Nobodies get to do it!

In Matthew Chapter six, with sniper like accuracy Jesus laid it out. What was the great secret He unveiled? Prayer. How to converse with the creator of the universe. That’s right, God in the flesh is about to put on a clinic about how to talk to His Dad. After all who better to tell you how God likes to be spoken to than the one who spent endless (and I do mean endless) days conversing with Him. The most impressive part for me of this prayer example is the very beginning:
“This is how you should pray: “Our Father in heaven,” Matthew 6:9

Just that quick, Jesus states one of the most profound facts of life. “This is how you should pray.” Not this is how you “will” pray or this is how you “better” pray, or this is how you are “commanded” to pray, NO it is a statement of choice. You should, He says. Why you ask? Because the Father likes talking to you. I have considered this statement today several times. I should pray. I do pray but not enough and not with the right heart all the time, and not with the proper awe of the One I am speaking to. But I should pray, you would think that my heart filled with joy or my head filled with fear would force me to speak to God knowing He is my only hope. You would think that God would demand to be recognized in our lives since He not only created us but He also redeemed us. But with the quiet tenderness of a mothers voice, Jesus offers His profound suggestion: “You should pray.”

Then Jesus tracks further: “Our Father in heaven.” Remember the one speaking, this Jesus is who Paul reminds us made and created all things. This is the one who on a warm Jerusalem evening found Himself fastened to a tree dying for an undeserving world. This is the One who all glory belongs to. But now includes us in the group who would call The Father, OUR father. Jesus puts Himself in our company. He chooses to slum with the rats of this world’s sewer. He refuses to be ashamed and instead chooses to share His Dad with us. With plain Jane, dirty fingered, hopeless, nobodies like us. So today we can say “Our Father”, and be included in the company of the divine.