Notices 27th July 2025
A special welcome to everyone joining us in worship at Kingston today.
“…the God who you pray too, hears you,
knows you, loves you and wants to bless you!”
Image above: Andrewrabbott, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Luke 10:38-42
These verses which contain the ubiquitous words we know as “The Lord’s Prayer” (or if you are from Catholic roots, and particularly if you’ve done much confessing at confession, the penance often prescribed, “Our Father”), all come from this request made of Jesus;
“Lord, please teach us to pray”.
Curiously, in the context of these basic rubrics of...
Praising God
Acknowledging God’s universal sovereignty
Petition for stuff required for basic living
Forgiveness for ourselves and that we be forgiving
Deliverance from the temptation to be naughty,
Jesus goes on to teach us that God can handle some persistent badgering if you think you need something badly enough.
The most significant element of this teaching of Jesus comes next. Why? Because it describes the context of the conversation in which prayer occurs and the “Who” that you are directing your prayer to. Implicit in the first two words of his famous template,
“Our Father”, is a deep affection, nurture, warmth and intimacy. Granted, for a myriad of good reasons, it is hard for many to feel the warmth which Jesus is wishing to portray in his choice of the word “Father”. If this is you, please do not lose heart! God is less offended with the semantics of title than our traditions might dictate. Regardless of how we find it most helpful to address our beautiful God, we need to heed Jesus’ intention behind his choice of words…
And that is:
That the God who you pray too, hears you, knows you, loves you and wants to bless you!
