The reason we pray the Lord’s Prayer as much as we do is because this is the only prayer that Jesus ever gave us. In Luke 11, Jesus disciples come to him and ask him to teach them how to pray and in response Jesus gives them a shortened version of the Lord’s Prayer. The prayer became so important in the life of the early church that by the end of the first century, Christians were told to pray this prayer 3 times a day: morning, noon and night. The Lord’s Prayer also became a central part of the worship life of the early church being included in all baptisms and times of communion and it has remained a central part of worship for over 2000 years.
One of the interesting things to notice about the Lord’s Prayer is that in many ways it is structured like the 10 Commandments. Last summer when we looked at the 10 Commandments we saw that the first 4 all have to do with our relationship with God and the last 6 have to do with ourselves and others. In many ways the Lord’s Prayer is set up the same way. The first thing the prayer does is center our hearts on God. We call God our heavenly father, we lift up his name and we ask for his kingdom and his will to be done. So just like the 10 Commandments, we start with God and then move to ourselves and others by asking God for food, forgiveness and the deliverance from evil. So the movement in the Lord’s Prayer is from God to us, the same way the movement in the 10 Commandments is from God to us, but it all starts with God.
So the prayer begins, Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed by thy name. Let’s just start with the first word – OUR. What is important for us to see in the Lord’s Prayer is that it is never a personal prayer. It is not my Father, it is our father, it is not my daily bread or forgive me for my sins, it is our bread and forgive us our sins. The Lord’s Prayer is always plural which means it is to be prayed together and it reminds us that our faith is supposed to be lived out together and it has always been this way.
When God created Adam he realized it wasn’t good for him to be alone so he gave him a partner which then produced a family. When God called Abram it wasn’t to make him a great leader, it was to make him the father of many nations. When God called David it was to be the king of a nation, when Jesus chose disciples it was to form a team and when the Holy Spirit filled the followers of Jesus on the day of Pentecost it didn’t send them off to live life on their own – it drew them together to live life as one body in the church. God’s desire is for us to live in community with one another and the Lord’s Prayer reflects that at every turn by showing us that this is not a personal prayer but a prayer of the people. That is one reason why we pray it together in worship because it is supposed to be prayed together.
The other thing that the word OUR tells us is that God is ours. He is our Father, but this is not an exclusive claim, he is ours and no one else’s, it is an inclusive claim, God is the father of all. In Malachi 2:10 it says, Have we not all one Father? Did not one God created us? And in 1 Corinthians 8:6 it says there is but one God, the Father from whom all things came and for whom we live. So when we call God OUR father we are not only placing ourselves in the larger community of the church but we are acknowledging that the God of the universe, the One who created this world is the father of all. While not all may call God their father, God is the father of all. He is our father he belongs to us and we belong to him.
So let’s look at what it means to call God our father. The important thing here is not gender but the qualities of being a good parent. Throughout the Bible God is described as the perfect parent who not only gives life to his children, but is also the one who nurtures them and cares for them and protects them and provides for them all through life. The Bible is full of images of how God as a loving parent cares for his children. There is a list of scriptures in the next steps that you can use this week to explore some of the ways God is seen as this perfect parent, but let’s just look at one, Deuteronomy 1:31. God is seen here as the father, or mother, who picks up their child and carries them in life when they grow tired or weary or when they are in need some help or support.
When we call God our father, we not only acknowledge that God is the one who created us but we are proclaiming that God is the one we turn to when we need this kind of help, support, encouragement, love, direction, grace and mercy. When we call God our father we are also saying that as his children we want to reflect his name and character in this world. I have had the honor of speaking at the funerals of many faithful and loving parents and one of the things I often say is that the best way to honor them, the best way to honor a father or mother isn’t in words that are spoken at a funeral, but in how we live our lives and when we call God our father it doesn’t just mean we turn to God for help but it means we want to honor God by living the way God has taught us and the way God has shown us. We’ll look at that more a little bit next week when we ask God for his kingdom to come in this world.
Now let me just say a quick word about the gender issue and why throughout the Bible God is most often described as a father and not a mother. It is not because men are better than women or fathers more important than mothers. The people of Israel lived in a culture that was dominated by pagan fertility cults where images and idols of women and mothers were often worshipped so it could be that simply in order to avoid any confusion that Israel was worshipping these pagan gods that talking about God as a mother just wasn’t used very often, but there are a few images in the Bible and they are powerful. Again I would encourage you use your next steps and look up Isaiah 49:14-15 and reflect on the beautiful and powerful image of God as a mother. Again the reality is that when we call God father it is not a gender issue, it’s to remind us that God is that parent, that faithful and loving parent who created us and cares for us and desires to have an ongoing loving and intimate relationship with us.
So we call God our father, but he is not an earthly father, God is a father who is in heaven. The word heaven here means air or sky which means that God is not off in some faraway place or in some other world unable to hear us and help us, it means that God is right here surrounding us, as close as the air we breathe and as constant and ever present as the sky we see. This idea of God’s ever present nature is what the psalmist writes about in Psalm 139:7-12. God is everywhere which means that God is always with us. We don’t have to ask God to be with us – He is. We don’t have to ask God to go with us – He will. In fact God is already there. So when we talk about a God in heaven we aren’t talking about a distant God but a God who not only is everywhere we look and everywhere we are, but a God who also dwells deep within us. God is the air we breathe which means that God dwells deep within our hearts and lives.
By calling God our father in heaven we also are saying that God is above and beyond the powers of this world which means that God can actually do something to solve the problems of this world. God is larger than our personal problems. God is larger than our community problems and national problems and political problems and global problems. God is larger and more powerful than it all, which means that we can pray to God for big things. We can ask God for world peace and for an end to hunger and poverty and injustice because we know that God is able to bring this about because he is not a God who is limited to this world, he is a God in heaven. But we need to be careful if we are going to pray to God for big things because the way God might want to solve these problems will be through us living life a different way by taking a bold stand or making a faithful statement. Again, we’ll look at this more next week.
And then the last part of the opening phrase has to do with the name of God. Hallowed be thy name. The word hallowed means to make holy, which means we honor or lift up and glorify God’s name. Once again, we see here a similarity to the 10 Commandments where one of the commandments is to not take God’s name in vain. Another way of stating that commandment would be to honor God’s name and use it wisely. Before we ask ourselves if we are doing that, let’s just look at the name of God. What is God’s name?
The name God gives himself is I AM, which means that God is eternal, powerful and that God transcends all time and space. By calling himself I AM, God is stating that he is all powerful, all knowing, all loving, all forgiving, all providing, all protecting, all everything and because of his greatness and his goodness we need to honor his name and make it holy and there are two ways we do this, by what we say and by how we live.
Let’s start by looking at what we say and how we use God’s name. When we looked at the 10 Commandments last summer we learned that many times we use God’s name without really thinking about it. We often say “O God” as an expression of surprise or even frustration without even thinking about it, and that’s the problem, we use God’s name without thinking about it. We need to think about how we use God’s name and make sure when we do use it we are doing it in a way that honor God and reflects God’s true character. It can be a challenge to change old habits of speech, but when we do, those changes honor and glorify God, they hallow his name.
More difficult than changing our words, however, is changing our lives and making God’s name holy means that we stop trying to glorify our name, or live just for ourselves and start living in such a way that God’s name and character are lifted up and seen by those around us. Through Jesus, God has shown us an example of what it looks like to honor God’s name – it looks like a life of humility and service. It looks like a life of worship and prayer. It looks like a life of joy and peace that comes when we are connected to God. Do our lives reflect the name of God? When people look at us – do they see Jesus? When they do, we know we are truly hallowing God’s name.
When we begin this prayer, Our father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, we are proclaiming that God is the one who created us and gives us life, and that God is the one who calls us to live this life together with others and that God is present with us to help us tackle the big problems in life and it begins to lay out this idea that our lives need to reflect the name or the character and nature of God and God’s kingdom. These are powerful words that we can’t take for granted, we need to pray them with faith and trust, we need to pray them with humility and gratitude, and we need to pray them with the courage to live them out in our lives each and every day.
Will you prayer them with me now.
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.
AMEN.
Next Steps ~ The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name…
OUR Father: All language in the Lord’s Prayer is plural which means we need to:
• Pray Together: this week pray the Lord’s prayer with others: Family, Sunday School Class, Small Group, Friends
• Grow Together: find ways to connect with others in the church: join a class or Bible study, volunteer to serve with others, join a ministry like the choir / bell choir, join us for lunch after worship today.
Our FATHER: what do these scriptures tell us about God as our father:
Malachi 2:10,
I Corinthians 8:6,
Ephesians 4:6,
Deuteronomy 32:6 and 1:31,
Matthew 6:25-34 and 7:1-4,
Isaiah 49:14-15,
Psalm 131:2
• What “parental” quality of God do you appreciate the most?
• What quality do you need to experience the most?
Who art in HEAVEN: (auromos, which means air or sky)
• Our God is EVERYWHERE:
How do you need to personally experience God this week?
• Our God is BIG and POWERFUL:
What big thing can you pray for this week?
Hallowed by Thy NAME:
• This week focus on only using God’s name in ways that honor Him and reflect His power and love.
• What two changes can you make this week to reflect more of God’s nature and character?
