Three-Word Prayers

Mike Willock writes: A recent Luther Seminary devotional highlighted two three-word prayers from the gospel of Matthew. I have added a third found in the Psalms.

The first is in Matthew 14 after feeding the 5,000 when Jesus sent the disciples across the Sea of Galilee and went alone up the mountain to pray. Later that night the boat was caught in a storm and Jesus came to them walking on the water. Peter, ever the one to speak first, said, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” When Jesus said, “Come”, Peter got out of the boat but soon he became afraid of the wind and waves and began to sink. He cried out “Lord, save me” (Matthew 14:30) and Jesus caught him by the hand and rescued him. That’s one.

The second is from the Matthew 15 story of the Canaanite woman who pleaded with Jesus to heal her demon-tormented daughter, crying, “Lord, help me” (Matthew 15:24). Jesus praised her persistent faith and healed her daughter, which marked a turning point in Jesus’s ministry beyond Israel to include the Gentiles. That’s two.

The third is my favorite three-word prayer: “Thank you, Lord.” It’s my condensation of “I give thanks to you, O Lord” (Psalm 86) or “I give you thanks, O Lord” (Psalm 138). That makes three. I say that one multiple times each day.

All of these are prayers of relationship. The first two recognize that we are dependent on God and can be confident that God is present to hear and help us in times of need. The third sustains and strengthens our relationship with God as we recognize and give thanks for the many ways our lives are blessed by God. Some of those blessings can be big and infrequent, like the birth or graduation of a child or grandchild or a good result from a medical test. More often, they are frequent and small, like the blessing of a new day, the joint that aches less today than yesterday, a beautiful sunset, a call from a friend, the misstep that did not turn into a fall, the laughter of a child, a butterfly or a flower that catches the eye. When we see them, notice them, and thank God for them we nourish the relationship so that our lives can become a conversation with God – a lived prayer. I think that’s the relationship God wants with each of us.

God is good. All the time. Thank you, Lord.