Day 13: Give us...

Now after four lines focusing on to whom we are praying, at this point the focus shifts slightly to what we should pray.  Finally, the line of the prayer we know how to do! This one's easy right? Here's where we get to ask for all the stuff, to give God our list and know that the difficult things in our life will be taken care of.

Except that if we've been paying attention we know we've already made two petitions before even getting to this line. First we asked God to "Help us honour(hallow) his name," and then we asked him to "bring His kingdom." And we know enough by now to see that those previous requests, when prayed in earnest, will greatly influence the way we pray, "Give us each day our daily bread."

Just when we thought we were finally going to make this prayer thing about us, right? I'm kidding. Kind of. I know my own heart and I know my instinct to make prayer about acquiring all the things more than acquiring Jesus Himself. So let's work together through this line and attempt to better understand the posture and purpose of these words we say.  

Over the next three days we'll break this line down in three "chunks." Like good students seeking comprehension do, right? Tomorrow we will consider "our daily bread," and after that we will look into "each day." Today, we'll begin with the phrase "Give us..."

This might be the most familiar line to any human when they think of the concept of prayer. And I'm not just talking about followers of Jesus. From ancient times, pagans believed spiritual beings or "gods" ruled over different parts of the environment. Humans would interact with these gods in hopes of good weather, better crops and improved health. Sacrifices and calling upon the gods were the ways they tried to manipulate the moods of the gods and therefore avoid any punishment they might dole out in their anger. If your crop was failing, you likely needed to sacrifice______ to the god of ______. While thinly veiled as "worshipping the gods" these pagan practices where more akin to "controlling the gods." Author Skye Jethani in his book "With," describes this pagan practice with a clever drawing of a marionette puppet...where the one praying is pulling the strings of the gods.

You don't have to look long and hard to see the ways these pagan rituals have influenced Christianity today. We've already mentioned it, but many Christians approach prayer in a similar manner; they have a need and so they'll pray the right words the right number of times with the right intensity and if all the stars align(or they have "enough faith,") they will get what they ask for. Pray harder, pray longer, pray louder, get more people praying...align the stars, pull the strings.

The problem here is its fundamental understanding of prayer being a way to acquire something rather than someone. It's a results over relationship view. Mr. Jethani's premise in his book** is that this misunderstanding comes from mistaken views of what christian faith is actually about. Some people's view is one he calls "Life from God," where they think the purpose of faith is to get gifts from God, while others live "Life over God," and use their faith as a means to control God like a puppet(pull the strings that make him happy) to get what they need/want in life. He outlines a few other views before sharing his understanding of the whole purpose of christian faith as being "Life with God."

I always say that the one who sees that faith is about relationship above results begins to love the Lord for his face...not just his hand. There is so much that God gives us...every good and perfect gift*...but the most transforming thing he gives us as his child is Himself. His abiding presence by His Spirit. Life with Him.

Don't hear me say we shouldn't ask for things when we pray. I have no doubt this line is about bringing our needs to God. And we'll talk more about that in days to come. I guess what I'm finding to be formative for my prayer life is that the posture of request grows out of a bigger understanding of who He is and why I come to him in the first place.

When God made Himself known to his people Israel in the Old Testament book of Exodus he worked against those pagan views of religion the people had absorbed while living in Egypt. He revealed himself to Israel by appearing to Moses at the burning bush and telling them his name. He talked face to face with Moses, descended on Mount Sinai, spoke by his own thunderous voice and entered into covenant with them...all powerful expressions of relationship. He provided food when they didn't trust him, healed them when they rebelled against him and led them though they doubted his goodness. This was no capricious and moody god of Egypt, this was YHWH, God of Israel, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and rich in covenant love.

There's a beautiful moment in Exodus 33, where a frustrated Moses approaches the LORD with his need. He is supposed to lead the people and he feels like it's too big of a job for one guy...but the LORD hasn't revealed an assistant. I could go on and on about what happens, but I think you should see it for yourself.

Let's read Exodus 33:12-34:9 together today. Find it in your bible or use the link. After you read it through once first, go back in the text and find Moses' initial request. Try to answers these questions from the passage: 

    What all does Moses need?  

Then find the Yahweh's response.  

    What does he say he will provide and how will this help? 

   Why does the LORD say he will answer Moses' prayer?

What is Moses' next request in 33:18?

Finally, consider Moses' response in 34:8-9. How do you see his request (and posture!) have changed from the beginning of the passage? What do you think was the catalyst in changing Moses' request? What might this mean for you? How might the progression of praying The Lord's Prayer influence what you ask for?

Continue to pray today through the purpose and posture of each line...expressing your understanding through praise, petition and thanksgiving to God.

Our Father...

In Heaven...

Hallowed be your name.

Your Kingdom Come...

Give us each day our daily bread.

Lay your requests before the Lord. How is your need affected by the lines you have already prayed? Consider how your understanding of to whom you pray, needs to shape the requests of your heart.  

Meditate on Philippians 4:5-7 as you talk to God about your need today:

"The Lord is near(He is in the heavens...),  do not worry about anything(relax into the presence of your good and caring Father), but in everything by prayer and petition, present your requests to God(come to him as His child whom he loves),  and the peace of God which transcends all understanding(know that his greatness is unsearchable, higher than any other, and also-by his nearness-the bringer of peace that makes no earthly sense) will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus(The kingdom coming in your heart will affect both your feelings and your thoughts...which will also affect your words and actions here on earth today).          

Forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us.

And lead us not into temptation,

Amen.

Much love to you. See you tomorrow!

*James 1:17

** I can't deny the way this book has formed my faith over the past year.  Skye Jethani's approach to seeing faith through the prepositions "from, for, under and over" tugged at this English Major's heart, and made so much sense with everything I had been seeing through my study of scripture.  I highly recommend "With: Reimagining the Way you Relate to God."