Trying It On

He was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” ²He said to them, “When you pray, say:
Father, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come.
³Give us each day our daily bread.
⁴And forgive us our sins,
for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us.
And do not bring us to the time of trial.”
⁵And he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; ⁶for a friend of mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set before him.’ ⁷And he answers from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.’ ⁸I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, at least because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs.
⁹So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. ¹⁰For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. ¹¹Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? ¹²Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion? ¹³If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” -Luke 11:1-13

Today’s readings are all about prayer. It’s supposed to be a wonderful gift from God. An opportunity to be in conversation with God anytime, anywhere. We’re supposed to feel free to take our whole lives, the good and the bad, to God. And yet, most of what I hear from people is their worry that they don’t know how to pray or that their prayer life is somehow inadequate in their own eyes.

We’re in good company. Jesus’ disciples ask him how they should pray. I think they wanted very simple instructions, a basic how-to video with 5 easy steps. What they got instead was what we now call the Lord’s Prayer. It’s a prayer that is way bigger than any of us can really grab ahold of. In this prayer we give up our own will in favor of what God wants (who is really ready to do that most days?). In this prayer we ask only for what we need today (not a little extra for tomorrow or with worry about yesterday, and not necessarily for what we want). In this prayer we acknowledge that we need God to deliver us from ourselves and from the world that is beyond our control (and some of us don’t do well with things beyond our control).

It’s a big prayer and it can make us feel small in comparison. It’s kind of like being a child trying on a father’s suit. We do it because we want to live into the life that we see modeled for us. And yet, we still have some growing to do to fit into it. But in the first line of the prayer that Jesus teaches us we pray “Our Father in heaven…” In those few words we are reminded that God claims us as daughters and sons through baptism. It is by the love of the Father, who loves us even (or especially) when we try on this challenging prayer, when we fumble around learning what it means to live a life of faith in conversation with God. Jesus’ command isn’t to get it right, but simply to do it. An invitation to be in conversation with God, boldly, earnestly, but also playfully and freely. Thanks be to God!