The Christian
faith travels a continuum. It goes from believing about, to believing in, to
believing together. Sometimes this “believing together” is spoken of in the
Scriptures in two ways: meeting God and covenant faithfulness.
In the Old Testament Moses goes up
into the mountain to meet God. In
that meeting Moses is given the Ten Commandments. Joshua tells the entire
congregation of Israel to get ready to meet
God the next day to worship Him.
Probably the most well known expression
of this is found in the Psalms.
“My soul thirsts for God,
for the living God. When
can I go and meet with God?”
God created each one of us to have a deep thirst
for Him. Only the Living Waters from the Living God can quench the thirst of my
living soul. The Psalmist is so sensitive and aware of this inner reality that
he asks the question regarding the next time he can go and meet with God? We
begin with meeting God in prayer.
“Many Christians suffer under the assumption
that they should automatically know how to pray…Sometimes, however, we need
guidance—we need to learn to pray” [Bryant, Stephen D. (1999). “Meeting God in
Pray.” Spiritual Formation Bible. Nashville,
TN: Upper Room Publishers; page 164].
An unnamed disciple one day
apparently heard Jesus praying in a certain place. When Jesus had finished
(don’t you wish we had the words of that prayer!), he made this request: “Lord,
teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples” (Luke 11:1). What this
particular anonymous disciple knew about John teaching his disciples to pray we
are not told. But based on that knowledge, and apparently overhearing Jesus’
own prayer, he was vitally interested in prayer.
In response to this request, Jesus
gives what we call the model prayer, or The Lord’s Prayer. Perhaps we need to
call it the “Disciples Prayer” because Jesus really offers it for them. Let us each pursue this prayer as Jesus’ answer for our own deep request to learn how to pray!
In
Christian love, Curtis
