Praying as true children of the Father ~ reflex on Mt 6:7-15
How do we approach God in prayer?
Our God is not an aloof God who needs us to do something dramatic to get His attention. He is not distracted, does not need to be begged while we beat ourselves, does not need to be placated. We cannot pay for perfect rituals to get what we want, as if the whole system of asking and receiving were about bargaining and bidding, or paying for what we want with a certain number of prayers or rituals.
No. In contrast to the kinds of prayers the pagans offered to their false gods, Jesus helps his disciples see that the one true God is fundamentally different: God is our Father, who knows what we need even before we ask Him. How can He know?! Because He is close to us, cares for us, wants to give good things to us, delights in gazing on us. He is truly our good Father. So our prayer can be the prayer of small children – simple, trusting, heartfelt, confident that we will receive all we need and more. The petitions Jesus teaches the disciples in today’s Gospel are few in number and use few words; when we model this prayer, we see that we do not need to “babble on.” Simple words from a truly trusting heart resound in the Heart of God.
What about the times when it seems our prayers are not answered? Is it because we failed to use exactly the right words or ask the right number of times, or some other detail we failed to perform? Of course not. God always answers our prayers. He sometimes says, “Yes.” At other times he tells us, “Not yet.” And sometimes he is saying (this is the one we often miss), “Actually, I have a better idea.” If we learn to pray in Christ, with the heart of Christ, we will pray as true children of the Father, confident in his unfailing and perfect love for us, and knowing that all He wills is best.
On top of this lesson, Jesus layers an even deeper lesson about forgiveness. This comes with a strong underline: “IF you do not forgive men, neither will you Father forgive your transgressions” (!). We MUST forgive others, or we will not be forgiven. Why are these connected?
In order to receive God’s forgiveness, we must have the humility to recognize that we are not God; it is this proper humility that sees clearly our utter dependence on God and our need for His forgiveness. To refuse to forgive someone is to make ourselves their judge, forgetting that only God can judge the heart. As children of the most loving Father, who knows what we need before we ask Him and who longs to forgive us in Christ, we must be like Christ in forgiving others and setting them free from our petty judgment. In doing so, we set ourselves free to receive God’s forgiveness and know true peace.