Give Us

The Lord's Prayer as a framework

I want to be upfront with folks, all two of you reading this. I’m writing this for me, there’s no pastoral tone to it. It’s not beautifully written. It is what it is.

The past few days I’ve been struggling with praying. Many people have been so supportive through this struggle and it’s clear that there’s no one right way to do it. A mountain of literature has been written on the subject.

For funsies I decided to look at the Lord’s Prayer. I wanted to break it down into a framework and make it personal, to me. Here’s what I got:

You’ll notice that there’s a huge emphasis on relation. Fully knowing who you are to Him. He goes over the importance of relationship, abiding, knowing and being known. Some people have even been given a name that’s known only to them and the Lord. That’s probably peak relationship, I don’t necessarily think that’s required 🤷‍♀️. Part of what the relationship or union with Jesus brings, is your heart into alignment with His own. That part might be necessary…probably.

What feels a little uncomfortable and I’m being honest here is that what this is showing, is you have to know your standing. Not just that He’s listening, but that you are someone whose ask carries weight in that relationship. Like a hungry child asking their parents for food. A child asking for food doesn’t come from a place of ego or pride. It comes from an intrinsic need. Surely the heart has needs that are not driven by ego or pride? Are we comfortable enough in our relationship with God that we can request with such authority?

And here’s another thing I struggle with…mountain moving faith. If you know who you are to the Father, and you have solid faith, why wouldn’t He give us what we ask for? Is it because we somehow don’t understand how it would come to be? Because we can’t figure it out first? Full relationship and abiding means you’ve let go of the ego, the pride, the self. He is the Word, the truth, the fabric of reality. Do we truly believe that? If so we can embrace His Sovereignty fully. It no longer becomes an issue of faith or trust, it becomes truth.

Let me see if I can give it a go.

My Beloved. I have no words worthy of you. May the groaning of my soul offered up by the Spirit show the truth in my heart.

Your will, be done in my heart and all creation as it is in Heaven.

Today, I have my driver’s license test. Grant me this license.

Forgive me, your beloved, as I forgive others.

Without you, I can do nothing.

Amen

Using this framework, what would a petitioning prayer look like for you?