If prayer is “What God and I are doing together,” as Dallas Willard said, and my friend Pastor John Piippo picks up on and reiterates often, then I love how Eugene Peterson in The Message renders Ephesians 5:1-2.
Just to give you a comparison, here it is in the English Standard Version:
5 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. 2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
And here is Peterson’s rendition:
5 1-2 Watch what God does, and then you do it, like children who learn proper behavior from their parents. Mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn’t love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that.
So, as you consider God in your life today, that is, as you pray: What is God doing? … Be on the watch. Stay alert. Be present. You are God’s beloved child. Your job is to imitate him. So go with him today. Love like him. Hold your Abba’s hand.
That’s prayer, my friends!
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