Merciful, by Steve Parsons

Our Father, who is in heaven, holy is your name.

With one simple phrase, Jesus teaches us how to enter the embrace of One who is as close as a loving daddy and to honor the same One who is unimaginably more than we can name.  Our need for intimacy co-exists with a sense of awe at the core of our being. 

The One who feeds us, who tickles our toes and our nose with feathers and flowers, who provides guidance when we wander into dangerous territory....this same One creates all that is and yet makes a way for us, a tiny  part of that vastness, to come into relationship with Holiness. 

Scripture tells of only one irreconcilable sin, the sin against the Holy Spirit (Mark 3:29).After all, how can I be forgiven if I won't turn and face the source of forgiveness. How can holiness soak into my life if I harden my shell against the Holy Spirit?

Try this prayer exercise: 

Breathe an out the way you normally do for a minute, just notice how you breathe.

Now, breathe in deeply and slowly. 

And let your breathe out.

 Do  you notice how more effort is used contracting your muscles to breathe in than while letting the breathe flow out? 

Try taking a deep breathe and holding it.

Now when are you doing the most work?  Notice your need to release the breathe you've taken.  Its hard work not to!  Our bodies health depends on being able to breath in well, just as we need the Holy Spirit to flow freely into our lies, and on being able to exhale well, just as we need to let the Holy Spirit flow through us and into the world.

Try taking a shallow breathe in and then breathe deeply out.   We can only breathe out as well as we breathe in.

Try breathing with tense muscles instead of relaxed.  Which is harder work?  Which is more effective?

Richard Foster once wrote, “ Real prayer comes not from gritting our teeth but from falling in love,”  (Prayer:  Finding the Heart’s True Home.” )    

This week, ask Christ to teach you how to pray as naturally as breathing to the One who loves you and who opens a world of possibility to you.  You'll know that others all around the world and throughout time (that was, that is, that will be) as you pray, "Our Father, who is in heaven, Holy is your name....."