“Our Father Who art in Heaven…”

“YES?” [Off-stage with booming bass and reverb]
(Pause) “Our Father Who art in Heaven…”

“YES? WHAT DO YOU WANT, BEN?”

“Who is this?”

“WHO DO YOU THINK IT IS?”

“I don’t know, not too many people I know sound like this!”

“I SHOULD HOPE NOT.”

“Come on now, who is this really?”

“THIS IS YOUR FATHER IN HEAVEN, BEN.”

“Right…”

“THIS IS GOD… DO YOU WANT ME TO PROVE IT?”

“No, no, no, that’s all right. I believe You! But why have started talking to me now? You’ve never done this before.”

“BUT YOU CALLED ME.”

“Called You? I was just leading us in prayer.”

“WELL, HERE I AM. WHY DID YOU CALL?”

“I was just, You know, praying.”

“GOOD, GO RIGHT ON.”

“Our Father Who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name…”

“WHAT DID YOU MEAN BY THAT?”

“By what?”

“BY ‘HALLOWED BE THY NAME.’”

“It means… It means… I don’t know what it means. It’s just part of the prayer. What does it mean?”

“IT MEANS ‘HONORED, HOLY, WONDERFUL.’”

“Oh. Thank You, Lord. ‘Thy Kingdom come; Thy will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven.’”

“DO YOU REALLY MEAN THAT?”

“Sure. Why do You ask?”

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING ABOUT IT?”

“Doing? Not much, I guess. That’s why I asked You. I just think it would be great if You got control of everything down here, like You have up there.”

“HAVE I GOT CONTROL OF YOU?”

“Well, I am the preacher here. I’m here at the church all the time. I visit people; I lead or am part of Bible studies several times a week…”

“THAT’S NOT WHAT I ASKED YOU. WHAT ABOUT THOSE BAD HABITS OF YOURS THAT YOU KNOW ARE IN DIRECT CONFLICT WITH MY WILL IN YOUR LIFE?”

“But Lord, I’m just as good as most of the people in the church!”

“EXCUSE ME. I THOUGHT YOU WERE PRAYING FOR MY WILL TO BE DONE. IF THAT IS TO HAPPEN, IT WILL HAVE TO START WITH THE ONES WHO ARE PRAYING FOR IT. LIKE YOU, FOR EXAMPLE.”

“Yeah… I guess I do have some hang-ups…

“GOOD. NOW WE’RE GETTING SOMEWHERE. WE’LL WORK TOGETHER, YOU AND I. SOME TREMENDOUS VICTORIES CAN BE WON. I’M PROUD OF YOU.”

“Umm, Lord? This is taking a lot longer than it usually does… Can You let me finish up here? (Pause.) ‘Give us this day our daily bread…’”

“YOU NEED TO CUT OUT THE BREAD. YOU’RE OVERWEIGHT AS IT IS.”

“Hey, what is this, gang up on the Pastor day?”

“AND YOUR DAILY BIBLE READING’S BEEN FALLING AWAY.”

“Lord?!”

“PRAYING IS A DANGEROUS THING. YOU COULD WIND UP CHANGED, YOU KNOW. THAT’S WHAT I’M TRYING TO GET ACROSS TO YOU. YOU CALLED ME, AND HERE I AM. IT’S TOO LATE TO STOP NOW, BEN. KEEP ON PRAYING. I’M REALLY INTERESTED IN THIS NEXT PART… (PAUSE) WELL, GO ON.”

“I don’t want to.”

“WHY NOT?”

“I know what You’ll say.”

“TRY ME AND SEE.”

“And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors…”

“WHAT ABOUT…?”

“See, I knew it! I knew You would bring them up! But You know the lies they’ve told about me, and they continue until this very day. I have lost friends because of them, not to mention what has been done to my reputation…”

“FORGIVE THEM. THEN I WILL FORGIVE YOU. THEN THE HATE AND SIN WILL BE THEIR PROBLEM AND NOT YOURS. YOU WILL HAVE SETTLED THE MATTER IN YOUR HEART AND BEFORE MY THRONE.”

(Petulant) “But Lord, I can’t forgive them.”

“THEN, I CAN’T FORGIVE YOU.”

(Pause) “Okay. More than I want to hurt them back, I want to be right with You. So, alright: I forgive them. I am tired of always feeling miserable. And now that I think about it, I guess no one can cause me to feel miserable unless I let them. But, please help me, Lord. Help me to let my actions do the talking in showing forgiveness. I am really going to need Your help, and Your grace, and Your Spirit.”

“THERE, NOW! WONDERFUL! HOW DO YOU FEEL?”

“Hmmm. Not bad. Not bad at all! In fact, I feel pretty good! You know, I don’t think I’ll have to go to bed uptight tonight for the first time in a long time! Maybe I won’t be so tired from now on for not getting enough rest.”

“YOU’RE NOT FINISHED WITH YOUR PRAYER, BEN. GO ON.”

“Okay! ‘And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”

“GOOD! GOOD! I’LL DO THAT. JUST DON’T PUT YOURSELF IN A PLACE WHERE YOU CAN BE TEMPTED.”

“I don’t understand.”

“SURE YOU DO. YOU HAVE DONE IT A LOT OF TIMES. YOU GET CAUGHT IN A BAD SITUATION, YOU GET INTO TROUBLE, AND THEN YOU COME RUNNING TO ME, ‘LORD, HELP ME OUT OF THIS MESS AND I PROMISE YOU I’LL NEVER DO IT AGAIN.’ YOU REMEMBER SOME OF THOSE BARGAINS YOU TRIED TO MAKE WITH ME, DON’T YOU?”

“Yes… I’m sorry… It’s embarrassing, Lord. I’m really sorry.”

“WHICH BARGAIN ARE YOU REMEMBERING?”

“Oh, come on, Lord… Give me a break! I’m sorry, Lord. I really am!”

“GO AHEAD AND FINISH YOUR PRAYER.”

“For Thine is the Kingdom, and the power, and glory, forever and ever.”

“DO YOU KNOW WHAT WOULD BRING ME GLORY? WHAT WOULD REALLY MAKE ME HAPPY?”

“No, but I’d like to. You make me so happy, I’d really like to make You happy, Lord. I know I’ve made a real mess out of my life. And I can see how great it would really be if I truly followed You more obediently.”

“YOU JUST ANSWERED MY QUESTION.”

“I did?”

“YES. THE THING THAT WOULD REALLY BRING ME GLORY IS TO HAVE PEOPLE LIKE YOU TRULY LOVE ME. AND I SEE THAT HAPPENING BETWEEN US, NOW THAT SOME OF THOSE OLD SINFUL ATTITUDES ARE EXPOSED AND OUT OF THE WAY… THERE’S NO TELLING WHAT WE CAN DO TOGETHER!”

“Amen!”

Many Christians would love to have such a personal and conversational prayer life with God. And yet I know that many who love the Lord, and are walking closely and joyfully with Him, neglect such friendly conversation because they don’t think they have the flowery language or verbal skills to talk with Him rightly.

But the Bible tells us that it’s

boldness, and

asking for His will to be done (at least, as well as we know His will at the time), and

trusting that He’s listening when we pray,

that are the keys to faithful praying; not the words we use or how we speak them.

But we must pray. We must speak to and hear from our Father to be a part of the harvest-work He is doing in the world. And we must speak to and hear from Him in order to be the faithful royal-priesthood He’s set us in the world to be. So here are some helps, if you’re among the many struggling with prayer.

First, commit to a time and place for prayer each day. It doesn’t have to be the same time and the same place each day, though that often helps. But if your schedule is erratic then schedule your prayer times and places accordingly. But schedule it – put it on your calendar as you would any other important meeting or playdate or appointment – and commit to your schedule. The devil does not want us to pray, so we ought not expect “time for prayer” to mystically appear. We need to make the time, and treasure it…

Next, when you pray, believe that the Lord is present. When we were at the Wintercamp Youth Retreat last weekend I saw a girl who was sitting in a booth by herself. I invited her to join us at our table where we were playing UNO. But she told us she was sitting at the booth picturing God sitting across from her, and that she was praying, talking with Him.

In like ways, I often take walks with God: I go for a walk trusting that He is there walking alongside me. And I talk to Him, sometimes looking over in His direction, and as I speak sometimes I clearly hear Him respond to me. Other times there’s just silence.

But you can sit at a table in your home with the Lord, or on your couch together. If it helps, close your eyes. When we keep our eyes open we can think He’s not there because we can’t see Him. But with our eyes closed we can know He’s there, as, by faith, we picture Him physically present with us.

Lastly, consider keeping a record of your prayers. Recording our prayers sets an expectation within us to be watching and listening for the Lord’s responses. And keeping track helps us, over time, edit what we’ve asked Him for as our understanding of His will changes and grows. And, of course, seeing the list of prayers He’s answered or responded to encourages us in our prayers during times it seems difficult to pray.

Most of all, don’t give up. Intimacy in any relationship takes time: Time together talking and listening; time together in quiet just enjoying each other’s company; time to grow in understanding the other’s ways, and habits, and patterns. It’s that way with our Father in Heaven, too.

(For those of you who want to try taking walks with God, I have some leaflets of guided “Prayer Walk” up-front here that focus on different aspects of our encounter with Jesus Christ. There’s seven or eight different ones, and they’re up here for the taking.)