Thursday of the First Week of Lent - March 1, 2012
Matthew 7:9 - 10
“Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake?"
This Jesus-saying is offered in the wider context of prayer and the admonition to keep asking, seeking and knocking. In these two verses, Jesus made a statement about the nature of God to give good gifts to those who asked for the gifts.
Let's turn the prism for just a moment. Instead of focusing on the parent who gives wisely to the child, let's think about the child who does the asking.
Do children really know what to ask for? Do children really know what they need? Ungoverned, a child would ask for a diet of donuts, candy, and soft drinks, with ice cream for dessert. There's no shame in being a child, in asking for things that are very primitive. For children to act like children is appropriate.
Many persons, however, never grow up. Spiritually speaking -- and emotionally, as well -- many, many persons are still asking for donuts and ice cream on into adulthood. More directly to Jesus' point, that kind of immaturity still characterizes their relationship with God, which then characterizes their prayer. God is the Being who grants my wishes, who gives me goodies, who makes my life better, who protects me from harm.
There's nothing wrong with this approach to God . . . for a season of our lives. But it's really a very immature, primitive view of God. "God the Celestial Parent" is not all that different from "God the Genie-in-a-Bottle" or "God the Cosmic-Santa-Claus."
"When I was a child I talked like a child, thought like a child, reasoned like a child. When I became an adult, I put childish ways behind me," the Apostle Paul wrote (1 Cor. 13:11).
For today . . . when you are aware of yourself in relationship with God, what is your guiding image for God? Or to ask it another way, when you pray, how do you see God? As a Parent? A Judge? A Teacher? A Preacher? As a kind, old Man? As a gentle Grandmother? What is your image?
In your prayer, ask God to help you be open to new images (or NO images) for who God is to you. (As humans we often feel as if we have to have an image, but contemplative prayer and meditation often lead us into a more image-less place with God.)
“Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake?"
This Jesus-saying is offered in the wider context of prayer and the admonition to keep asking, seeking and knocking. In these two verses, Jesus made a statement about the nature of God to give good gifts to those who asked for the gifts.
Let's turn the prism for just a moment. Instead of focusing on the parent who gives wisely to the child, let's think about the child who does the asking.
Do children really know what to ask for? Do children really know what they need? Ungoverned, a child would ask for a diet of donuts, candy, and soft drinks, with ice cream for dessert. There's no shame in being a child, in asking for things that are very primitive. For children to act like children is appropriate.
Many persons, however, never grow up. Spiritually speaking -- and emotionally, as well -- many, many persons are still asking for donuts and ice cream on into adulthood. More directly to Jesus' point, that kind of immaturity still characterizes their relationship with God, which then characterizes their prayer. God is the Being who grants my wishes, who gives me goodies, who makes my life better, who protects me from harm.
There's nothing wrong with this approach to God . . . for a season of our lives. But it's really a very immature, primitive view of God. "God the Celestial Parent" is not all that different from "God the Genie-in-a-Bottle" or "God the Cosmic-Santa-Claus."
"When I was a child I talked like a child, thought like a child, reasoned like a child. When I became an adult, I put childish ways behind me," the Apostle Paul wrote (1 Cor. 13:11).
For today . . . when you are aware of yourself in relationship with God, what is your guiding image for God? Or to ask it another way, when you pray, how do you see God? As a Parent? A Judge? A Teacher? A Preacher? As a kind, old Man? As a gentle Grandmother? What is your image?
In your prayer, ask God to help you be open to new images (or NO images) for who God is to you. (As humans we often feel as if we have to have an image, but contemplative prayer and meditation often lead us into a more image-less place with God.)
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