GRACE FOR THE DAY: Pray as Jesus taught us to pray

Apr. 6—It was a strange request: "Teach us how to pray." The men who were hand-picked by Jesus to be his protégés, who would become his apostles, sought instruction in what was fundamental to a Jewish life.

Certainly, they had prayed their whole lives. Prayer was at the center of the life and service of the Israelites. They were fastidious about praying correctly, being mindful of position, posture, phrases, and even making sure they were bowing toward Jerusalem.

Asking Jesus to teach them to pray would be like teenagers asking you to teach them to tie their shoes. This incident, as record in Luke 11, occurred after Jesus had prayed.

I bet that they found how Jesus prayed to be very different from the prayers they had heard from Israel's Rabbis in the synagogues. It was probably not so much the words as his sense of familiarity with the father to whom he prayed.

Jesus prayed as a son to a father and the Israelites prayed as subjects (slaves) to a king: But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, Descendant of Abraham My friend (Isa 41:8).

There is a difference between Israel (Jacob, servant) and Abraham (friend). James referred to the uniqueness of Abraham's relationship with God: . . . and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness," and he was called the friend of God (James 2:23-24). Only Abraham was called the friend of God.

There is a vast difference in how one approaches a master and how one approaches a friend. There is an equal difference in how one addresses a king and a friend.

If your prayers do not seem conversational, then there is a good chance you were reared with an Old Testament perception of prayer, as a servant would address a master or a king. You may have never considered the amazing upgrade that Jesus has given to you by elevating your relationship to a friendship level.

I bet even his disciples did not understand the significance of the change: No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing, but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you (John 15:15).

You may have sung the old hymn: My God and I go in the fields together. We walk and talk as good friends should and do. We clasp our hands, our voices ring with laughter.

My God and I walk through the meadow's hue. This certainly is a reflection of what life was like for Adam and Eve as they walked with God in Eden, in the cool of the day.

Sin not only got them ejected from the garden, but separated them from God. It ruined that closeness and the intimacy of that communication. Intimacy was replaced with distance and formality, as one would employ entering a court and addressing a king.

Do your prayers feel like a report to a supervisor, or like a performance review? Do you try to convince God that things are going well like a CEO would report to a group of corporate investors? Do you state your business quickly, sensing that God is very busy and fearing that you might take up too much of his valuable time?

My wife and I have had an ongoing conversation since we began to date. I do not address her unless we are not in proximity. I merely begin to speak to her.

When driving in the car I do not address her with a preamble by saying, "Charlotte, my earthly wife." I just talk. She knows I am talking to her and such an address would immediately make my words more formal.

It is like we have an open hotline to one another that remains open even if neither of us is speaking. If minutes, hours, or days lapse, we just immediately speak to one another, picking up the conversation as if no time had passed, in the continuation of a single, years-long open dialogue.

We never sign off ("goodbye") unless we are going to be physically separated. If you say "Amen" at the end of your prayers, are you signing off? Did you sign on by saying, "My dear heavenly father," as if the prayer had to go through a switchboard to reach the correct designation, or do you just talk, continuing the conversation where you last left off? While there is certainly nothing wrong with the address and the conclusion, do they formalize your prayers? We walk and talk as good friend should and do!

Reach Stephen Parker at [email protected].