We know that often Jesus began His prayers with the same word that you and I start with: Father. In His prayers we hear the earnest cries of a boy to His dad, His papa, His abba. “Father” is His first word in the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9); it is the first word He prays in Gethsemane (Matthew 26:39); it is His first word on the cross (Luke 23:34). We close our prayers in Jesus’ name, and we ask the Holy Spirit to come and fill us, but we draw near saying, “Father.”

In times when I have been overwhelmed by a situation, my prayers have come down to this most basic and elemental part. In the desperation, weariness, or intensity of the moment, other words may escape me. But like a child, always I can call out, “Father!”

“We are in awe of what it means that we can call you ‘our Father’ as Jesus did. Listen to us when we are deeply depressed, confused, or in dire need. Even when we do not know what to speak, hear our prayer, Father. And what in our ignorance we fail to ask, may you not fail to give. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”