Our Father, Who art in heaven,
Hallowed be Thy name.
Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
Forgive our transgressions
Even as we have forgiven our enemies.
And lead us not into temptation
But deliver us from evil.
For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the
glory forever. Amen.

.... It struck me that what Jesus was doing when He gave this speech was not so much teaching people to pray as He was reminding them of what they had forgotten in the Scriptures, that we can relate to God in a personal way. I know that sounds like the same thing, but I'm wondering if I wasn't limiting Jesus' teaching by thinking it was just about behavior, and not about perspective. Jesus was saying they should stop jumping through legalistic hoops, or for that matter rambling on and on as though they could manipulate God. Instead, they should relate to God as He has always related to them, as their Father.
....And what's more, Jesus was telling us this relationship with the Father was supposed to be sincere and intimate. The people hearing Jesus must have been somewhat surprised. Their Father was not afraid to be close.
The first thing God seemed to want, in terms of our relating to Him as a father, was for us to submit to Him... in asking us to submit, it seemed to me Jesus was saying, Look, you are going to want to do things your way, but your way isn't the best for you. Trust me, I know what you need... If God was fathering me, and He knew exactly what I needed then when I didn't get something I wanted, I could trust God didn't give it to me because it was not something I needed... He says that God is going to provide, that we can trust Him to provide what we need, even down to the basics of food. To me, that seems to build on what Jesus had just said about trusting God to give us what we need for maturity rather than what we want... an acknowledgment of God's ability to provide security... He wants us to depend on Him, to lean on Him, to realize our smallness in the reality of His bigness. Our provision comes from God... and in our asking we are realizing the love He displays in His willingness to provide.... it seemed beautiful that God would want us to get along, to forgive each other and accept forgiveness... that God wasn't just my Father, concerned with my maturity, but He was our Father, concerned with the unity and health of the whole family.... ,'God, you are great big. You are bigger than everything, and that is amazing. You are the one with the power, and You always will be.'
- To Own a Dragon, Donald Miller