“Forget greatness; seek littleness. Trust more, strut less.”- Max Lucado
Max Lucado begins Chapter 2 (“Father . . . Daddy”) of Before Amen by telling of the time his eldest daughter, Jenna, flubbed her piano piece at a recital. Midway through her piece, she forgot the next part. When her mental block broke, she completed the piece. After Jenna curtsied to sympathetic applause, she ran of the stage.
Max and his wife scurried out of their seats to meet Jenna. Next, Jenna threw her arms around Max and spoke two words: “Oh, Daddy.” And that’s exactly where honest, heartfelt prayer begins.
As a result, Max wanted to find out how young children approach their daddies. So he went to a school playground, notepad in hand, to find out. The statement below, however, exemplifies what Max didn’t hear the five-year-olds say:
“Father, it is most gracious of thee to drive thy car to my place of education and provide me with domestic transportation. Please know of my deep gratitude for your benevolence. For thou art splendid in thy attentive care and diligent in thy dedication.”
Although Jesus downplayed the importance of words in prayer, Max notes, we tend to place great importance on the proper words: “The more words the better. The better words the better.” However, Pastor Lucado quips, no panel of angelic judges with numbered cards stands ready to score your prayer.
In other words, the power of prayer depends on the One hearing our prayer, not on how we pray. That gives us hope. As Max concludes, Father . . . Daddy . . . And sometimes ‘Daddy’ is all we can muster.”
Today’s question: How does approaching the Father as your Daddy enable you to seek littleness? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “God’s unrivaled goodness”
