Pray Like This - 15 June 2009

Our Father in heaven, Reveal who you are.  Set the world right; Do what's best— as above, so below.  Keep us alive with three square meals.  Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others.  Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil.  You're in charge!  You can do anything you want!  You're ablaze in beauty!  Yes.  Yes.  Yes.
Matthew 6:9-13 [The Message]

A little while ago I was trying hard to kick start my prayer life which had diminished somewhat due to a combination of circumstance and apathy.  As my rather haphazard reliance on inspiration hadn’t got me very far, I was looking for a framework to base my prayers around.  There are a few (with helpful acronyms like ACTS) which I tried out with varying degrees of success. 

Then it occurred to me that Jesus had told us how to pray.  Now I am almost certain that Jesus didn’t intend this prayer to be something we just repeated by rote, although I suppose that is better than not praying at all.  But I could see that this prayer would be a very good framework to hang my prayers on.

‘Our Father in heaven, Reveal who you are.’

I chose the Message version for today’s thought because it says what it means.  It is important how we address God; we need a name that says what we mean.  For some Father is good enough, others might want to use a more familiar term ‘Dad’ or Heavenly Father to distinguish from their earthly one.  I decided to use the term Abba, literally the one Jesus used because it was new to me and had no previous baggage.  After using it for a while it has become a term of affection for a God who loves me deeply.  When I say it I envisage running into His arms.  Knowing that I am held securely in God’s embrace is a good way for me to start my prayer, and my day.

God has many names throughout the Bible, they all mean something special, and we can chose to address Him and praise Him for being any of them.

Abba, thank you that Jesus taught us how to pray as He did to His Dad in Heaven. Help us to recognise all of what you are to us today through your wonderful names.