Our Father...

When you pray, don’t rattle off long prayers like the pagans who think they will be heard because they used so many words.  Don’t be like them.  For your Father knows your needs before you ask Him.

Pray then like this –

Our Heavenly Father, may Your name be honoured;

May You kingdom come,

And Your will be cone on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us each day the bread we need for the day.

Forgive us what we owe to you,

As we have also forgiven those who owe anything to us.

Keep us clear of temptation, and save us from evil.

Matthew 6:7-13

Small children can have a very difficult time sitting through a worship service.  Staying quiet for that long is an educational process – the sooner started, the better learned.  I was a typical child, fidgeting and restless at the imposed silence.  If there was a children’s message, that at least gave me a moment to get up and walk, listen to a story, and take the short walk back.  If the storyteller was really good, that time in the service made my day.  The most difficult portion of the service, however, was the Pastoral Prayer.

If our pastor gave the prayer, the ordeal would be over in five minutes or less.  If it was one of the elders praying – watch out!  A mini-sermon would be offered for sure.  The same would happen if there was a guest speaker, and our minister felt the need to get his ten minutes in regardless.  Prayer time seemed to be a competition, not a contemplation.  It was all a little much for a small girl who couldn’t sit still in the first place.

God does not need lots and lots of words.  He already knows all about it, for Pete’s sake.  What He is looking for, according to Matthew, is honest sincerity.  He doesn’t want platitudes, he’s doesn’t need flowery words or pat Christian phrases – He has probably heard enough of “bless the missionaries and the children,” to last a long, long time.  Instead, what about Susie down the block who hasn’t been very nice lately.  How about that scruffy teenager that always seems to be lurking around, obviously up to no good.  What about the co-worker who steals your ideas and the candy out of your drawer?  Talk to God about them – your complaints, your feelings, their failures.  He wants to hear every word that is spoken from an open heart.  Then listen while He answers.