Our Father

With unbounded boldness, I walked to the front of the classroom to recite the Lord’s Prayer. The teacher had asked if anyone knew it by heart, and despite being a little fuzzy on the middle bit, I knew I could start and end it well. I was in first grade—my confidence was unshakeable! “Our Father which aren’t in heaven,” I began. “Hallowed . . .” “Wait!” the teacher gently interrupted me. “Say that again, please.” I did. She stopped me again.

“You mean, ‘Our Father which art in heaven,’” she prompted.

I hesitated, the sparkle of confidence I’d felt moments before now started to fade. Though I tried several more times, I never did get it right.

Only when I said it very quickly, running my words together and dropping to a whisper on the offending aren’t, did she let me continue.

Puzzled, I returned to my seat, still unsure of the difference between the old King James English art and the more familiar aren’t. I never used the word art for anything other than my favorite subject—and it always involved paintbrushes.

It didn’t belong in the Lord’s Prayer.

Though I can now smile at the innocent mistake of six-year-old me, there have been times I have struggled to trust my Father in heaven, times when my thoughts and actions revealed my uncertainty that He was looking out for me.

Perhaps we have all fought similar struggles.

If our earthly fathers were a poor reflection of God’s love, we may still be reeling from the wounds—our little-girl hearts longing to believe we are worthy of love.

The truth is, at some point along our journey, we all struggle to believe our heavenly Father could possibly love us. Life can be hard. We lose the sparkle of our confidence in God and cry out, “Are You there—or aren’t You, Lord?” We believe the subtle lies of the enemy, and doubt slips into the cracked and lonely spaces in our hearts.

If this is where you find yourself, let me share this truth: In one of the last conversations Jesus had with His friends before Calvary, when they were hours away from a heart-stopping crisis of faith, He reminded them, “The Father [tenderly] loves you” (John 16:27, AMP).

These words still hold true! No matter what you’re facing, claim His promise today, “The Father tenderly loves me!”

Karen Pearson