He was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples.” He said to them, “When you pray, say:
Father, hallowed by your name, your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread and forgive us our sins for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us, and do not subject us to the final test.”
And he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend to whom he goes at midnight and says, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, for a friend of mine has arrived at my house from a journey and I have nothing to offer him,’ and he says in reply from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked and my children and I are already in bed. I cannot get up to give you anything.’ I tell you, if he does not get up to give him the loaves because of their friendship, he will get up to give him whatever he needs because of his persistence.
And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. What father among you would hand his son a snake when he asks for a fish? Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg? If you, then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the holy Spirit to those who ask him?”
Luke 11:1-13 (NABRE)
That God is our Father is an amazingly mind-blowing concept.
In this passage, Jesus emphasizes the family dynamic of the Church. Elsewhere in Scripture, the Church is described as the “household of God” (Ephesians 2:19). Clearly, this familial language is something that God wants us to carefully consider. If we think about the positive aspects of our earthly families, be it abstractly or from experience, we are greeted with ideas of provision, security, and intimacy. These are core qualities of a good family. In our spiritual family, we can expect no less, but more. At the origin and destiny of this family is the living and eternal God. As individual members of God’s family, we are given such close and constant care and attention. We have, as a Father, a God who is omniscient. He knows, better than we ourselves know, the innermost promptings and desires, fears and joys, strengths and weaknesses, and scars and fresh wounds of our hearts. In obvious conclusion, He already knows everything. It is easy to project our own experiences of dealing with our broken human parents onto God. We sometimes think that we are lost in the crowd or willfully ignored at times. We sometimes think that there is no possible way that God has such a deep desire to heal us and bring us to rest in His house in Heaven.
And yet, we need to remind ourselves that we are thinking “not as God does, but as human beings do” (Matthew 16:23). God is love, and He acts like it, too. We can always count on family (ideally, that’s the case, at least). And we’re talking about our earthly families made up of sinners. How much more can we count on God? We are allowed to see Him as the perfect dad to us. We can trust Him as such. We can call upon Him and talk to Him as such. That is what He wants from us.
Thank you for reading. Peace.
Eat the Scroll 