OUR FATHER

I do not believe in coincidences or luck.  What I do believe is that God puts everything in our path whether it be triumph or tragedy, to mold us into the person He wants us to be.  Pre-destination.  So I had been thinking about praying.  My prayers are not the lofty platitudes of ministers, just quick little "e-mails" to God throughout the day of thanksgiving as something joyous or good happens, and prayers asking for courage and comfort for others  and myself, as I hear of sad news or tragedies, always ending in "if it is Your will Lord so be it".  But I always think I'm fumbling for words and have apologized to the Lord on many occasions when the words cannot be found to say exactly what I want.  I know He knows what is in my heart, but I'd would still like to be able to vocalize it.

So anyway to move this story along, I recently bought a large print Bible from the Goodwill store.  I guess I'm getting old because the print in my Bible was getting pretty small!  So struggling with my prayers, I decided to turn to the Book of Matthew to The Lord's Prayer.  I discovered an article written about the prayer, brittle with age sandwiched between the pages.  It was titled "The Prayer Jesus Taught"  and the author is Ernest O. Hauser.

As we all know, Christ improvised the prayer when one of his disciples requested that He teach them to pray.  It is comforting to know that one of God's disciples was struggling with this also.  The prayer Jesus taught was a revolutionary idea.  It was personal and brief.  Unlike the "vain repetitions" of the heathen prayers. 

But the fascinating part of the article for me was about the "Our Father" part of the prayer.  The translated  word "Father" is Abba  in Aramaic,  which was the language Jesus used.  Abba can best be translated as "Papa"!   We are not to approach God in our petitions as though we are fearful  people approaching a sovereign lord. We are to approach Him as children would approach their father to discuss family matters.  With love and respect yes, but knowing that God is a benevolent God. When Jesus taught His disciples to pray, he authorized them to approach God in this way. We are to recieve  the benefit of the same intimate relationship with the Father, that He has. 

So now I know that it is okay to fumble for words, or to have words completely fail me.  God is a loving Father and he understands.  Through a simple little article clipped and tucked away in a thrifted Bible, God has answered my prayer.