9 “Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father, who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.
Prayer is our biggest need after Salvation, since it’s how we communicate with God. It is also the highest activity that we can be engaged in, since it is God with Whom we are communicating. We are at our best, when we are praying for God to do His will in our lives.
9 “Pray, then, in this way:
There is a great need for guidance in prayer, since it is so central to the Christian life. The disciples would have seen Jesus’ devotion to prayer. But if Jesus’ habit was to go off by himself to pray, then the disciples wouldn’t have had a chance to hear these prayers. The disciples must have been left with a keen awareness that their own prayer life was lacking that fervent need to pray that they saw in Jesus. They must have felt that their own prayer lives were inadequate. Most, if not all Christians feel that their prayer life is lacking. Have you ever felt the longing of wanting deeper, more consistent, more intimate communication with God? Wanting more of God is a good sign. So, then you know how the disciples felt. It was out of this longing, and a desire for a closer relationship with God that the disciples ask Jesus, Lord, teach us to pray.
Jesus says, Pray in this manner, it lets us know that the Lord’s Prayer is a model prayer to guide the disciples in their devotional life. The Lord’s prayer is a short prayer, but a complete prayer, in the sense that it has all the elements that prayer should have. It’s included here in Mathew 6:9-13 and it’s also in Luke 11:1-4. If this is a model prayer, then Jesus probably gave it more than once. By making it slightly different each time, but retaining the essential elements, He’s trying to teach the disciples that they are not to pray these words verbatim so much as understand the principle that these are the kinds of things that we should include in prayer. After All, Jesus had just finished reminding them that they are not to use vain repetition. No, He was conversing with His heavenly Father, and that’s what this model is supposed to teach us, as His disciples to do. It is really a frame to hang our prayers on. We are to fill in the details from what is on our hearts and minds as we approach God in prayer. We’re to use this model as a starting place, an outline for what should be included in prayer.
Our Father
It must have shocked the apostles to hear Jesus call God His Father. They didn’t dare think of God in terms of such a personal relationship. So imagine how surprised they were when Jesus taught them to pray in the same way, calling God their father too! These two words represented a paradigm-shift, and signified that, through Jesus, a more personal relationship with God was possible. It was a completely new understanding of the nature of their relationship with God that Jesus is teaching them. And it is only because of what Jesus has done on the Cross at Calvary, that the sin payment is made, the gap between us and God is closed. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit that takes place when we are regenerated that gives us the “always on” access to the Throne of God, as His adopted Children (Romans 8:14-15).
Notice that Jesus says “Our Father”. He doesn’t tell them to pray “My father”. That means that immediately in prayer, there is the understanding that it is both private communication with our Heavenly Father, but that we have this in common with all other believers. Yes, we can pray this as private prayer. This also means that Jesus meant for we disciples to pray together in groups from even before the beginning of the Church.
To understand the full meaning that this conveyed to the disciples, it helps to understand the role of a father in biblical times. In the Bible, a father was the protector and provider, but also was the one who gave identity to the family. In understanding God as Father, there is a sense of complete security, of establishing and defining a relationship between ourselves as Christians, and God the Father, and knowing that He will provide everything that we need.
We have the same God the Father, the same Savior Jesus, and the Same Holy Spirit dwelling within us. As Ephesians 4:4-6 tells us: There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. So, how in the world can we be divided against each other?!
There’s a big reason why the Lord’s Prayer starts out with God the Father—it’s because all things flow from Him—He is the source, He is the beginning. (Isaiah 64:8; 1 Cor 8:6 yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.
Who is in Heaven
This intimate relationship that we have with God the Father is because of Jesus. So even when Jewish people approached God, they would always begin with titles of His magnificence and glory. Because they are approaching Him from the outside, as persons not part of the family. But, we, as Christians have this more personal, family relationship, so we begin with the more personal phrase “Our Father”.
But, notice that by saying “In Heaven” Jesus immediately reminds us of who God is: He is supremely great! He is the ruler of heaven and earth. Jesus immediately points out God’s transcendence—that He is far above us. He encourages us to remember who God is, and not let our favored place in terms of access result in the diminishment of the Glory that we give God. This phrase “in heaven” balances out the intimacy of the phrase “Our Father” with an affirmation of God’s glory and majesty. And this leads directly into the expression of praise and glory that we’re going to look at next week “Hallowed be Your Name”.