The lords prayer
“Prayer is where the action is." said John Wesley, so why do so many of us wait until a crisis hits before we pray?
There are so many benefits to fostering a life of prayer, meditation and/reflection.
A story…
So there’s this Jewish boy who secretly had some close Gentile, Non Jewish friends and one-day he noticed in conversation how they always used many title’s, many names, many plaudits when referring to their god, their leader, Caesar. One day at their house this Jewish boy read a recently declared decree and he noticed at the start of the decree how many title’s were used to address Caesar....
“The emperor Caesar, Galerius, Valerius, Maximanus, Invictus, Augustus, Pontifex, Maximus, Germanicus Maximus, Eqypticus Maximus, Phoebicus Maximus, Sarmenticus Maximus, Persecus Maximus, Carpicus MAximus, Armenicus Maximus, Medicus MAximus, Abendicus Maximus, Holder of Tribunical authority for the 20th time, emperor for the 19th time, consul for the 8th, Pater Patriae Pro - Consul........
These were the many titles used to address the Emperor so to not cause offence, so to keep him happy and stay on his good side. This is how the emperor expected to be addressed when people wanted to speak to him...
Now, this good Jewish boy loved to pray. He knew how to pray. He knew what to pray and even when to pray. 3 times a day, morning, at 3pm and finally at sun down he would go to the temple and recite his prayers in Hebrew, as this was a sacred language, respectful and honorable language, but in daily life he would have spoken Aramaic as this was the more common, accessible, friendly, relational language that showed you really knew the person you were talking to. The prayers he prayed 3 times a day all began with Deuteronomy 6:4-5 which reads “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord.” These prayers were called Tefillah (prayers), there were 18 different prayers in total some of which began with “God of Abraham, God of Isaac and God of Jacob.” or “God of our Fathers”, “Builder of Jerusalem”, “mighty one”, “redeemer of Israel”, “our father and gracious one.”
These prayers and language were deeply tied to a nations history, they were deeply tied to this Jewish boys nations history and their story, his story so far. They were part of his tradition and forefathers.
After praying these deep historical, traditional, carefully crafted, tentatively arranged prayers this good Jewish boy would listen to the Torah been read out for teaching, in Hebrew of course.... because this was the sacred language of the the Israelite nation and people....
One day, as he was walking, this Jewish boy overheard a Rabbi called Jesus teaching his followers how to pray, what to pray and whom to pray to..... Jesus said....
“When you are praying,do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think they will be heard because of their many prayers...
Rather when you are praying... pray.....
Abba Father, hallowed be thy name.....” (Matthew 6:7ff)
The opening line totally baffled him and surprised him.... It was like the opening bolt of lightening on a summers night thunderstorm which rapidly tears across the clear sky illuminating everything in the opposing darkness... the words went round and round in his head...
Abba father.... Abba Father, Abba Father
The Jewish teacher called Jesus began this prayer in Aramaic... not Hebrew...
He called God, the Father...... Such a direct address toward God was no-where to be found in the Torah...
Abba was a common word and phrase.... used for both addressing someone in authority but also for addressing someone who you had a deep and personal relationship with...
He used a phrase, a word which broke through traditional, historical boundaries,
This Word Abba.... included everyone... not just Jewish people....
Jesus was teaching a prayer of faith which anybody could pray at all times.... not just 3 times a day...
This word Abba invoked a deep and meaningful relationship between God and the believer….
How do you approach prayer? What reflections spring up in you when reading this story?
