(Audio)
So shall my word be
that goes forth from my mouth;
It shall not return to me void,
but shall do my will,
achieving the end for which I sent it.
Jesus is the Word who goes forth from the mouth of the Father. He achieves the end for which he is sent, that we too might have the power to become sons and daughters of God by adoption, which is the truest meaning of salvation.
The words spoken by the Word are therefore efficacious. They are powerful. It is an awesome thing that he gives us these words of his for our own prayer.
This is how you are to pray:
Our Father who art in heaven
John realizes how amazing it is to say that God is our Father. He writes, "See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are" (see First John 3:1), as if he can hardly believe it. We recite it as if it were a boring truism. But it is so much more. Speaking the words of Jesus we enter into the baptismal reality that God is our Father as well. These words of Jesus have the power to make that reality more all encompassing in our own lives.
When we know that God is our Father the rest of the prayer Jesus teaches us becomes easier. We do genuinely care that the name of one who loved us so much be hallowed. We desire, without reservation, his Kingdom and his will. We trust him to meet our needs one day at a time. We desire to have the same forgiving heart for others that the Father has for us.
“In praying, do not babble like the pagans,
who think that they will be heard because of their many words.
It is a warning sign if we revert to less attentive forms of prayer. If we are praying to simply check something off a list we aren't receiving the full transformative power that prayer is meant to have. Even then, however, each moment is an opportunity for us to open ourselves afresh to the word that does not return void. Each moment is an opportunity to shift from a perspective of trying to earn God's favor to relying on his providential care and love.
Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
If we can believe this we can be transformed. And we can believe it. The grace is being offered. Let us confess, perhaps aloud, "My Father knows what I need before I ask him." Let us repeat it, not as magic, but as the living Word at work within us.
When the just cry out, the LORD hears them,
and from all their distress he rescues them.
In Wonder - Newsboys
Word of God Speak - MercyMe
No comments:
Post a Comment