Person

Our artwork for Teach Us to Pray was done by Bruce Butler of Art /Rhetor. In addition to being a graphic designer and artist, Bruce co-leads a Gospel Community and often plays electric guitar at Park Church (and all around Denver).

Piece

The image includes three rhetorical elements:

First and most prominently, the six wings represent the six appeals in the Lord’s prayer—three “Your” appeals (“hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”) and three “us” appeals (“give us today our daily bread, and forgive us our debts…, and lead us not into temptation”). Additionally, the four living creatures from Revelation 4 in the throne room of God are described as having six wings and always being in the presence of God, speaking the holiness of His name! As a result of our union with Christ, our prayer is always before our Father in heaven, to whom we are instructed to pray “hallowed be Your name.”

Second, the mountains in the center of the image suggest the loftiness this simple prayer and also remind us of the Sermon of the Mount, from whence we get the Lord’s Prayer.

Lastly, and most subtly, the upside-down triangle speaks to the subversive kingdom of Jesus, wherein the first are last, the greatest is as the slave of all, and the people seek first the kingdom of God, simply asking for their daily bread in return.