Our Father

This was the message I delivered during the Prayer Gathering last 25 March 2011, my dad’s birthday.

This, then, is how you should pray:
“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”
[for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. ]
(In some late manuscripts.)

I’m sure we’ve heard this passage before. Many of us many have even committed this to memory. Some may even recite the King James Version, “Our Father, which art in heaven…”

Many Prayers, Many Patterns

When the disciples of Jesus asked him to teach them how to pray as recorded in Luke 11, he gave them this prayer. It has been called the Lord’s Prayer and most Christians of any denomination would easily recognize it and there is usually no disagreement. Christians of every persuation can stand side by side and recite it from memory, although the words they use may be slightly different due to the myriad translations now available.

It is interesting to note, however, that when Christians today would ask their discipler, or kuya or ate, or even their pastor, how to pray, more often than not, they would be taught the ACTS pattern of prayer. ACTS refer to Adoration, Contrition, Thanksgiving and Supplication. Indeed there are many examples of prayers in the bible which a person can use as a pattern for their own praying. There is the very simple prayer of Jabez in 1 Chronicles 4:10 to the very comprehensive prayer of Jesus in John 17. Although we can ask what the correct pattern of prayer is, nobody can authoritatively say that one pattern is the correct one and all the others are wrong.

For simplicity, many just choose to use the ACTS pattern. I have to admit that my praying before did not really have a pattern. I never intentionally used the Lord’s Prayer. When someone taught me to pray, it was the ACTS pattern that he used. It was during a bible study when I was still studying BS Physics here at UP Diliman.

However, let us now look at the very pattern Jesus taught his disciples. It is more of an ASCS pattern, with the first part as adoration and praise, the next part as supplication, then with contrition and ends with supplication. The later manuscripts end with adoration.

It is sometimes difficult for people who grew up in church to understand people who are reluctant to pray mainly because they do not know how to pray. Even with these simple patterns, some people still find it hard to pray on their own, especially in a gathering such as this. That person may even be quietly sitting beside you!

Or that may even be the reason they are not with us tonight. They may dread the thought of being called upon to pray in a group, even just a small group.

Many Patterns, One God

Sometimes, we get so focused on the pattern that we forget who we pray to. In our desire to pray using the right pattern, using the right words, sounding holy and prayerful, we sometimes forget the very purpose of our prayer.

Why do we pray in the first place?

Perhaps many have experienced being called upon to pray, and mechanically start praying as on obligation. It may even be to appear religious and righteous to our friends. I’ve met several people, some growing up in church, who feel their prayers would be heard more by the Lord if they use the “King James” prayers, “O Lord, thou knowest our hearts, and readeth our thoughts. Thou lovest us with an unfailing love….” and so on and so forth. If it is just a simple prayer, the Lord may not listen or may not hear it. They have an elitist view of our God. Or perhaps they have a different God than the one revealed in the bible?

Although the bible teaches us to take God seriously, not joking or clowning about when we pray, we are not taught that God only listens to a certain version of prayer. If he did then it would probably be logical to argue that God would not listen to English but rather to Hebrew. Or Aramaic, which was the probable language of Jesus. Or even Greek. What is lost to these people is that King James Version used English as it was commonly used by ordinary people when it was first translated. Its aim was for more people to have access to God, not restrict it. It sounds nice to us, especially if you are inclined to languages, but it is not the only correct way of praying.

It is important that when we pray, we have an attitude of prayer. We should recognize that we are praying to our God, who created us and the universe. We are not praying to just a person. We are praying to our all-powerful Creator. Our praying should not be for show focusing to people who may hear our prayer. Rather, it should be focused on the person we are praying to, our God.

Our God, Our Father

Having an attitude of awe and reverence for our God is so important. But it is also worth noting that this prayer, the very prayer Jesus taught, the one that he said, “this, then, is how you should pray” (Matthew 5:9a), does not begin with the words “Our God.” Even the version in Luke does not start with “God” or “Our God.” Both verses begin with “Our Father” or “Father.”

Why am I bringing this up?

Although most of you may already be praying to “Our Father” some may still be praying mostly “Our God.” Why? What is the difference?

At first, when I first encountered this, I thought there was no difference. God is God. Whether you call him God or Father makes no difference at all. Indeed I used to even pray the King James style of prayers, though no exclusively. It sounded nice to my ears. And I felt good.

One time I thought I would try addressing God in my prayer as Father or Abba (the word for father that Jesus may have used) exclusively. I did not really make a big deal out of it. After all, I did not really think there was a difference.

Much to my surprise, I felt a different kind of closeness to God. Praying with the words Father and Abba to address my Father, whom I was praying to, stirred something different in me. It created a certain closeness in my heart. I felt like I can be honest and open and tell my Abba everything in my heart. I felt like I can tell him my frustrations, my deepest desires, my hurts and pains, and also my joys and happiness. Perhaps you would feel differently when you do this. But then again, you may be like me, who did not really think there was a difference until I tried it.

Due to some force of habit, I still have to do this deliberately. My automatic or default setting is to address God as God. But when I consciously make myself address God as Father, the feeling of closeness continues.

Perhaps we have glossed over this the many years we have read our bibles, like I did before. But when we carefully look at Jesus’ words, he was careful to always address God as Father and always referred to God when talking to his disciples as “your Father.” His discipleship was not limited to the actions he did, but extended even to the choice of words he used to teach, and even to converse in ordinary communication.

Challenge

Let us follow the example of Jesus and start addressing our Father as He is to us. Let us start referring to Him as our Father, or if you want, as our “Abba.”

[Ernest Serote. Prayer Gathering. Church of the Risen Lord. 25 March 2011]