The Lord\u2019s Prayer may be the greatest distillation in all of Scripture of who God is, why Jesus came, and what our role is here on earth. It\u2019s a blueprint for daily life as a disciple of Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In fact, the Didache<\/em> (a late first-century or early second-century discipleship manual) reveals that at least one community of early Jesus followers prayed the Lord\u2019s Prayer three times a day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So when Jesus taught his disciples to pray, it matters that he didn\u2019t begin with lofty divine titles or elaborate requests, but with relationship. We see it in two simple words: Our Father.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to Dr. Jonathan Pennington, \u201cThe older notion that Jesus was unique in referring to God as Father has since been shown to be overstated. But it is true that understanding God as Father and addressing him in this way was more frequent and characteristic of Jesus and Christianity from its earliest days.\u201d1<\/a><\/sup> In other words, it\u2019s significant that when Jesus taught his disciples to pray, he began by helping them understand who they were praying to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the first challenges every new parent faces is learning how to decipher the cries of their child. There\u2019s the I\u2019m hungry<\/em> cry. The I need a diaper change<\/em> cry. The I\u2019m tired and need to sleep<\/em> cry. And worst of all, the I\u2019m in pain<\/em> cry, a sound that sets every parent\u2019s teeth on edge and sends them running.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After all, loving parents are attuned to the cries of their children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Author and psychiatrist Curt Thompson writes, \u201cWe\u2019re all born into the world looking for someone who\u2019s looking for us, and we remain in this mode for the rest of our lives.\u201d2<\/a><\/sup> There\u2019s never a time when we stop searching for a wise and loving presence, someone who can see into our pain and confusion, know us better than we know ourselves, and lead us into the life we\u2019re longing for but can\u2019t seem to find on our own. Human beings have a deep-seated longing for a loving, attuned parent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But for many people, the words \u201cOur Father\u201d don\u2019t evoke comfort. They conjure painful memories of absence, neglect, emotional distance, or even violence. These are real and lasting wounds, the kind that should never be glossed over with religious clich\u00e9s or pious-sounding platitudes.<\/p>\n\n\n\nDeciphering the Cry<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The Father Wounds We Carry<\/h3>\n\n\n\n