The Father Heart of God

Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples." And he said to them, "When you pray, say:

"Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation."

Familiar words. Even people who did not grow up in the church recognize the words of the Lord's prayer. But how many of us (yes, even the church brats among us) really understand what the words mean--much less how to pattern our lives on them?

Last week my small group discussed the Lord's prayer, and one of the members brought up the acronym ACTS: Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication. Although the formula certainly sounds pious, I'm convinced that ACTS has it all wrong. Let me elaborate.

Despite the seeming innocence of ACTS, the acronym makes a mistake that plagues Christianity: a failure to read the passage in context. If you read Luke 11 you'll see a fascinating progression. I don't know why I've never noticed it before, but directly after calling His Father holy, Jesus makes a stark contrast between His holy Father and evil, earthly fathers. Notice His words: even the evil fathers know how to give gifts despite their depravity. But God is not like them. God is good. Jesus was not opening the prayer with praise or adoration; instead, He recognized God's goodness as the basis for gift-giving and grace.

But the parallels between Jesus' prayer and His subsequent actions don't end there. Jesus had prayed in verse 2, 'Your kingdom come'. I find that exciting! God's rule, His authority and power, are coming to earth. Now look at verses 14 - 23, paying careful attention to verse 20. After casting out a demon from a man--evidence of the healing and wholeness inherent in the Kingdom--Jesus says, 'But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.'

God answered imediately, without hesitation. Further, He answered positively. Why? Because He is good. And His goodness is overwhelmingly for us! I'm amazed at God's tenderness. Because He is a good and gracious Father, He gives gifts to His children. How do we know this? Because He demonstrates His power and mercy by bringing the Kingdom to earth! The Kingdom of God and its focus on justice--emotional, physical, spiritual, communal, and even universal--is the ultimate demonstration of God's character. It is, indeed, as the Matthew 6 version of the prayer records, God's will on earth.

Jesus didn't give us a model prayer for the purpose of exactly copying what He said. His prayer shows us instead how we ought to pattern our lives; the Lord's prayer is significant precisely because of what happened after Jesus prayed. And so it is with us.

We must live every day following after the heart of God, obeying the mandate to seek first His Kingdom. And in God's Kingdom we will have our our daily bread. We will receive forgiveness for our sins. Further, we will gladly forgive others as we operate in the realm of God's justice. We will avoid evil and cling to what is good. Why? Because God is good. Rejoice! The Kingdom of God is at hand. The Messiah has heralded the the year of the LORD’s favor, who comforts those who mourn and binds up the brokenhearted with tenderness and grace.


- Andrew

Prayer

I've fallen down, to the ground, and there I make nary a sound. So if you hear downtrodden plea, master, maker--it's only me.

You've carried me so far before; I've clung to you o'er and o'er . . . but, holy one, can't ignore this insolence anymore.

If I make my desperate plea; perhaps then, then you'll see . . . I fear the image in the mirror, because I know not what my image bears, and it's hard to dress like a man with hands you can't look upon.

But, 'if mercy falls upon the broken and the poor, dear Father, I will see you there on distant shores.'

The bells cry out far away; let their voices rise in loud lament, for the king heeds not my bended knee nor my lowborn head, and thus my heart lies full of dread.

O soul of mine, ungrateful dead, lift thine eyes to the hill; raise up your head; perhaps your king yet lingers there.

Or perhaps, my soul, you've lingered too long beneath the sun, and the king lies beyond.

Invisible, eternal, most holy art thou, who stir up the heavens and flash lightening in thine eyes. A storm goes before thee; pestilence in thy wake. Who shall stand before thee, when Everest doth quake?

I know not why my song bears this loud lament: But let the angels hear my song, and cry "holy" with me.

Who shall hear my weeping; to whom shall I mourn? The invisible cannot hear me; nor can an hear see his face.

Into the depths, then, O my soul, down to the greatest trench of the sea--cast thyself down, and drown. For who stands beside thee?

Bitter, my envious pride, so long in the making, so long to bring me shame! But should I not be humble, humbled shall I be. Then what choice have I, but to bend the knee, bend the knee to him whom I cannot see?

And if I die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take. And maybe when the trumpet sounds, I'll hear the bride and groom say "Come."

Shaleh.