There’s an assumption that most of us carry into prayer. We assume that the purpose of prayer is to get stuff from God. But what if that weren’t the purpose of prayer at all? Or, what if that’s just one of the purposes of prayer, but not the main one? When Jesus taught us how to pray, he taught us that there’s a critical step to take before we ask God to move in our direction and do something for us. It’s to move in God’s direction and willingly submit to whatever he wants to do… and to be fine with that.
Grown Up Prayers Part 2: White Flag
May 1, 2022 • Jason Ewart
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Grown Up Prayers
Grown Up Prayers Part 1: My Dad
April 24, 2022 • Jason Ewart
The challenge of prayer is that many of us aren’t exactly sure how the whole thing works. Jesus uncomplicated prayer by inviting us to frame up prayer in a new and different way. He invited us to pray to “Our Father”. Because of Jesus, we pray as children of God. Jesus gave us a familial relationship with God. He wants us to come to him as children of a loving father who don’t care about the right words and don’t care about bugging him too much.
Grown Up Prayers Part 3: Everything I Need
May 8, 2022 • Jason Ewart
Now that we have learned to align our hearts with the glory and will of God, we are ready to bring our requests to the king. Now that our hearts are aligned it is safe to receive his blessings. The temptation of the human heart is to put our trust in God’s blessings, rather than in God who blesses us. By praying for daily bread, we train our souls to see the reality that we are daily dependent on our good Father to provide our every need.
Grown Up Prayers Part 4: Debt Collector
May 15, 2022
What’s wrong with us and why is it so hard to change? The answer to that question is found in the Lord’s Prayer. “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” The key is repentance. Resentence is the key that gives access to canceled debts, and the freedom to cancel our debtors. But repentance is often misunderstood. It doesn’t grow out of shame. It doesn’t grow out of frustration. Repentance only grows out of love. Only when you see God’s love can you repent. And only when you repent that you can be free.