“As a poppa loves his little ones…”
By Corienne M. Hay, posted July 21, 2016 by D Kovacs
[Editor’s note: Before her death, my mother completed a personally paraphrased harmony of the gospels which she called Emmanuel. You will notice that all personal pronoun I’s are in lower case. This was a principle that was very important to my mother. She felt that it was very nearly blasphemous to capitalize only the pronouns for God…and for ourselves! We don’t capitalize ‘you’ or ‘she’ or ‘they.’ These days, we don’t even capitalize God’s pronouns—only our own. Mother did not capitalize ‘I.’ I plan to publish this little book for her, and when I do, I will respect her wishes in this matter. I hope you are blessed by this excerpt, based upon Matt. 6:9-13 and Luke 11:1-4. DLK]
A Commentary on the Lord’s Prayer
One day, just after Jesus had been praying, one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray; John taught his disciples.”
So Jesus said to them, “When you pray, remember that you are talking to Someone who loves you as a poppa loves his little ones. You may address Him as ‘our Father in Heaven’. Then praise and glorify His name and works. Pray for the fulfillment of His Kingdom. Ask Him to teach you to do His will as faithfully and gladly as do His angels in Heaven. Then present your needs before Him as simply and trustingly as a little child says ‘i’m hungry, Daddy’. Ask Him to forgive your sins and to teach you to forgive those who hurt you, and to keep your feet from walking in the paths of the evil one. Lastly, acknowledge that all power and glory are His and His Kingdom endures forever.
“Bear in mind that if you don’t let the Father teach you to forgive others, you cannot be healed by the forgiveness He offers you.
And if it seems your prayers are not answered right away, just keep praying and trusting Him. You know that if a friend knocked on your door at midnight, calling out, “Please loan me three rolls, neighbor; a friend has just arrived from a distance and I have no bread to serve’, your first reaction would probably be, ‘Go away and don’t wake the children! The door’s locked and we’re all in bed.’ But you know, too, that if she just kept knocking and asking, you’d get up and give her all she wanted, if only to get a little peace! Your Father, however, longs to bestow good gifts. Just remember, He has all the wisdom to know exactly what’s best for you and just when you really need it.”
Photo from Pixabay, cropped to fit.