pHave you ever noticed when parents talk to babies in a weird, adoring language - and don’t realise they’re doing it? It’s immensely intimate and private - and completely jarring to an outsider. But we do it because it is the most tender language we know. Jesus’ prayer life demonstrated an intimacy like this. He called God ‘Abba’, which meant ‘Dada’. ‘Abba’ was a Jewish child’s first word, because it was so easy to say. Somehow when Jesus was with God, the tender love that an adult offers to a child to give them strength is what He received from His Father.br /
A lot of us crave this. Though we might have a ‘head knowledge’ of God’s love, we haven’t ever *known* it in a tangible way - a way that makes us vulnerable and gentle and settles our anxiousness. What we want is a love that we can trust to fall back on when we doubt, or are scared, or tired. God doesn’t hold this sort of love back from us, but often we don’t go searching for it. You can practise this today. But like falling asleep, you can’t do it by your own willpower alone. All that you can do is prepare your conditions. So, find a chair and sit down. Slow your breathing for a few moments. Then relax your muscles, starting from your head and moving bit by bit to your feet. When you’re properly relaxed, take a short phrase (we’d suggest one from the Bible) and slowly repeat it in time with your breathing. For example: ‘Into your hands’ on the in breath, ‘I commend my spirit’ on the out breath. Keep on for 10-15 minutes or so./p
pem strongWhat Now? /strong/em br /
Do that thing.^/p