BP33 - My Papa

 

The My Papa Prayer [see Note below]

 

Note:  Again, this is just a synthesized (and expanded) rendering of the Words of Jesus from The Lord’s Prayer (aka The Our Father Prayer ) recorded in Mt 6:9-13 and Lk 11:2-4.

 

Jesus to Me [minus (in this instance) quotations]:  Dave… M-my Eternal Friend, Kindred Spirit, Baby Brother [or Sister], Fierce Lover, and Wedded-like Companion, relate to and talk with Our Papa like this…

 

O Papa of My Heart and Soul, O Daddy-God of My Life and Personhood; YOU, Who are Life, Light, and Love; YOU Who are Heaven’s Glory, Goodness, and Gladness; YOU, who created me in Your wisdom, delivered me in Your strength, and recreated me in Your mercy; and…

 

YOU, Who, as The Eternal Knowing One, Knows Me Thoroughly…

 

YOU, Who, as The Eternal Loving One, Loves Me Through and Through:

 

YOU, Who as The Eternal Forgiving One, Washes Me Eternally in Jesus’ Blood and Puts Away Continually and Continuously, without End, the Isolating Guilt, Shame, and Infirmities that Sprout up “Naturally and Supernaturally” from the Stem Cells of My Wrongdoings…

 

And…

 

YOU, Who, as The Eternal Living One, Breathes and Utters Me into Unending Existence and Enduring Health, Uprightness, Vitality, Versatility [the faculty of easily turning one’s heart and body to new tasks or subject; facility in taking-up various pursuits or lines of thought or action:  as the versatility of genius], and Ebullience [zestful enthusiasm]; Incarnates [embodied] recurrently within Me Qualities of Your Life, Light, and Love; and Manifests increasingly within Me Aspects of Your Glory, Goodness, and Gladness…

 

May Your Name—may Who You are—be hallowed, honored, loved, praised, venerated, and vindicated [freed from all hostile questions and accusations]!

 

As in Heaven [the Mysterious and Holy (transcendent) Abode of Your Eternalness], so on Earth:  May Your ever-fortressing, ever-advancing, and ever-expanding Kingdom be further loosed and established; and may Your ever-loving, ever-illuminating, and ever-generating desires and plans be brought further forth to solid—yet organically expressive and expansive—form and function.

 

O God, give me in this day what I need and desire genuinely in this day.  Feed me with the ingredients—the thoughts, desires, feelings, and stories—of Your Heart, for they comprise the eternal substance and sustenance of that which truly nourishes, strengthens, and animates me.  O Papa, give me what makes me come alive as Your Beloved Son [or Daughter]!

 

I ask [see below] You for…

 

Note:  By voicing such things and no-things, I bless them into existence.

 

Holiness…

 

Humility…

 

A pure (that is, a lovingly whole, intensely open, wisely inquisitive, and exquisitely creative) heart and mind…

 

A healthily fit, fluidly strong, vigorously mobile, and ridiculously energetic body…

 

A restfully settled sense of my life and personhood…

 

Healthy and vibrantly loving relationships…

 

Clean and healthy food and water…

 

An abundance of time and resources to pursue my dreams and interests and to work out and walk in my unique—Trinity-breathed, Trinity-ordained—grace, glory, splendor, weightiness-of-personhood, tenacity, revelliousness, ebullience [zestful enthusiasm], revelience [to live and be as one who actively, resolutely, and steadfastly pursues the uncovering, recovering, and awakening of God’s Image within them and those around them], mastery-orientation, giftedness, polymathic [intelligent generalism; renaissance-like curiosity, exploration, and learning; and life-authorship, life-artistry, and life-mastery] genius, autotelic gumption, life-purposes, and Eden-expanding life-dominion and -rule…

 

Curiosities to investigate; ideas to explore; problems to identify properly and completely (or more completely); holistic and integrated solutions to devise; mechanical works to invent; books, articles, blog posts, prayers, meditations, personal psalms, and podcast episodes to write and share; music to compose; jumbled situations to untangle; unjust acts and systems to dismantle; and unpleasant conditions to make clean, orderly, whole, and beautiful again…

 

A bold and courageous posture, countenance, and constitution that walks in and with the authority and power [over my body, my life and circumstances, and the enemies of my soul (That is, The Trinity of Evil:  The dark spirits, powers, and forces of evil; the echoes and residuals of the crucified—and, thus, annihilated—fallen nature; and the fallen world-system)] Jesus gave (and continues to give) me…

 

Protection from evil and harm…

 

Protection from slavery and tyranny…

 

Deliverance from apathy, laziness, slothfulness, self-centeredness, and inaction (when action is required of me)…

 

Adventure…

 

Meaningfully invigorating work…

 

Intimately engaging missions…

 

Energizing and yet restfully generative avocations…

 

A host of creative outlets…

 

A life-legacy that touches many people and creatures and that brings You glory and honor…

 

A host of educational and training opportunities…

 

Comfortable, beautiful, and vitalizing places in which to live, love, heal, and grow; engage with others; play and laugh; write and compose; pray and contemplate; and work and train…

 

Effective, adaptable, safe, and reliable transportation…

 

Restful sleep at night and, when needed, during the day…

 

And…

 

Modest clothing, uniforming, and equipping that suit me well; protect and shield me from the elements; protect and shield me from evil and harmful people, creatures, and entities; and galvanize, energize, and support me in my life- and glory-expressions, my life-calling [I’ve been created, called, appointed, commissioned, authorized, and anointed by God to come alongside others to help them discover the essence of their (1) life and glory (the weightiness of who they are that they bring to everything; their genius), (2) faith, and (3) life-artistry.], my work, my missions, my roles, my assignments, and my many interests and pursuits.

 

More importantly, O God, I ask You to drench me with Your Spirit [The Invigorating and Ventilating Breathe of I AM; The Drenching, Ubiquitous Presence of Yahweh—The Eternal Name of Existence].  Yes, O Holy, Glorious, and Gracious God, please fill me to overflowing with The Comforting One, The Advocating One, and The Empowering One.  Indeed, may every time, space, and place (as well as every aspect, arena, and relationship) of my life and personhood be so thoroughly and completely stained by and with The Spirit that I overflow with the abundantly extravagant fullness of Jesus.  May I—as Jesus living for, in, with, through, and (mysteriously unveiled) AS me—leave a joyfully dripping, profoundly healing, and cheerily disruptive residue on every time, space, and place I touch as well as every person, creature, and entity with whom or with which I interact.

 

Because I’m already perpetually and eternally forgiven IN You, BY You, and FOR You, please—just as You said You would—continue to wash me in Jesus’ Blood and to send away (to The Mystical Cross of Christ) all my offenses and debts (including all my sins of omission [including all the words and actions I failed to say or take when I should have said or taken them]); all my bitterness, strife, and resentment; all my unforgiveness; all my plans to exact revenge; all my residual, hurt- and trauma-fueled ailments and sicknesses; and all my stinging and unresolved feelings of fear, anxiety, panic, anger, guilt, shame, diminishment, abandonment, betrayal, hurt, and regret.  As You do all this, enable me and anoint me—in time and over time—to forgive and send away (also to The Cross of Christ) all the offenses and debts of all those (including me!) who’ve hurt and violated me.

 

I thank You, Papa, for the eternal forgiveness and repatriation [To be repatriated is to be brought back home and welcomed fully as A Friend, Son (or Daughter), and Brother (or Sister).  It includes the full vesting (or revesting) with all the rights, privileges, seals, identifications, credentials, responsibilities, ownerships, and authorities of friendship, sonship, and brotherhood.  It includes also the reconnecting, through Blood-relatedness, of one’s heart and being back to God’s Heart and Being.  Further, it makes one An Heir of God and A Co-heir with Jesus of All Our Father Has Promised.  Repatriation is another way of understanding The Spirit of Adoption’s work on behalf of the one who’s been (and is being) redeemed.  These concepts are alluded to and written extensively of throughout The Old and New Testaments, especially in Jesus’ parables and Paul’s writings.] I have in You and in the other two Persons of The Trinity [The Triune God of the Holy Bible (that is, to God Our Father [Papa], God the Son [The Lord Jesus Christ], and God The Holy Spirit [the Mysterious Breath and Presence of I AM])] (that is, in Jesus and The Holy Spirit).  I thank You, too, for the fact that, in the end, all will be made whole and right—meaning, every wrong I and others committed (including every good I and others failed [omitted] to do [when we should have done them]) will be made whole and right, every wrong I and others committed against others [and who they are, as individuals and part of a particular community, in You] will be made whole and right, and every wrong I and others committed against me [and who I, as an individual and part of a particular community, am in You] will be made whole and right.  I thank You, further, O Daddy-God, for the ever-giving, ever-expanding, never-ending life, light, and love (as well as glory, goodness, and gladness) You’ve given me and continue to give me—continually and continuously, without end.

 

O LORD My God… I take refuge in You; save and deliver me from all who pursue me, or they will tear me like a lion and rip me to pieces with no one to rescue me.

—Ps 7:1-2

 

O Righteous God… He who searches minds and hearts, bring an end to the violence of the wicked, and make the righteous secure.

—Ps 7:9

 

My Shield is God Most High, who saves the upright in heart.

—Ps 7:10

 

The LORD is A Refuge for the oppressed; He is A Stronghold in times of trouble.

—Ps 9:9

 

Those who know Your Name, O God, will trust in You, for You, O LORD, have never forsaken those who seek You.

—Ps 9:10

 

O Papa, lead me out of and then far from the times, spaces, and places of temptation.  And, in the midst of all such encounters and run-ins with the enemies of my soul (that is, The Trinity of Evil:  The dark spirits, powers, and forces of evil; the echoes and residuals of the crucified—and, thus, annihilated—fallen nature [a nature that WAS a disease-nature—and NOT my True Nature—and operated in my members like an in intensely powerful, ego-centric second nature]; and the fallen world-system), show me what I need to do right then and there, and… as I begin to walk in and with You in what You show me, show me what I need to do next.

 

I ask, too, Papa, that You protect, defend, and bolster me during all my times of difficulty, trial, suffering, and distress.  Teach me, O Daddy…

 

How to protect and defend myself during such times…

 

How to put down and then walk away forever from that which is not me, of me, or for me; and that which is not You, of You, from You, or for You.…

 

How to call out my enemies (again, that is, The Trinity of Evil:  The dark spirits, powers, and forces of evil; the echoes and residuals of the crucified—and, thus, annihilated—fallen nature; and the fallen world-system); call them to the carpet; and command and require—even demand (!)—that they, in accordance with the authority [the anointed rights, means, privileges, and abilities of force-mastery as well as life-authorship, life-artistry, and life-mastery] Jesus gave (and continues to give) me, respect and honor what Jesus did (and continues to do) for me, and respect and honor my eternal birth-rights and -privileges as Your Son [or Daughter] and as Jesus’ Baby Brother [or Sister]…

 

And…

 

How to lovingly callous my thought-generator (that is, my brain) so I’m enabled TO IRON-GRIND joyfully, nobly, wholeheartedly, graciously, savagely [Savage:  He (or she) who’s escaped human-domestication, and he (or she) who’s become wild, fierce, ferocious, and untamed], gingerly, and compassionately through all such times, spaces, and places.

 

O Papa…

 

When I’m treated unfairly or unjustly…

 

Or when I’m accused or indicted of something unfairly or unjustly…

 

Or…

 

When I’m labeled pejoratively or dismissively…

 

…enable me to respond always with an incarnationally and intercessorily listening ear, heartset, and mindset and with an unrelenting grace [may I be and become A Mediator of Jesus’ Grace and P-personhood], humility, openness, lovingkindness, and compassion.

 

In all such times, spaces, and places, may I look to You, O God, to illuminate and bring forth Your Grace and Truth (including any measures of truth—no matter how small they might be—that lay buried within any unjust or unfair accusation, indictment, or label).  When flowers are crushed, their fragrant oils are often released into the atmosphere in great measure.  Likewise, O Papa, when I’m crushed, may the fragrance of Who You are—living for, in, with, through, and (mysteriously unveiled) AS me—break upon the senses of those trying to hurt me, and may all such unexpected, sensory-impositions begin to bring about their salvific undoing, redemption, repatriation, and transformation in and by You.

 

And, of course, if change within me is needed (and it almost always is!), may I lament healthily, healthfully, and joyfully my wrongdoings and look to You to enable me to press forward and push beyond my current self-centered miseries and limitations.

Do all these things and no-things [life-giving expressions, generative creations (see definition below)], O God; and help me to do all these things and no-things with You, that I might not…

 

Things and no-things, my definitions (from philosophy)…

 

Generally, a “thing” is that which is not a “no-thing,” and a “no-thing” is that which is “not a thing.”  When we attempt to partially define something by identifying what it’s not, we’re tapping into the arena of apophatic philosophy.  For example, in apophatic theology [which we see a lot in the Eastern Orthodox Church], we perceive God through negation (that is, we can begin to perceive God by identifying who or what He’s not).  An example would be the following proposition:  God is NOT a liar.  In making such a claim, we proclaim that God as The Eternal One, Who Doesn’t Lie.

Generally, a “thing” is an inanimate object, place, situation, circumstance, condition, or scenario.  A thing is an “it.”  A thing has no sentience.

 

Generally, a “no-thing” is that which is not a thing.  A no-thing [a “not-a-thing”] has animated life, and it includes all life-giving expressions and generative creations.  You and I are no-things, my cat [Baby Kitty] is a no-thing, and a live oak is a no-thing.  Your new nature is a no-thing.  The desires, plans, and purposes of God are no-things.  The computer, on which I’m writing these words, is a thing.  Depending on their source [or Source!], and how you engage with them, the words you’re reading right now could be things or no-things.  In my heart, I hope and pray they’re the latter [read, “no-things!”].

 

Give in, give up, lay down, or quit…

 

Yield [surrender resolutely] to temptation…

 

Come to false or erroneous conclusions or perspectives…

 

Flail about in bitterness, strife, or resentment; unforgiveness; residual, hurt- or trauma-fueled ailments or sicknesses; or any stinging or unresolved feelings of fear, anxiety, panic, anger, guilt, shame, diminishment, abandonment, betrayal, hurt, or regret…

 

Allow my enemies to hatefully do to me or with me whatever they please, whenever they please…

 

Or…

 

Yolk myself—IN ANY MANNER—to my enemies.

 

You (that is, Theophilus) know what has happened throughout the province of Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached:  How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with The Holy Spirit and with authority [exousia: (from ek, "out from," which intensifies eimí, "to be, being as a right or privilege") – authority, conferred power; delegated empowerment ("authorization"), operating in a designated jurisdiction; ("delegated power") refers to the authority God gives to His Saints – authorizing them to act to the extent they are guided by faith (His revealed Word); (in the sense of ability); privilege, i.e. (subjectively) force, capacity, competency, freedom, or (objectively) mastery (concretely, magistrate, superhuman, potentate, token of control), delegated influence -- authority, jurisdiction, liberty, power, right, strength] and power [dunamis:  properly, "ability to perform"; for the believer, power to achieve by applying the Lord’s inherent abilities; "power through God’s ability" is needed in every scene of life to really grow in sanctification and prepare for Heaven (the time, space, and place of our final glorification); force (literally or figuratively); specially, miraculous power (usually by implication, a miracle itself) -- ability, abundance, meaning, might(-ily, -y, -y deed), (worker of) miracle(-s), power, strength, violence, mighty (wonderful) work], and how H-he (that is, Jesus) went about doing good [euergeteo:  do good deeds, perform kind service, benefit]—namely, healing all who were under the power [katadunasteuo:  to exercise dominion against, i.e. Oppress -- oppress] of the devil—because God was with H-him.

—Ac 10:37-38

 

If the Spirit [pneuma:  wind, breath, spirit] of Him who raised [egeiro:  to awaken, to arouse, to raise up] Jesus from (and out of) the dead [nekros:  (a) adj: dead, lifeless, subject to death, mortal, (b) noun: a dead body, a corpse] is living [oikeo:  to inhabit, dwell, indwell] in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life [zoopoieo:  make alive (with divine life), vivify, animate, quicken] to your mortal [thnetos:  properly, subject to dying (death), mortality; the inevitability of physical death.] body [soma:  from sozo; the body (as a sound whole), used in a very wide application, literally or figuratively -- bodily, body, slave.].  This is because of His Spirit [pneuma], who lives and thrives [enoikeo:  "dwell" at home, in one’s personal residence) – properly, dwelling in a state (condition), i.e. at home; to inhabit ("in-habit") as one’s personal residence (abiding indwelling).] in and with you.

—Ro 8:11 [expanded rendering]

 

In partnership with me, O God, heal me—completely—of any and all illnesses, diseases, ailments, or injuries attempting to beset me; and deliver me—also completely—from my enemy’s…

 

Attacks…

 

Treacheries…

 

Lies…

 

Curses…

 

Systemic labelings (that is, their vile [abhorrent, repulsive, morally despicable, and degrading] vilifications [attacks upon my personhood or reputation, abusive criticisms, half-truths, debasing and disgracing accusations, traducing defamations, calumniations, and violations] villainously written over, spoken over, or impaled upon my life and personhood)…

 

Illnesses…

 

Injuries..

 

And…

Enslaving enticements, entanglements, and philosophies [Philosophy:  The study of the nature, causes, or principles of reality, knowledge, or values, based on logical reasoning.  A system of thought based on or involving such study.  The study of the theoretical underpinnings of a particular field or discipline.]

 

I ask, too, that You deliver me from my own ignorance, ego-centricities [self-centered views, perceptions, attitudes, beliefs, actions, and demands placed upon others], self-deception, self-destructiveness, obstinately injurious attitudes, knee-jerk sensitivities and reactivities, and inflamed triggerings.

 

In all such situations, conditions, contexts, and engagements, grant me, O God, the autotelic [intrinsically driven] gumption [boldness of enterprise; initiative or aggressiveness; guts, spunk; common/uncommon sense] to pursue and do that which I must do for myself... to pursue and do those things and no-things You outright refuse to do for me because You’ve endowed me with the freewill and agency (that is, the instrumentality, drive, means, and power) to do them myself.  As You’ve said to me on multiple occasions and in multiple ways, O God, You will not…

 

Rethink for me how to live my life…

 

Forgive for me those who’ve hurt me…

 

Be patient for me when I encounter irritants or what I believe to be unreasonableness in those around me…

 

Brush and floss my teeth for me…

 

Get enough sleep for me…

 

Get me out of bed in the morning…

 

Get me to work or other appointments or opportunities on time (which, to me, means “fifteen minutes early”)…

 

Eat or drink healthily for me…

 

Balance my checkbook for me…

 

Set aside tax monies for me…

 

Learn (that is, study or train) for me…

Get me moving…

 

Work-out for me…

 

Listen incarnationally and intercessorily for me to those I say I love and care about…

 

Lament for me the hurt I’ve caused in others or that others have caused in me…

 

Resist and turn away from the darkness of wrongdoing [hamartano:  missing the mark (as an archer); eternal loss due to missing God (which brings forth forfeiture); very decision (and action) done apart from faith; falling short of God’s glory (that is, falling short of what it means to be fully alive).] to The Light Who IS You…

 

Believe for me in You and in Your loving and healing (that is, Your “very normal [see below]”) plans, purposes, desires, and workings for, in, with, through, and (mysteriously unveiled) AS me (and AS those around me)…

 

Normal, a discussion [from Christianity with Power, by Charles H. Kraft, adapted]…

 

As Westerners, we label “natural” or “normal” those things that our assumptions concerning the universe lead us to define as such.  Other things (that is, those things that are outside of what we call “normal”) we call “supernatural,” “abnormal,” “mystical,” “fanciful,” and the like.  We take the so-called “natural” things seriously, and we study them “scientifically.”  Reports of the events in the other category tend to be regarded as “fairy tales” since they’re “unscientific.”  All or most of religion (that is, faith practices, etc.) fits into this category for a high percentage of Westerners, including many who regularly attend church!  If, then, we see or experience something good that doesn’t fit into the “natural” category, we often label it “miraculous.”  For Westerners, healing as a result of naturalistic, scientific procedures seems “normal.”  Healing absent the aid of such “normal” techniques, though, is labeled “miraculous” since it’s unexplainable in terms of the limited worldview perspective that we’ve been taught and have been imbibing for most of our lives.

 

But Jesus acted differently.  Jesus acted as if healings and other uses of spiritual power to overcome “natural,” “human,” or “spiritual” conditions ought to be “normal” occurrences.  Not that every problem is to be automatically dealt with through what Westerners would call “a miracle.”  Jesus H-himself didn’t live that way [for example, Jesus (rightfully) had to use H-his human-agency to study and learn, cook H-his food, and bathe regularly].  But H-he seemed to expect The Sons and Daughters of the Kingdom, as a “normal” part of their lives, to be in constant contact with God Our Father and to claim His power in the living of their lives.  An all too familiar question of Jesus (to H-his followers when they kept tripping anxiously over their inability to “naturally” overcome a physical or spiritual challenge) was this, “Where is your faith?”

 

Demand for me that my enemies respect and honor my authority as well as my eternal birth-rights and -privileges as a valued member of Your Family, Household, and Kingdom….

 

Or…

 

Eliminate the consequences of my not doing any of the above activities I just mentioned.

 

Of course, You’ll partner with me in these generative and renewing elements—these important rituals and actions—of life, health, practice, growth, faith, and belief, but… You won’t do them for me or do them in lieu of my doing them—meaning, You won’t raise a Hand to engage with me in these without my first stepping out and taking point in my own, self-initiated execution of them.

 

O Papa, help me to get my heart [The Eden of My Soul, in which Jesus, The Sapiential Forest (Trees and Vines [the climax vegetation], etc.) of Life and of Cunning Knowledge and Skill (the fruit, of which, comprise the composite, garden-spread of God’s life, wisdom, and discernment) lives and thrives.  In monastic tradition (refer to Thomas Merton, Augustine, and the Desert Fathers), the heart refers to “the deepest psychological ground of one’s personality” and “the inner sanctuary, where self-awareness goes beyond analytical reflection and opens out into metaphysical and theological confrontation with the Abyss (or Cloud) of the Unknown (that is, The Infinitely Unknowable One, who’s more intimate with us than we are with ourselves).”] back—forever and completely.  As The Ancients used to pray, “help me [in partnership with You], O God, return to, reconnect with, recollect [awaken the resilience and depths of], tend to [that is, till; feed; fertilize; water; weed; and bless, preserve, protect, expand, advance, and showcase the soils of my heart and the garden growing there] and transform my heart”—that primal [that which is of first importance], anchoring [that which provides security and stability], wild [like a wild and scenic mountain stream], and untamed [undomesticated] (yet, paradoxically, channeled [made meek]) ground of my being.  And… as I do all this, O God, give me—similar to what Solomon asked for from You—“a wise and discerning heart.”  Help me to keep and guard well my heart—this incredibly precious center, and centering part, of who I am as Your Beloved Son [Daughter].  My heart is indeed The Eden of My Soul.  I ask further, O Papa, that You partner with me to incarnate [embody] (ever-increasingly within me) Your Perfect Law of Lovingkindness, that I might be and become—JUST LIKE YOU!—A Catcher- and Collector-of-Tears and A Lifter- and Preserver-of-Hearts.

 

O yes, O Papa, may I be [that is, BE and not just have] and become (ever-increasingly and as an essential part of who I am)…

 

Holiness, Humility, and Purity-, Nobleness-, Wholeness-, Fullness-, and Revelliousness [(1) a brazen (that is, unrestrained]) gladness; (2) an obsessive and marveling (that is, astonishment-causing and amazement-causing) doggedness; (3) a tenacious adaptability and life-savagery; (4) an expressive and celebratory life of prayer, meditation, worship, healing, training, and embodied vision; (5) an insurrecting (that is, uprisingly rebellious) selflessness; (6) a disruptive (that is, shattering and radically reconfiguring) lovingkindness; (7) a paradigm-shifting (that is, revolutionary and insurgent) wholeheartedness, integratedness-of-belief, and congruency-of-being; (8) a disarming (that is, hostility-allaying and calming) humor, vulnerability, genuineness, and graciousness; (9) an iconoclastic (that is, false-Image destructing) happiness; (10) a novel (that is, unusual, insolent, even customary-shattering) inventiveness and life-authorship, life-artistry, and life-mastery; (11) an uncommon comfortableness with feeling utterly and entirely uncomfortable; and (12) an attentive and wordless (that is, unspoken, even unthought—yet felt with the extended ear of deep listening, stillness, and attentiveness) surrender to “the golden silence and stillness” of Heaven (that is, The Mysterious and Holy [transcendent, outside creation] Abode of The Trinity’s Eternalness)]-of-heart…

 

The End of Fear…

 

The Manifestation of Goodness [true to myself and to who I am as God’s Imager, Lover, Imitator, and Follower], Selflessness, Joyful Presence, and Everlasting Gratefulness…

 

And…

 

The Unfolding of Perfect Lovingkindness Incarnate!

 

Heal me and train me up, O God, so I might be thoroughly inspired, enabled, and entrusted by You to walk in and with…

 

The very same qualities of loving, energizing, and galvanizing intimacy Jesus walked in on planet Earth with You, H-himself, the people around H-him, and even the whole of creation [nature and our many ecological, social, and societal environments, both in part and as a whole]…

 

And…

 

The very same anointed authority and existential [of, relating to, or affirming existence; grounded in existence or the experience of existence (empirical); having being in time and space] power, wisdom [sophia:  skill (human and Divine) in living; “the art of using wisdom,” “affection for wisdom.”], and discernment [the act or process of exhibiting and executing keen insight and good judgment] Jesus walked in on planet Earth as H-he lived out and accomplished H-his mission.

 

Further, in partnership with me, help me to silence and eliminate the echoes and residuals of my crucified (and, thus, annihilated) fallen nature.

 

Help me, too, to renounce, dismantle, and dissolve any alliances parts of me might have made with my enemies.  En masse, I call any and all such alliances “The Enslaving Contingent [often translated in Scripture (see Mk 3:27) as “The House (oikia:  dwelling) of the Strong/Forceful Man/Detachment (ischuros:  vehemently [eagerly violent] forceful [assertively powerful] ones [delegation/detachment])”],” and I’m so very desperate for Your encouraging and empowering help in overcoming and, ultimately, dissolving—even exterminating—all such arrangements, evil entanglements, philosophical yokings, oppressions, suppressions, depressions, and repressions.  O yes, O God… I look to You to enable me and to help me in and with all these things and no-things and to do for me those things and no-things I can’t do for myself.

 

As I’ve said to You on many occasions, O Papa, I acknowledge my complete dependency upon You; for I am—and will, forever, be—Your Contingently Extant [resurrected as well as projecting; dependent upon or subject to God and the life He breathes into me and lives through me] Image-bearer [one who bears the Image of the Creator; one who was created in the Image of the Creator].  Dear God, I know and experience—in the depths of my life and personhood—that my life, continuous existence, and ever-increasing vitality are completely and utterly dependent upon You and upon my intimate yoking to and partnering with You and with those with whom You’ve yoked me together (and with whom You wish to yoke me together) in intimate community.  I acknowledge, O God, that You hold my whole world in Your Hands.  You hold it all…

 

All the people I love…

 

All my enemies (including all those who dislike or hate me and all those who may not really know me but still want to hurt, rob, silence, shut down, control, or imprison me in some manner)…

 

All my hopes and dreams…

 

All my yet-to-be-resolved (and healed) traumas, hurts, and injuries, and the neurological dysregulation such “crimes against my soul” created (and, at times, continue to create) within me…

 

All my terrors and anxieties as well as the disruptive, intrusive, and hijacking feelings [bodily sensations] of panic…

 

All my challenges and difficulties…

 

All the cyclical conditions and situations that hijack, hook, or snag me…

 

All my successes and failures and all those outcomes that fall (or feel like they fall) somewhere in between the two…

 

All the things and no-things coming for me, at me, and after me…

 

All the things and no-things I love…

 

All the things and no-things I don’t love… or don’t yet love…

 

And…

 

All the things and no-things that comprise the whole of my past, present, and future.

 

All that said, I acknowledge, O Papa, that I—as A Jesus- imager, -lover, -imitator, and -follower [J-ILIF]—must play a critical role in my own life-design, life-rebuilding, and life-creating and -recreating pursuits; and… in my own healing, training, and heart-protecting and -bolstering practices.

 

I acknowledge, O Papa, that I must follow hard after goodness, truth, and beauty; do so in all their many forms, functions, textures, and contexts; and do so with great intensity, intentionality, determination, doggedness, and stick-to-it-tiveness.

And, further, I acknowledge, O Papa, that I must rest in You and choose daily to step into, work out, and walk in the unique—Trinity-breathed, Trinity-ordained—grace, glory, splendor, weightiness-of-personhood, freedom, savage-like tenacity, revelliousness, ebullience, revelience, mastery-orientation, giftedness, polymathic genius, autotelic gumption, life-purposes, and Eden-expanding life-dominion and life-rule You gave me when You first thought of me… that is, when You, in Your Imagination, first created me and (at the very same time) crucified me—in and with Your S-son [see 1Pe 1:19-20, Re 13:8, and Ga 2:20)]—and then raised me to new and everlasting life [as a new creation (see 2Co 5:17)]—again, in and with Your S-son.

 

As Your Contingently Extant Image-bearer (like Jesus’ friend Lazarus, whom Jesus raised from the dead), I must, O God, live also as An Active One [marked by energetic activity in the world] (like Jesus’ friend Martha) and as A Contemplative One [marked by a life of deep and intimate prayer, meditation, and (of course) contemplation] (like Jesus’ friend Mary).  May these three virtues, realities, and ways of life shared with You blend playfully, skillfully, healthily, healthfully, restfully, energetically, integratedly, synergistically, generatively [that which is life-giving, life-expanding, life-extending, and/or life-enhancing], lovingly, and beautifully within the sigma sum-total of my personhood and fullness.

 

TO YOU, O Abba—O Papa, O Happy Daddy-God—belongs the rule and reign over my heart as well as every heart in existence; FROM YOU comes the effectual, mighty power to save, deliver, heal, renew, recreate, recollect, restore, convert, transform, and strengthen every aspect, arena, and relationship of not just my own life but also the lives of all those who exist in and throughout the whole of creation; and… IN YOU is found the alpha and omega [beginning and end] of all true and lasting worth, significance, power, identity, grace, glory, splendor, weightiness-of-personhood, manifest presence, relatability, relational intimacy, generative influence, and life-giving (as well as evil- and death-destroying) authority, stewardship, and dominion-rule.

 

Who You are and what You’re about, O God, will never end; and The Story Your authoring—the one I play a critical role in (in terms of my being A Co-author of it with you, and in terms of my being a part of its everlasting and ever-advancing unveiling)—will never end either.  No!  It, just like You, will endure and unfold manifestly throughout all eternity… drenching every time, space, and place (as well as every aspect, arena, and relationship) of the life You gave—and continue to give (continually, and continuously, without end)—to me and to every other living being and organism in creation.

 

I know all this to be true, O Eternal One, O Name of Existence; and… by surrendering to You in the ever-present here and now, I chose in this time, space, and place (and, henceforth, in every time, space, and place yet to come) to stake my very life upon it.  This is the congruent, putting-to-flight, belief and trust I place in You, O Lord God Almighty, King of the Universe.

 

In The Name of Jesus, The Lion of Judah, The Supreme Master of Forces, and The Eternal Lord of War and God of Angel Armies, I ask for and declare all these things and no-things...

 

Amen, and AMEN!!  O God… MAY IT ALL BE SO!!