10-21-2024

 Good Morning All,

     Luke 11:2; “And He said to them, “When you pray, say:”

   This is the start to Luke’s version of the Lord’s Prayer.  The disciples had watched John the Baptist teach his disciples to pray.  They had watched Jesus pray.  They wanted to learn how to pray with the same efficacy as Jesus did.  They wanted that same closeness to the Father.  So, they asked Jesus to teach them, and he taught them the Lord’s Prayer.

   We often view this as a simple prayer, one which is a good start but one which we feel we can improve on.  The truth is this is how we should pray.  We should pray this simple prayer just as if we are little children because that is what we are, God’s little children.

     Think of how little children talk.  They are just getting some command of the language.  They ask and ask questions.  They talk almost incessantly.  They are never afraid to ask for what they need and want.  Sometimes they hear,” no” but that doesn’t stop them from asking next time.  This is how we should be constantly, confidently talking to God.

    Prayer is nothing else than the lifting up of heart or mind to God.  Just like that little child runs to his or her parents or grandparents, lifting up their arms, saying pick me up and listen to me; we can come to our heavenly Father in the same fashion.  God promises to hear our prayers, bending his ear toward us to listen.  God listens closely to our weeping and pleading but also to our laughter and joy all of which we should share with our Father who art in heaven.

    Perhaps the greatest wonder is that none of this listening by God to us is dependent upon us.  Think of your child or grandchild when they were very young.  As they were learning to walk, if they fell and bumped their head; you didn’t wait until they properly articulated what happened and what they needed.  Chances are you were there comforting them before the first tear fell.  How much more so does our heavenly father respond to our cries and our pains.

   We do not disdain a child whose cry of pain or fear may be incoherent or broken or hysterical and neither does God.  God hears us not because of who we are but because of who he is.  God is our loving father who hears our prayers even before we pray them yet encourages us to pray so that we may be drawn closer to him. 

    Just as that small child is confident that their parent will hear them so too our confidence grows for as we pray in Jesus’ name, we can be sure that the Father listens to and hears our prayers just as surely as when Jesus himself prays.  This is where our helpless soul looks to our gracious friend and brother, Jesus.  So, when you pray; pray like this with all the boldness and confidence of a child, with childlike faith trusting in the promise of God to hear and to answer our prayers.

Dear Father in heaven, we give you thanks for the gift of prayer.  Forgive us when we are slow to rely on you and fail to use this great gift too infrequently.  Lead us to have faith like a child trusting in the certainty of your good grace and blessings upon us.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor