PRAYING THE LORD'S PRAYER

PRAYING THE LORD'S PRAYER

This chart outlines the main types of prayer as they are presented in the Lord's Prayer. Use this outline to guide you through a time of prayer using these main types.

Verse from Lord's Prayer	How to Pray	Type of Prayer
Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.	Telling God how great he is and how much he means to you.	Worship, thanksgiving
Thy kingdom come Thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.	Giving God total control over all the areas in your (or another's) life.	Submission, surrender
Give us this day Our daily bread;	Asking God to provide for the day's needs.	Petition, intercession
And forgive us our debts, As we also have forgiven our debtors;	Admitting your sin to God and asking for forgiveness; telling God how you have been sinned against and forgiving those who have hurt you.	Confession
And lead us not into, temptation, But deliver us from evil.	Asking God to give you (or another) strength over particular areas of evil to which you (or another) fall prey.	Supplication, Deliverance

Praying the Lord's Prayer Worksheet

List below are passages from the bible

If you are in the age group of 6 ~ 12 years old (primary school) fill in the blanks.

For secondary school children, please write a short prayer in your own words, using The Lord's Prayer and the following verses to guide you.

Verses	From NIV	Type of Prayer
Ps 85: 12	The Lord will indeed give what is good, and our land will yield its harvest.
Ps 25: 4~5	Show me your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for your are God my Savior and my hope is in you all day long.	Also read Ps 16, 27, 62, 101
Ps 34: 7	The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fears him, and he delivers them.
Ps 8: 1	O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!	Also read Ps 100, 148
Ps 16: 2	I said to the Lord, "You are my Lord; Apart from you I have no good thing."
Ps 51: 1~2	Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions, Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin	Also read Ps 6, 32, 106, 130
Fill in the	W = Worship, Thanksgiving
letters:	S = Submission, Surrender
	P = Petition, Intercession
	C = Confession
	SD = Supplication & Deliverance

HIGHLIGHTS OF “INTERCESSORY PRAYER – DUTCH SHEETS”

Why Pray

1. Even though God is all-powerful, it doesn't mean that He will automatically do what is best for us, for the world, for everybody without anyone having to pray and ask Him for such things. From the very beginning, God has chosen to limit Himself, concerning the affairs of earth, to working through human beings and not independently of them.
   
2. It was Christ's sacrifice on the Cross that redeemed us to God and broke the authority of Satan over us. God wants to release the work of Christ through our prayers.
   

Protection and Prayer

1. It is wrong to believe that nothing can happen to a Christian that is not allowed by God. Sometimes, bad or unfortunate things can befall a Christian because of his own fault or lacking. All promises of God are attached to conditions which involve responsibility on our part and can only be received by us when we fulfill the conditions and responsibilities that He has set on us. For example, it is not God's will when we fall sick because we eat poorly, don't exercise and abuse our bodies in other ways.
   
2. Protection is not automatically ours just because we are Christians. We must do things to secure it, one of which is building boundaries of protection for ourselves and others through prayer.
   
3. Consistency is a key when it comes to prayer for protection. It must be a lifestyle, not a once in awhile activity. Many believers' prayer lives are too sporadic to build solid walls of protection.
   

Spiritual Warfare for the lost

1. There is a warfare necessary at times in our intercession although in this war, we are not trying to defeat the devil. He is already defeated. What we do is merely to release and enforce what Christ did.
   
2. What Christ actually did when he defeated Satan:-
   
   1. Jesus did not come to get back any power, nor to remove any power from Satan. He came to regain the authority Adam lost to the serpent and break his headship over the earth.
      
   2. Satan still has all the inherent powers and abilities he has always had. What he lost was the right (authority) to use his power on those who make Jesus Lord.
      

   This is why we are still involved in spiritual warfare with Satan notwithstanding that Christ has already defeated Satan on the cross.
   

3. 2 Cor 4:3,4 tells us that there is a veil or covering over the minds of unbelievers put there by Satan that blinds them from clearly seeing the light of the gospel. They don't see it because they can't see it. To be able to see the light, they must have an unveiling – a revelation. Repentance is a new understanding that comes from God through an unveiling (revelation). Pray therefore specifically for the veils to be lifted off the eyes of the unbelievers so that they can see and understand the truth of the gospel.
   
4. Satan has a stronghold within unbelievers from which he can blind them. This stronghold has three major components:
   
   1. a person's logic or mindset - anything that causes a person to think a certain way. This means that unbelievers don't hear what we are saying, they hear what we are saying plus what they already believe.
      

      Intercession to be applied: Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you the logic or mindset of the person (thought patterns, opinions on religion, materialism, fear etc) whom you are praying for and when He does, call them by name and tear them down, for eg. "In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I am destroying you, stronghold of … ".
      

   2. a person's pride in wanting to exalt himself to a place of equality with God.
      

      Intercession to be applied: Pray to cast down anything that would exalt itself against the knowledge of God, specifically pride and rebellion.
      

   3. the spontaneous thoughts and temptations Satan uses to assault the unbelievers, as well as the schemes and plans he uses to keep them in darkness.
      

      Intercession to be applied: Pray to bind all wicked thoughts and lies Satan would try to place in the person's mind.
      

Why Perseverance in Prayers Necessary

1. Is it necessary because sometimes we need to talk God into things? No, because we don't persist against God. Is it because God is using the waiting period to teach us? At times it may be, but then if this is the reason we shouldn't need to pray for the same thing again and again. Once and then a waiting in faith would be adequate. Is the delay due to the fact that God has his own timing for an answer to the prayer? If so, then again, asking once and waiting in faith should be sufficient.
   
2. Our prayers do more than just motivate God to action. They actually release the power of the Holy Spirit from us to accomplish things. This power is measurable and there can be cumulative amounts of it. Different amounts of God's power are needed to accomplish certain things.
   
3. Usually it is not just a matter of asking God to do something, but rather a matter of releasing enough power in the spirit to get the job done. After asking, we tend to sit back and wait on God when He is often waiting on us. We have failed to understand that there are prayers which do more than just ask Him. Sometimes, when it appears God has finally "gotten round to it" or when we think something just suddenly happened, the truth is that enough power has finally been released through prayer to accomplish it.
   

Prophetic Action and Prophetic Words/Declaration as forms of Intercession

1. Examples of prophetic action that precede God doing something are (i) Moses stretching forth his rod over the Red Sea to part the sea; (ii) Moses holding up the rod of authority on the hill while Israel was doing battle below; and (iii) Moses striking the rock with his rod and water coming out.
   
2. An example of prophetic words that precede God doing something is when Jeremiah prophesied and said, "Therefore hear, O nations… Hear, O earth."
   
3. Prophetic action or declaration is something said or done in the natural realm at the direction of God that prepares the way for Him to move in the spiritual realm, which then consequently effects change in the natural realm. Basically, God says to do or say something. We obey. Our words or actions releases the power of God into situations.
   

Being on the Alert in Prayer

1. God's plan is to warn or alert us to Satan's tactics. We must be alert – remain watchful – or we won't pick up on God's attempts to warn us of Satan's attacks and plans.
   

If we are not alert and watchful, if we are ignorant of Satan's schemes, he will take advantage of our ignorance which can destroy us.

Prayer of Saint Francis

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace;

where there is hatred, let me sow love;

where there is injury, pardon;

where there is doubt, faith;

where there is despair, hope;

where there is darkness, light;

and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,

grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;

to be understood, as to understand;

to be loved, as to love;

for it is in giving that we receive,

it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.

Amen.

Brother Lawrence

CONVERSATIONS

If we renounce ourselves, we'll know unspeakable joy. Always turn to Jesus Christ, asking him for his grace that makes everything easy. Neither finesse nor learning is required to approach God, only a heart resolved to devote itself exclusively to him, loving him only.

Ground yourself in God's presence by continually conversing with him. Nourish your soul by focusing your mind on God's glory. Accept the joy that comes from spending time with him. Renew your faith; it's terrible that we have so little.

Give yourself completely to God. Abandon yourself to him. Find joy in doing his will, in all circumstances. Suffering and joy are synonymous to someone yielded to God. We must be faithful in times of aridity when God is testing our love for him.

THE SPIRITUAL MAXIMS

We must keep our eyes fixed on God in all we say or do. Our goal is to adore God unceasingly.

We must work towards making every action, without exception, into a kind of brief conversation with God—not in any artificial way, but purely, simply.

We must always act carefully and deliberately, not impulsively or hurriedly, for those are the marks of a distracted mind. Cooperate gently and lovingly with God.

Because you know God is always with you in your deepest core, stop whatever you're doing often and adore him, praise him, ask his help, offer him your heart, and thank him.

The soul that turns inward to practice the presence of God becomes so intimate with him that it spends practically its entire life in continual acts of love, adoration, godly sorrow, trust, thanksgiving, offering, and petition. Sometimes these become one unending act because the soul constantly practices the exercise of Christ's divine presence.

Basic Devotion Format

The basic devotion format includes three parts:

1. The study of a portion of Holy Scripture.
In choosing where to read, some people find it helpful to follow the daily lectionary. Others find it simpler to follow a study guide available from various Christian publishers. You may simply want to choose a passage that interests you-a gospel or an epistle, perhaps-and study it on your own using commentaries and other study aids.

2. Personal devotional time is meditating on the passage.
This is not quite the same as study, although the two often occur together or at nearly the same time. However, while one can remain relatively objective in the pure study of Holy Scripture, meditation requires that the believer allow the words and ideas to affect him personally-to speak to his own situation. While studying the passage may be like carefully laying a brick in line with other bricks, meditation is like stepping back and seeing the mansion as a building where people will someday live.

3. Devotional time includes a time of prayer,
when you express your concerns, needs, intercessions to the Lord, and allow him to answer you by quietly listening. This too can be a natural outflow of your study and mediation, as it is often in a time of meditating before the Lord that our questions and needs are met.

At the Start of Day

1. Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.
2. Let Israel say: "His love endures forever."
3. Let the house of Aaron say: "His love endures forever."
4. Let those who fear the LORD say: "His love endures forever."
5. In my anguish I cried to the LORD, and he answered by setting me free.
6. The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?
7. The LORD is with me; he is my helper. I will look in triumph on my enemies.
8. It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man.
9. It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in princes.
10. All the nations surrounded me, but in the name of the LORD I cut them off.
11. They surrounded me on every side, but in the name of the LORD I cut them off.
12. They swarmed around me like bees, but they died out as quickly as burning thorns; in the name of the LORD I cut them off.
13. I was pushed back and about to fall, but the LORD helped me.
14. The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.
15. Shouts of joy and victory resound in the tents of the righteous: "The LORD's right hand has done mighty things!
16. The LORD's right hand is lifted high; the LORD's right hand has done mighty things!"
17. I will not die but live, and will proclaim what the LORD has done.
18. The LORD has chastened me severely, but he has not given me over to death.
19. Open for me the gates of righteousness; I will enter and give thanks to the LORD.
20. This is the gate of the LORD through which the righteous may enter.
21. I will give you thanks, for you answered me; you have become my salvation.
22. The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone;
23. the LORD has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes.
24. This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
25. O LORD, save us; O LORD, grant us success.
26. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD. From the house of the LORD we bless you.
27. The LORD is God, and he has made his light shine upon us. With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession up to the horns of the altar.
28. You are my God, and I will give you thanks; you are my God, and I will exalt you.
29. Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.

Psalms 118: 24

Prayer of Thanks to God
Almighty God, and most merciful father, who didst command the children of Israel to offer a daily sacrifice to thee, that thereby they might glorify and praise thee for thy protection both night and day, receive, O Lord, my morning sacrifice which I now offer up to thee; I yield thee humble and hearty thanks that thou has preserved me from the danger of the night past, and brought me to the light of the day, and the comforts thereof, a day which is consecrated to thine own service and for thine own honor.
George Washington

Luther's Morning Prayer
My Heavenly Father, I thank You, through Jesus Christ, Your beloved Son, that You kept me safe from all evil and danger last night. Save me, I pray, today as well, from every evil and sin, so that all I do and the way that I live will please you. I put myself in your care, body and soul and all that I have. Let Your holy Angels be with me, so that the evil enemy will not gain power over me. Amen.
Martin Luther

I Cannot Do This Alone
O God, early in the morning I cry to you.
Help me to pray
And to concentrate my thoughts on you:
I cannot do this alone.
In me there is darkness,
But with you there is light;
I am lonely, but you do not leave me;
I am feeble in heart, but with you there is help;
I am restless, but with you there is peace.
In me there is bitterness, but with you there is patience;
I do not understand your ways,
But you know the way for me…
Restore me to liberty,
And enable me to live now
That I may answer before you and before me.
Lord, whatever this day may bring,
Your name be praised.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Morning Prayer
O Lord, grant that my heart may be truly cleansed and filled with Thy Holy Spirit, and that I may arise to serve Thee, and lie down to sleep in entire confidence in Thee, and submission to Thy will, ready for life or for death. Let me live for the day, not overcharged with worldly cares, but feeling that my treasure is not here, and desiring truly to be joined to Thee in Thy heavenly kingdom, and to those who are already gone to Thee. O Lord, save me from sin, and guide me with Thy Spirit, and keep me in faithful obedience to Thee, through Jesus Christ Thy Son, our Lord.
Rev. Thomas Arnold (1795-1842)

ASPIRATION
In the quiet of this hour, I bring an offering of penitence, if not of purity; of teachableness, if not of wisdom; of hope for the time to come, if not ample fruits of well-doing in the time that is past. And so may I find strength and courage for every time of need.
COME, HOLY SPIRIT!
Come, Holy Spirit! Take from us the tediousness and anxiety of a selfish mind, the untrustfulness of cold affections, the weakness of an inconstant will. With the simplicity of a great purpose and the power of a well-ordered soul, may we pass through the toils and watches of our pilgrimage; grateful for all that may render the burdens of duty light; and even in strong trouble, rejoicing to be deemed worthy of severer service.
UNION
Infinite One who fills the universe with Your unsearchable presence, and has a dwelling-place in every heart that trusts in You: I come now in a spirit of thanksgiving, and I would commune with You in prayer that I may learn to live in Your constant presence. Indeed, may I learn to pray as I ought in spirit and in truth.
YOU ARE OUR STRENGTH
Dear God, we are as strangers in Your wondrous universe, yet as children at home within Your shelter. You inspire joyful confidence in You. Enlightener of true seers and prophets, You are our Strength. May their faith and spirit rest upon all our life, refreshing the weariest task. In life and in death, You are the steadfast light of our hearts; You are our portion forever.
THE TASK
Eternal and infinite One, our hours of faithful duty follow us from the past and do not perish. Stir within us that we may redeem the time. Great Giver of the task, we live day and night beneath Your constant eyes. May we be steadfast through all faintness of soul and not rest by the roadside while Your errand waits. Daily may we drive out our selfishness and delight to bear one another’s burden and uphold each other’s faith and hope and love. May our minds be wholly turned to finish, without undue disquiet or contention, the work we strive to do for You. O Watcher of our days and nights, we would commit them all to You.
A PRAYER OF CONSECRATION
Eternal God, who commits to us the swift and solemn trust of life: since we know not what a day may bring forth, but only that the hour for serving You is always present, may we wake to Your instant claims, not waiting for tomorrow, but yielding today. Lay to rest the resistance of our passion, indolence, or fear. Consecrate the way our feet may go, and the humblest work will shine, and the roughest places be made plain. Lift us above unrighteous anger and mistrust into faith and hope and charity, through steady reliance on You. So may we be modest in our time of wealth, patient under disappointment, ready for danger, serene in death. In all things, draw us to Yourself that Your lost image may be traced again, and we may be at one with You.
OUR SECRET LIFE
God of our secret life, weary of ourselves, we come to Your shelter. Our span of troubled days we bring within Your calm eternity. Over our path of pilgrimage, we feel the spaces of Your immensity. In the strife of life and the sadness of mortality, we find a spirit of power and of hope in Your providence.
Infinite Ruler of creation, whose spirit dwells in every world: we look not to the heavens for You, though You are there; we search not in the oceans for Your presence, though it murmurs with Your voice; we wait not for the wings of the wind to bring You near, though they are Your messengers; for You are in our hearts, O God. You make Your abode in the deep places of our thought and love. In each gentle affection, each contrite sorrow, each noble aspiration, we would worship You.
SOURCE OF ALL GOOD
Source of all good! Day by day are Your blessings renewed to us, and again we come with thankful hearts to seek the sense of Your presence. O that we could be reborn like the morning. For even as we seek to commune with You, shadows from our past dim the joy of our aspiration. We remember our thoughtless lives, our impatient tempers, our selfish aims; and yet we know that You have neither made us blind nor left us without the guidance of Your still, small voice speaking in our inmost conscience, and Your open word, appealing to us to choose the better part. Take us now to serve You in newness of spirit, and sweep away every dust of care, every trace of unjustified fear, and every trace of an uncharitable mind.
YOU, OUR SUN AND SHADE
The day is Yours, O God, and the night also. In the morning, You renew my strength; in the evening, I find the shelter of Your wing. You are my Sun, and apart from You, my toil is weary and blind, and there is no glory in my joy. You are my Shade, for in You, my restless soul finds rest. Abiding God, enter fully into my life.
Long have I thirsted after You, the Spring of everlasting life. You are the Treasure of generation after generation. Eternal God! the stars without number proclaim Your power, and the prayers of the human heart never cease to speak. Shame my prejudice, melt down my pride, quiet my fears, and lift me above fretfulness to repose. I would give myself to You, not by inward vision only, but by faithful service. May I never grow weary of well-doing; and may I never look for peace without suffering.
FOR THE NATIONS
God of all, whose balance tries the nations, to lift up or to cast down; You have laid upon the people of the planet a mighty trust. Never through vain conceit may we be blind to the unchanging conditions of Your blessing. The world and its fullness are Yours; our portion, therefore, may we hold with reverence and not in wanton self-will. May we be a refuge of the oppressed and a moderator of lawless ambition. Grant true wisdom and understanding to the leaders of the nations and to all others entrusted with international authority. May we acknowledge You as our supreme Lawgiver and Judge. May all of us, leaders and people, buyers and sellers, know You as weighing the path of the just, as well as being the deathless source of power for peace.
James Martineau

Good morning!
King David wasn't perfect by any stretch. But he sure knew how to start the day.
"Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in You. Show me the way I should go, for to you, I lift up my soul" (Psalm 143:8).
Great advice. Works, too, for real life.
That's why this Web site exists. That's why I have written hundreds of Morning Devotions and plan to continue until I see God's face.
Thanks for seeking real answers to real challenges that are part of real life.
As you do so each day, your faith becomes more real to others.
And that is real good.
As always, I love you

Suggested Prayers for Morning Devotions
Heavenly Father, in your compassion and mercy I have spent the past night: Pour out your Holy Spirit on me this morning so that I may praise you with my whole being. Reveal yourself to me, even now, so that my heart can respond to you; through Jesus, your son, my Lord and redeemer.
Amen.
Heavenly Father, since it is of your tender mercy and compassion that I greet another new day in my life, please accept my total being as an offering to you this day. Guide and strengthen me as I face the events and decisions before me today, especially (here mention specific needs) that all may be done to your honor and glory. I make this offering and prayer through Jesus Christ, my Savior.
Amen.
Lord, even as I make this offering, I realize my own impotence to maintain my life in your way, and so I ask for the strength of your Holy Spirit to hold me firm in my resolve, keeping my eyes on Jesus, my Savior, each hour of the day.
Amen.
Heavenly Father, because of the love that you have for me, I intercede for all my brothers and sisters. Let your Good News be made known to all of them. Especially, I ask your blessings on all my brothers in the Brotherhood of St Andrew, giving special strength, inspiration and insight to those in positions of leadership-especially our National President (add name) and all the National Officers, the staff in the Central Office, the Assembly Officers, and my Chapter Director. Father, as many as have accepted you, keep them in the light of your Gospel, and fill them with your Holy Spirit that they may be witnesses for you to all those other brothers and sisters who do not yet know the good news of your great salvation. Bless all of your ministers in the Church, both lay and ordained. I ask the blessing of your grace on each member of my family today, drawing each one closer to you; make your love known to my friends and neighbors, and if there is any way in which I can minister to their needs, Father, make it known to me, that your name may be glorified and honor given to Jesus Christ my Lord and Redeemer.
Amen.
Almighty God, who gave such grace to your apostle Andrew that he readily obeyed the call of your Son Jesus Christ, and brought his brother with him; Give us, who are called by your Holy Word, grace to follow him without delay, and to bring those near to us into his gracious presence; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
Amen.
May the grace of the Lord Jesus, the love of the Father, and the unifying power of the Holy Spirit be made manifest among all mankind and especially to the people I walk among today.
Amen.

Prayer – Conversation with our Father

Our prayers often reflect our knowledge of God and relationship with Him. They go through different phases and seasons in our journey of faith. We can sort of categorise them into: childlike request and intercession with trust, meditative and intimate moments with Him, surrendering of our will to His (Luke 22:42) and perhaps a few more. A question often comes to mind is why there is a need to pray when we know that God who created the universe has planned its beginning and the end (Rev 21:6) and He knows our thoughts and more. Well, as Christian, our prayers are two-way conversation with God not in word alone, which allow Him to speak spiritual truths to us through the Spirit. This is a privilege no other religion can offer. (1 Cor 2:12-14). So let the Spirit bring us into an intimate relationship with God and allow Him to accomplish His revealed wills through our lives. There is certainty in our prayer and walk, when they are harmonized with God’s will and purpose. An example would be the Chinese evangelist, Watchman NEE, who was miraculously healed of his TB and certain death to continue the Lord’s work in China. He had much prayer support before this.


Prayer is also a practice of the ever presence of God in our lives and is heighten with fasting or in silent retreat. It draws us closer and knowing Him more fully, a process of transforming our values, character, worldview, attitudes, and relationships to His. But we are reminded in Isaiah 58 that God does not delight in rituals. For rituals make our living God into an idol, the human desire to restrict the expression of God’s love response to our prayer. God is looking deep into our heart when we converse with Him.

God's heart is for the weak and lost, those who really know Him will actively help and reach out to them. God’s creative powers are far beyond our understanding, and yet in His grace He chooses to unleash such powers in our lives to accomplish His works. The following is a rephrased English version of a Franciscan Benediction that reveals God's heart. Christ in us..:

..feels discomfort at easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships, so that we too may live deep within and true to our heart.

..incenses with injustice, oppression and exploitation of people, so that we too may work for justice, freedom and peace.

..tears up for those who suffer pain, rejection, hunger, and war, so that we too may reach out our hands to comfort them, and turn their pain into joy.

..knows it is no foolishness to believe that His people can make a difference in the world, so that we too may do what others claim cannot be done and to bring justice and kindness to all.

Ours is an active faith with prayer (Matt 25:35-36, James 2 14-26) and Hudson Taylor said, “Unless there is an element of risk in our exploits for God there is no need for faith.” We undertake a venture with and prompted by God to gain a leap of faith in Him! This is the way we keep the royal law.

Quite Time I

Author of Approaching God, Steve Brown: What I extracted on the essence of a quiet time.

A quiet time is just an established time to go to the Father, spending time with Him. It doesn't matter what you've done, or who you are, or how you've failed, but you have a Father who likes to spend time with you. Go before God, to know what I've done and thought and to expect that He's going to hug me.

I'm not trying to pretend to be spiritual; the thing that made today bearable was the time I spent with Him this morning. It was my soft place, it was the place where I can say whatever I want to say and I don't have to hide or pretend.

I don't have to wear a mask with Him. Even with my beloved wife, I've got to be careful and be sensitive to her. I don't have to be with God, because He knows me. It's a wonderful thing to be totally loved, so that you can say anything. In that totally unconditional atmosphere, I don't have to protect myself. I can pray with the psalmist, 'search me oh God', and whatever He reveals is okay.

God has called me to tell people that if they go to Him, he won't be angry. Annie Dillard said that the liturgy of the high church is the way that people have learned to talk to God without being blasted to pieces.

He's not safe. I don't like some of the stuff He said in scriptures. He's broken me in places, and so in that sense He's not safe, He's God. When I bring my agenda to Him and He has another agenda, mine doesn't count; that's why you don't bargain with Him. But He's still your Father, who loves you unconditionally, and that's the soft place.

I hold those two things together. There's the recognition that He's not safe, that He's holy and righteous; that His agenda is there. And there's the joyous understanding that it is okay, even if I pray the wrong prayer, that He still loves me.

On cosmic claustrophobia, that God is holy, righteous, and awesome and it produces the fear that we will be justly consumed. But the message of the gospel is that God's justice has been satisfied by the sacrifice of Christ. It is the realization that because of the imputed righteousness of Christ, His goodness credited to our account, we can come boldly before the Throne with the knowledge that we will be welcomed and accepted.

There's a story about a little boy whose father was a Roman officer in the army. The Romans were going off to war and the father reached down to hug his son goodbye, but his son shrunk back because of all of the armor, plumes and weaponry. Then the father took his helmet off and the boy recognized him, so he reached out to be held.

I think that's another way we are with God. His thoughts are not our thoughts, and His ways are not our ways: He's holy, He's righteous, but He is our Father. I'm constantly in remembrance that He's holy. In Hebrews, when it says we can come boldly before the Throne, it's only because of the blood of Christ. If I went before God in the way I'm talking about without being covered and without the imputation of Christ's righteousness, I couldn't do it.

The Scripture teaches that we call God 'Abba,' translated as 'daddy'. God is a Father who really likes to spend time with His children. God loves you and let it go to your head. He really does love you.'"