Livin' on a Prayer, Part II

The Love of the Father be with you! Pax Christi vobiscum! Come Holy Spirit!


...OOOOHHH, livin' on a prayer!


Well, since we finished the last post (almost a month ago...heh, but I did get one in during March!) with a hint of things to come, I figured we'd pick up where we left off: how to pray. And the hint I gave at the end of the last post is a good starting point for this one. I quoted the 11th chapter of Luke's Gospel where the disciples say to the Lord, "Teach us to pray." And when the disciples say that to Jesus, what does He give them? He tells them to say, "Our Father, who art in heaven...." So if it was a good enough place for the Lord to start in teaching others to pray, it's probably not a bad place for me either.


So the Lord's Prayer is basically the constitutive prayer of the first group of disciples gathered around Jesus. If we look at the passage in Luke 11, the disciples wanted to learn from their Teacher how to pray, just as the disciples of John the Baptist had learned from their teacher. And in response, the Lord gives them this prayer:


Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.


So let's just stop to think about this for a second. These words came straight from the Lord Himself. Which means two things:


1) This must be a pretty important prayer, and

2) the Lord spoke English.


Kidding on that last point of course. We have a translation that has come down to us from the Gospel of Matthew, and it is faithful to the original Greek. *Pushing my glasses up over the bridge of my nose.*


But let's go back to that amazing point: This really came from the Lord Himself, because He is the Son, and He wants us to know the Father, His Father. That's really the whole reason that Jesus came. He wanted us to know the Father, to know the Father's Love. So it is pretty clear that this must be a foundational prayer for all He wanted to do in bringing us back to the Father. In fact, this prayer has been called the "summary of the whole Gospel," in large part because Jesus' mission is all about bringing us back to the Father, from whom we had strayed and even continue to stray. In His mercy, God sent His Son to bring us back to Him.


But that's really what it's all about, turning back to the Father. Praying the Lord's Prayer is therefore a powerful way of coming back to Him and asking Him to provide for us as only a Father can. And it fits with Christ's call to become as little children (Matthew 18:3), because only little children will let the Father provide for him. I mean, let's be real, there's a reason God didn't call us to become teenagers (I say this having been one...) or adults for that matter (I say this trying to be one...). Again, only children allow the Father to be Father, and so the Lord, in His wisdom, gives us this prayer to pray, so that we will always let the Father be truly our Father.


So we are supposed to have this experience of God as our Father, because He just wants to give us so many gifts, if we open ourselves to receive them. And we also have to ask Him for them. He will not force them on us, but if we continue to receive from Him, He will continue to give.


So I leave you with this exhortation and this illustration. First, the exhortation: pray this prayer with an expectant faith, knowing that God really does want to provide for you and be there for you. And second, the illustration: Check out this sweet video.


If the link doesn't work, just paste this in your browser: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbSieU8wcFQ.


What does this child do other than receive in joy all that the father wants to give him? Sure the child falls all over the place, but he lets the father pick him up so that he can receive more. Sure the child can't say any words, but the joyful laughter say more of the child's openness to the father than words could ever express. And the child just keeps receiving all the father has to offer, even in something as simple as tearing a piece of paper. God wants the exact same for us in our prayer life. Ask Him for it, and don't be surprised if something starts happening.


God bless! And please pray for my Latin exam this Friday. All I understand right now is "In vino veritas." So I have a ways to go! Ciao for niao!