Guest post by Jeff Rudy

This guest post was written by Jeff Rudy.  Jeff is a PH. D. student at Asbury Theological Seminary, adjunct professor at Asbury University, husband to Carrie, father of Sam and Julianne, and one of the amazing Pre-K volunteers at NUMC.  Enjoy!

I’ve been teaching Sam the Lord’s Prayer. In addition to using the formal words that are recited at Church and evidenced in the King James Version of the Bible (see Matthew 6:9-13), I’ve been adapting some of the terms to be more kid-friendly to help him grasp the meaning of the words until he can enunciate and more fruitfully understand the KJV, yet I still wanted him to learn the rhythm of formality and repetition of a prayer that has guided the Church through the centuries.

The way I teach him to pray is to say one line and pause so that he can repeat it. (Sam’s actually been wanting to pray the King James version recently). Here are the two juxtaposed:

KJV:                                                                            Kid version:

Our Father                                                                  Our Father
Which art in heaven                                                    Who is in heaven
Hallowed by Thy name                                              Your name is holy
Thy kingdom come                                                     Come and be our king
Thy will be done                                                         Help us do what you want
In earth as it is in heaven                                            On earth as in heaven
Give us this day our daily bread                                 Give us today the things we need
And forgive us our trespasses                                                Forgive us when we have hurt you
As we forgive those who trespass against us             As we forgive others who hurt us
Lead us not into temptation                                       Help us stay out of trouble
But deliver us from evil                                              When trouble comes our way, rescue us
For thine is the kingdom, the power,                          Everything is yours, I worship you.

And the glory forever, Amen.                                     In Jesus' name, Amen.

Most of it is rather straightforward, but I’ll elaborate a little bit on why I chose certain phrases:

·      Your name is holy – a child may or may not grasp what “holiness” means but it’s easier to say than “hallowed,” which is why I chose it. You can pretty easily teach your child what “holy” means – special, set apart, worthy of our honor/love/praise. Think about the special nature of God’s name in the commandments, not to take it in vain. In the ancient world, one’s name was his/her character and nature. God is special, set apart, worthy of our honor, love, and praise, etc.

·      Come and be our king – though we have no ‘king’ as a political figure in the US, children are generally well accustomed to the notion of a king or kingdom through stories and fairy tales. It is about God’s special reign in our lives so that we make God’s reign known “on earth as it is in heaven.”

·      Give us today the things we need – Dr. Mulholland (Asbury Seminary prof.) put it this way one time: “Nurture us today for kingdom living.” In other words, give us whatever we need to live for you.

·      Forgive…hurt – “trespass” may be a difficult word to grasp, but children know well the language of hurt (physical, emotional/hurt feelings, etc.) This is key. We forgive because we are forgiven and because we are forgivers.

·      Help us stay out of trouble, When trouble comes our way, rescue us – You’ll notice I use trouble in different ways here…I think this can be helpful in distinguishing different types of trouble/trials/temptations. The ones of the former (help us stay out of trouble) is the trouble we can avoid. We often put ourselves in situations where we are tempted to dishonor, disobey God and “not do what he wants us to do” so we ask for help to do what he wants and “stay out of trouble.” I’m thinking of the description of temptation that James operates with in his letter. The latter kind is the type of trouble that we have no control over. Temptation that just pops up out of nowhere. It comes from the fact of living in a fallen world that is still influenced by ‘the prince of the power of the air,’ that is, the enemy. Children, if they’ve heard any stories, know what it means to be rescued. They should. It’s ok to be rescued and need help. I think this can assist in developing discernment…knowing what situations we can stay away from and when to ask for help.