A fairly typical exchange at home: "Are you going to the kitchen? Be a dear and bring me a glass of water”.
Words spoken to a congregation gathered to celebrate a wedding: “Dearly beloved, we are gathered here . . . “.
Words spoken at breakfast by a (usually female) server at a diner: "Would you like some more coffee, dear?"
Words written at the beginning of a letter, both one to someone known and even a formal letter to someone not known: "Dear _______ (name in blank)".
Words written (perhaps not as often as used to be the case) in one's own private reflections: "Dear Diary . . .".
Obviously the word "dear" can be used in a number of different ways, in a variety of different settings, with a variety of different levels of intimacy involved. And in the song from Godspell that we're using as the sermon series this Lent, the words say "Dear Lord" to refer to God in Jesus Christ.
The words to "Day by Day" are a 20th century version of words taken from the prayer, purportedly on his deathbed, by Richard de Wych, Bishop of Chichester (England), on April 3, 1253. The fuller version of this prayer:
Thanks be to Thee, my Lord Jesus Christ
For all the benefits Thou hast given me,
For all the pains and insults Thou hast borne for me.
O most merciful Redeemer, friend and brother,
May I know Thee more clearly,
Love Thee more dearly,
Follow Thee more nearly.
The "Dear Lord" part of the song matches with the words "merciful", "Redeemer", "friend" and "brother" in the full version of the prayer. Mercy and redemption are such profound and "unearned" gifts from God, that "dear" is almost not powerful enough a word. Friend and brother both convey a particular kind of connection, marked with a certain intimacy (I share with my brother, my only sibling, life experiences that I share with no one else because of the family experiences and dynamics in our formative years). That God in Jesus Christ is able to be both "merciful redeemer" and "friend and brother"--again, if that doesn't make God "dear" then what could?
And with recognizing those dynamics in our relationship to God, through Jesus Christ, prayer becomes joyous, intimate, loving--something we eagerly seek to do day by day.
Philippians 4:6-7
6Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
1 John 5:14-15
14And this is the boldness we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have obtained the requests made of him.
Luke 11:9-13
9‘So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. 10For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. 11Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? 12Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion? 13If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!’