Talking to God

Brian and I were texting this morning about our day--hospitals, lunches, people to see, etc. He was asking about a certain situation in my life, which we had been discussing the day before, and I simply told him this: "I am good, but only because of what I know of God's character on the cross." Jesus taught his disciples to pray using what we call "The Lord's Prayer." In less than seventy words, Jesus covers just about everything you need to know for a true praying life.  It really is all there.I have books and books on prayer in my office, and one of the most frequent questions people seeking spiritual counsel ask me is, "How do you pray?" Great question--and Jesus gives us a great answer. I am floored by what all is found in the Lord's Prayer. For instance, we find, right off the bat, that we come to God in prayer not like a supplicant to a king, but like a child to a father. How good is that? And if I follow that logic all the way through, I realize that my posture must be that of a child before a father. Hence, we are told to pray for God's will--not our own--to prevail on the earth.I needed that this week. I came to realize once again that most of my problems come because I want my will to be done. I am simply not content to say to God, "I am like a child before you. How can I even know what is best for me? How can I know what the future should hold?"But when I ponder God's character, particularly as I see it with Jesus on the cross, I really can stand down and just trust God. I mean, if he would lose his only-begotten son to have me for his adopted son, is he really going to just ignore me now?You think about that, and we will plunge deeper into the rabbit hole this Sunday. Blessings,Jim