Tuesday, March 8, 2022                                            (today’s lectionary)
Just to pray this simple prayer
This is how you are to pray.
Not with babble and pride, neither too loud nor too soft as if what I’m trying to do is impress someone. Anyone. But God is not impressable. God loves me just the way I am.
“Good job, David.” That’s what I heard from my mom, and occasionally from my dad. What do I hear from God, my God, whose love is unconditional? Is she tough, or gentle and indulgent? Perhaps both?
But we’ve created these adjectives to describe each other, and we cannot make God in our image. Please. No.
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Jesus keeps it simple. Who, what, when, where … in my prayer I should honor God’s home, his name, and appreciate his purpose.
Give us this day our daily bread.
There was no irrigation in Israel when Jesus walked the dusty paths between villages. Mostly no one had enough to eat. Fish and bread, bread and fish, olives and grapes and wine and figs, but not much of those last few things, those delicacies reserved for the rich among us. But the Israelites knew their history. They might not have appreciated it at the time, but they remembered the manna and the quail, day after day in the desert. God did not let them starve. He did not then, he will not now.
And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.
Yesterday’s lectionary spoke against our own sin when someone sins against us: “Though you may have to reprove him, DO NOT incur sin because of him. You SHALL NOT bear hatred for your brother in your heart” (Leviticus 19).
In The Road Less Traveled Scott Peck writes about opposites when it comes to taking responsibility. “Character disordered” folks take on too little and “neurotics” take on too much. Some of us have little history of saying “I’m sorry,” or “I forgive you.” Blame blame blam blam blame. The other half of us apologize too soon and too often. Can we also forgive too soon? What about forgiving ourselves?
Character disordered people never do anything wrong, so they think they have no need to forgive themselves. The neurotics among us have a terrible time with self-forgiveness, because they are already on to the next thing they think they’ve done wrong.
Surely there’s a middle ground, of course there is, but it’s very hard to find. And you have to cross a mine field of false self grenades just to get there.
Jesus says it the other way around, but I think I can forgive others (and yes, even myself) when I know God has forgiven me. When my heart is not burdened with guilt, it does not clutter up so quickly with pain, self-pity and blame.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Jesus knows his psychology. Peterson’s Message paraphrases Matthew 6:13 this way: “Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil.” John Wimber gave us a helpful word: rather than being “possessed” by the devil, we Christians can be “demonized.” I provide a psychological or behavioral foothold, and the devil’s demon catches it and hangs on as long as it can. Jesus tells me to pray for strength to fight within my own dark corners, and to pray for protection while I do it.
And to pray this quietly, often, in private. For me, that’s sitting on the edge of bed, in the morning and again at night. Generally, when I pray this prayer that Jesus taught us, it’s easier for me to breathe deep and relax. Feel the safety of God’s promises. Know how much I trust him.
(Isaiah 55, Psalm 34, Matthew 4, 6)
(posted at www.davesandel.net)
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