug of unconditional love! He didn’t ask for our healing (although that was going to happen as a result of what He was going) and He didn’t ask for our escape from this suffering. He asked that we be… sanctified in truth (God’s word is truth) – that we all be one (like Them and with Them) – and last but not least…
John 17:25 – 26 “O righteous Father, although the world has not known You, yet I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me; and I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”
Jesus asked that we know (KNOW) God and His love for us!
Love that numbers the very hairs on our head… Luke 12:7
Love that inscribes us on the palms of His hands… Isaiah 49:16
Love that plans that for us,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give us a future and a hope… Jeremiah 29:11
Love that gives His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life… not to send the Son to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him… John 3:16-19
Love that gently takes hold of your face and turns it to SEE and BE SEEN by the ONE who loves you and the ONE you love! Love that takes you on His lap and snuggles, letting you get as close as you can, even to the point of being inside His skin!
Lord… Teach me to pray this kind of prayer!
**All Scripture quoted comes from the “Bible Gateway” app and is the NASB version of the Bible