Today’s Reading: Small Catechism: Lord’s Prayer, Introduction
Daily Lectionary: Proverbs 16:1-24; John 16:1-16

Our Father who art in heaven. What does this mean? With these words God tenderly invites us to believe that He is our true Father and that we are His true children, so that with all boldness and confidence we may ask Him as dear children ask their dear father. (Small Catechism, Lord’s Prayer, Introduction)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Imagine for a moment that you wanted to show tenderness to a little puppy you had adopted. What would you do? You’d stoop down to it. Pick it up gently. Hold it close to you. Speak softly to it and pet it. And you would do all of this over and over again, so this helpless creature would learn to trust you, to look to you for good, and to rejoice in your care.

How does God show you tenderness when He wants you to know that He is the One who has created you and cares for you? How does God show you tenderness when you have been adopted as His child in Baptism? How does God teach you to look to Him for good and to rejoice in His presence?

He teaches you this in the Lord’s Prayer. Your Father tenderly invites you to believe that He is your true Father and that you are His true child, so that you may ask Him boldly for the things included in the Lord’s Prayer, which encompasses all that you need for this daily life.

This prayer was given as a gift from God when you were baptized. Every time you pray it, you pray to your dear Father, along with Jesus, who taught it to you and prays with you, through the Spirit who draws you to faith.

You pray for the things Jesus taught you to ask. You ask for them from the Father who promised to give them. You receive them by the faith the Holy Spirit has worked in you.

Each time you pray this prayer, it’s a miracle of the Holy Trinity into whom you have been baptized and by whom you have been saved. Your Father tenderly invites you to believe that you are His child by this new birth, so that you can come to Him with all the confidence of one who is saved by the grace of Christ. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Our Father, who from heaven above bids all of us to live in love As members of one family and pray to You in unity, Teach us no thoughtless words to say but from our inmost hearts to pray. (“Our Father, Who from Heaven Above” LSB 766, st.1)

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Duane Bamsch