The Name That Opens the Door

“But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen.”
— Matthew 6:6

Two little boys came to my door recently carrying homemade birthday cards that weren’t worth a dime.

They were priceless.

The cards were priceless because the relationship is.

The Ganson twins dropped by with their dad, Ben, to give me their handmade birthday cards. They call me Papa Jette. I’m honored to be their Papa Jette, and whenever I hear them say it, something moves inside me, because the love behind those cards is genuine and priceless.

Lots of people know me as Mike Jette, but only three people on the planet call me Papa Jette. All three are connected to God-stories.

The twin boys, Marvens and Marvel, were adopted by the Gansons from Haiti. During a mission trip to Haiti I helped organize in 2015, Janelle Ganson received a word from the Lord that would eventually lead her and Ben into a journey of international adoption. The process began before the twins were even born and took seven long years to complete.

It’s a connection the twins are unaware of, but whenever I’m around them, I marvel (😃) at God’s faithfulness, provision, and leading that made this extraordinary story possible. The story’s arc resonates within me each time I hear them say, Papa Jette.

“When you pray…” Jesus tells His apprentices to go into the hidden place with the Father who is already there. When I pray, my acknowledgement of His presence often begins with, Papa God.

For me, those words are more than the beginning of a prayer. They are the name that opens the door of my heart to Him. They remind me that I’m not approaching a transaction. I’m approaching my Father. Before speaking another word, I remember who He is and who I am.

Is it possible that the heart of our Father in heaven is also touched when I call Him Papa God?

Without Fatherhood, prayer can quietly become an exchange: requests submitted, answers awaited, performance evaluated. But His children don’t need an appointment, impressive vocabulary, or a quarterly review. 😂 We come because we belong.

I don’t think I would have understood the power of this if I hadn’t become someone’s Papa Jette.

Those twins weren’t showing up with handmade cards hoping to become beloved. They brought the cards because they already knew they were.

And perhaps that is what I’m learning about prayer.

We don’t enter our Father’s presence hoping to become beloved. We pray because we already are.

Prayer isn’t a transaction with God. Being welcome and beloved in His presence is enough.

More than enough.

It’s everything.

Those cards probably have no market value, but enormous Papa Jette value. How much more value do the things we bring to our Papa God have?

What if the first and greatest answer to our prayers is God Himself?

Run the play. Open the door of your heart to your Abba, Father. He is crazy in love with you.

Finding Our Place in the Story

• If God gave you nothing during prayer except Himself, would you still consider your prayer answered?
• Do you approach prayer more like a transaction or a relationship?
• What changes in you when you remember that you come to God as a beloved child?