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What is Jesus’s Goldilocks Prayer?

What is Jesus’s Goldilocks Prayer?

Last updated on: August 23, 2024 at 2:01 pm by Gregory T. Smith

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What is Jesus’s Goldilocks Prayer? 2024-08-23T14:01:12-08:00 Gregory T. Smith

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Jesus taught us how to pray like Goldilocks. It’s about seeking balance—not too hard or soft, hot or cold, but a life that’s just right.

By Arthur Rackham – http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/17034, Public Domain

You might call the Lord’s Prayer Jesus’s “Goldilocks Prayer.” In the story of Goldilocks, the titular character tries out one chair and declares it too big. Then she tests another seat and finds it to be too small. Finally, she settles into a third and says it’s just right. Next, she tries some bear porridge and says that some is too hot. Another bowl is too cold. The final portion is just right. Lastly, she finds one bed too hard, another too soft, and the final one just right. Goldilocks knows the value of moderation and contentment for all her breaking-and-entering, trespassing, and food-stealing faults.

A Prayer About Letting Go

Buddhism and Taoism talk a lot about non-attachment. A more positive way of saying this is contentment. This is found in taking the Middle Path through life—one of moderation, neither too hot nor too cold, but just right. Jesus’ Goldilocks Prayer gives an example of this very thing. In a nutshell, the Lord’s Prayer is about letting go. It’s about surrender. It’s about not striving for too much, nor settling for too little, but finding that sweet spot of peace in yourself and with God.

A Prayer with Bookends

This little prayer, found in Matthew 6, bookends with verses 9 and 13b: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name…for Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.” In essence, these phrases say, “It’s not all about me.” This is echoed by another statement of contetment, a reminder that it’s not all about me: “Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven (v.10).”

By remembering that God, or Higher Power, is in charge (and that we are not) we allow ourselves to detach from everything else that may be concerning us. We bookend our time of prayer with the idea that anything we ask for is beyond our ability to control. And when we realize we can’t control it, we can let it go. It becomes about God’s kingdom, power, glory, and purpose, not ours. It becomes less about what we want and more about Ultimate Love. About Goodness. About “Just Right.”

A Prayer About Just Enough

“Give us this day our daily bread (v. 11)” is neither a plea for divine help during a time of austerity and fasting, nor is it a request for God to bless with prosperity and privilege**.** It is a Goldilocks prayer of “just enough, just for today.” This kind of prayer is an exercise to build inner contentment because it asks for neither hot nor cold, but “just right.”

A Prayer of Forgiveness

The prayer continues in verse 12, “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” This verse speaks again of contentment. Contentment with things as they are, even if I have been damaged by someone else. Lack of attachment to the feelings of hurt that I’ve been nurturing—replaced, instead, with a sense of balance that says, “As I’ve been forgiven, so I will forgive.” Again, not too hot (anger) and not too cold (revenge is a dish best served cold, or so says Khan Soonien Singh). Instead, this simple prayer is one of peace.

A Prayer of Balance

The final phrase in verse 13 is also one of balance. “And do not lead us into temptation but deliver us from the evil one.” Put differently, you might say, “Don’t lead me into too much pleasure, or too much pain either.” Again, this prayer offers a way of balance, a Middle Way between extremes.

The Goldilocks Zone

In astronomy, The Goldilocks Zone refers to the habitable area around a planet where the temperature is not too hot and not too cold, for liquid water to exist. This makes the planet potentially habitable. In life, each of us needs to find our own Goldilocks Zone, where things aren’t too hard or too soft, too big or too small, too hot or too cold. We need a zone that’s livable, in moderation, in balance, in harmony. To find this kind of contentment spot, Jesus recommends the Goldilocks Prayer (more commonly known as the Lord’s Prayer). I hope you’ll find that it’s “just right.”

For related reading, check out my other articles:

General Christian

Relationships and Religion

Health, Fitness and Religion

Spirituality

Goldilocks and the three bears

Goldilocks zone

Goldilocks zone for preaching

Spiritual balance

The Lord's Prayer

About Gregory T. Smith

I live in the beautiful Fraser Valley of British Columbia and work in northern Washington State as a behavioral health specialist with people experiencing homelessness and those who are overly involved in the criminal justice system. Before that, I spent over a quarter-century as lead pastor of several Virginia churches. My newspaper column, “Spirit and Truth” ran in Virginia newspapers for fifteen years. I am one of fourteen contributing authors of the Patheos/Quoir Publishing book “Sitting in the Shade of another Tree: What We Learn by Listening to Other Faiths.” I hold a degree in Religious Studies from Virginia Commonwealth University, and also studied at Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond. My wife Christina and I have seven children between us, and we are still collecting grandchildren. You can read more about the author here.

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