As Christians, we have a tendency to pray without much emotion, following a rather mechanical “praise/ask” formula: “God thanks for this; please do that. Amen.” Rarely do we show God how we feel. We pray unemotively, approaching God as if He were an accountant, processing lists of requests with a check mark or “X” on his heavenly ledger.
My Lent meditation today prompted me to recognize that it was not Jesus’ deep emotion that caught God’s attention; it was His reverence —His deep respect for the Father’s person and submission to His will. And, interestingly, in that reverence, Jesus held nothing back. He laughed and cried with his Father. To Jesus, reverence was expressed by the act of submission, not by lack of emotion or expressions of solemnity. The season of Lent reminds us of Jesus' passionate interaction with His Father.
"Lord, I want to grow beyond cool, calm, and collected prayers. I want to dare to enter into union with God, where the full range of my emotions are freely expressed."
During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered...
(Hebrews 5:7-8 NIV)
