My faith has been enriched through The Message paraphrase of the Bible. Written by Eugene Peterson, it often speaks to my soul in a unique way. After listening to the audio version of Eugene Peterson’s biography, A Burning in My Bones, last summer, I have loved The Message and the man who painstakingly wrote it even more.

Eugene Peterson was a brilliant theologian, scholar, linguist, poet, and all-around down-to-earth guy from my home state of Montana. In the early years of his career, he passed up prestigious teaching positions to pastor a congregation in Maryland. He began paraphrasing passages of Scripture from the original Hebrew and Greek languages so members of his congregation could connect to biblical texts in relatable ways. The eventual result was The Message.

(For some fascinating glimpses of Eugene Peterson, you may enjoy watching an interview with Peterson and Bono of U2 rock band. I think you’ll understand why I like him so much! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-l40S5e90KY.)

I recite the Lord’s Prayer daily—sometimes several times during the day. I generally use the version I learned as a child from the King James, and truthfully, it remains my favorite. Sometimes, however, I like to scramble my brain a bit by using a different biblical translation or paraphrase to pray the words Jesus gave his disciples when they asked their teacher to show them how to pray. In today’s post, I give this timeless, powerful prayer as paraphrased by Eugene Peterson. (See Matthew 6)

The prayer is prefaced with these thoughts from Jesus:

“And when you come before God, don’t turn that into a theatrical production either. All these people making a regular show out of their prayers, hoping for fifteen minutes of fame! Do you think God sits in a box seat?

Here’s what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won’t be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace.

The world is full of so-called prayer warriors who are prayer-ignorant. They’re full of formulas and programs and advice, peddling techniques for getting what you want from God. Don’t fall for that nonsense. This is your Father you are dealing with, and he knows better than you what you need. With a God like this loving you, you can pray very simply. Like this:”

I hope these words will turn your thoughts to “Our Father in Heaven” who knows us intimately and loves us deeply,

Pray as Jesus Taught

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