Last Sunday our Pastor was teaching about prayer.
He said the model for us on how to pray came from Jesus.
The interesting thing is Jesus addresses God as father
at least
sixty times in the new testament.
It had never been done in that personal of a way before.
In the Old testament He was always addressed as God over a nation
not a personal father.
Pastor said it was very interesting that the disciples
did not ask Jesus to teach them how to heal
or how to speak to others
or how to do miracles
they asked him to teach them, ‘how to pray.’
Perhaps because they wanted
the same kind of relationship with God
that they could see Jesus having.
Perhaps because
Jesus spoke to God as His dad
Abba
Daddy
Father
When we pray
we need to start out with relationship like that too.
“Our Abba father,
actually means ~ my daddy ~ my dad”
Just as if you were a child coming home and
running into the door saying ‘Hey dad’
I need to talk to you about something very important.
Our father ~ is relationship
Who are in heaven ~ is location
Jesus knew God was in heaven
Daddy
Jesus prayed.
My dad I come to you with a request from my heart
let this cup pass from me.
As he prayed in the garden before his betrayal and death.
Jesus speaking words to His father God
words that were deep
and honest
from his anguished heart.
Jesus saying to God his father, “I wish there was another way.”
The disciples knew that Jesus prayed from a different place inside himself
not the way they could ever pray.
They asked him
“can you teach us to pray?”
I wonder do we ever ask the same question?
If we haven’t do we know why?
Just a question for us to think about.
