Buttons

Fumbling child fingers. Fat. Lacking motor skills. Stumble to button up a shirt. “Daddy, help!” And daddy shows the child. Loving fingers pattern, guide, teach, touch. “Just make sure the first button is right. The others will come easier.” The child looks, learns, buttons the first, and stumbles, but gains dexterity. Follows the pattern of his dad. Time after time, first button right. Skill grows. In time, buttoning skill grows, natural. The father’s love guides, equips. 

Fumbling words. Time. Distraction. Confusion. Questions. Stumble to pray, to know the right words. “Lord, teach us to pray!” And Jesus shows his disciples. The loving Son and Master guides, teaches, shares the intimate joy of prayer. “Just make sure the first petition is right. The others will come easier.” The disciples mouth the words after their Master, “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name….” And the other petitions come easier. Words gain dexterity. They follow the pattern of their Lord. In time, prayer language grows, naturally. Instinct to go to Abba Father.

It is more than mere lip service. More than just a salute. More than just a “Because you are God and that’s the way it should be…” More than just a thumbs up to pop. The first petition “Hallowed be thy name” is the center of the prayer, the focus, that on which all else hangs. If “Hallowed be thy name” is not first in the Lord’s Prayer (really, the Disciples’ Prayer; Jesus didn’t need to pray for forgiveness, etc.), all else is skewed, like the first button misplaced. Adoration is the first button in the line of confession, thanksgiving, and supplication (ACTS).

“Hallowed be thy name… Forgive us our debts.” Confession will flow out of adoration and worship. If this button of confession is placed first, guilt can overwhelm. Sins are big; God is small. His forgiving nature is not brought to mind or meditated on. We can fear confession, afraid to look too deeply and uncover what is deeply inside. Or, on the other hand, we swing to the opposite pendulum and sins are small, forgiveness is taken for granted, and God’s holiness lurks on the periphery. Or we try to excuse and justify and brush over sin lightly.

Adore! Adore our forgiving Father, full of mercy and love, demonstrated in Christ, brought to bear by the Spirit! And guilt flees, and we have the sweet joy of repentance and finding forgiveness, of being washed clean once again. Adore! Adore our holy God before whom the angels cover their faces, who is in bright and radiant pure glory, who can see no evil. And no longer will our sins be mere levities or “white” errors, justified and excused by our foolishness. Adore! Adore our holy God who has lovingly made provision for our sins so that we can be in relationship and cry “Abba!” No longer will we be afraid to see our sins, for we know we are completely bare before him, our Judge, and find him a Father. Point by point, adoration corrects our imbalances, bringing us back into line with him.

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

“You who are of purer eyes than to see evil and cannot look at wrong” (Hab. 1:13).

“Hallowed be thy name… Father, thank you” (Jn. 11:41; Lk. 10:21).  First lining up the button of adoration, and our fumbling thanksgiving will begin to flow effortlessly. Without first lifting our eyes to our Father, we may fall in love with the gifts instead of the Giver. Or, in pride we become caught up with what we have accomplished. We forget we have received all things (1 Chron. 29:14; 1 Cor. 4:7). We forget that we do not deserve. Or we keep our eyes fixed on what others have, forget what we have been given by our Father, and we covet.

Adore! Adore our giving, generous God who lavishly provides all we need (Ps. 104 ;Mat. 6:8), who withholds no good thing from those who love him (Ps. 84:11). Adore our wise Father who gives according to his wisdom for our best. Adore! Adore him who enables, who gives gifts and talents and bodies and skill and breath. Adore! Adore him who lavishes us with grace, reaching down from his holiness to dwell with the contrite in heart. Adore! Adore him who himself is all that our heart longs for, all that we thirst for, our deepest desire.

“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight” (Eph. 1:7-8).

“I will feast the soul of the priests with abundance, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, declares the Lord” (Jer. 31:14).

“For he satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul he fills with good things” (Ps. 107:9).

“Hallowed be thy name…. Give us this day our daily bread.” Supplications, petitions, all flow from that first button of adoration. When it is misplaced, we become too overwhelmed with needs. Prayers denigrate into worry-prayers (or even gossip) more than an actual intercession. Or, we present a shopping list to God, asking for his blessing on our own desires and plans rather than truly trusting him or seeking him. Or, we simply undermine the power of prayer and we just skip our knees and get to work.

Adore! Adore our powerful and loving God who is Savior, Deliverer, the Lord of Hosts, active in this world. Worry will flee. Adore! Adore our sovereign, master Lord who ordains our days; our Father who lovingly designs what is best for us. Shopping lists are transformed. Adore! Adore him who can depose kings, still the wind and the waves, who can do far more than our puny hands can. Knee work is put in its proper place before the King of kings.

“Yet God my King is from of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth” (Ps. 74:12).

“And when they heard [the threats of persecution], they lifted their voices together to God and said, ‘Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them” (Acts 4:24).

Adoration--an invitation to know him, to delight in him, to find our joy in him. An invitation to know him deeper, and thus to run to him with all our sins, joys, concerns. To run to him, who has a name and characteristic for every need, joy, time, situation. 

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name! For all you are for us, to us, with us. Hallowed be your forgiving and loving name. Hallowed be your giving and gracious and providential name. Hallowed be your powerful and active delivering name! Yes, my Redeemer and Forgiver, Creator and Provider, Father and Deliverer!