Some people pray the prayer word for word.
There’s nothing wrong with that, except that’s
not what Jesus was trying to teach.
Jesus was giving us a model or blueprint as to
how we should pray. As he opens the teaching
on prayer, the first two words he used, Our
Father, would prove to be revolutionary in our
approach to prayer and our approach to God.
With this in mind let’s consider why these two
simple, almost nondescript words have so much
meaning packed into them.
The Paradigm Shift to Seeing God as our Father
In the Old Testament, there are hints of the idea
of God as Father. What you will discover is that
this theme, though present, is not really
prominent in the Old Testament scriptures. Israel
related to God as Yahweh or Jehovah.
If you study the names of God you will find his
names such as Jehovah Jireh – The Lord who
provides.
Jehovah Shammah – The Lord who is here.
Jehovah Nissi – The Lord my banner.
There are quite a number of other names used to
describe God in the Old Testament. The
understanding of these names was how Israel
related to God. This was respectful. This was
reverent. This was right. By the way, these
names of God are still applicable today because
He is the Lord who does not change.
Considering these things, for a moment put
yourself in the shoes of the disciples. They are
used to seeing God strictly and primarily as
Jehovah. For all their life, this is how they
approached God. This is how they were taught to
approach God.
Jesus now tells them when you begin to pray you
are not only approaching Jehovah God, you are
approaching the God who is your father.
He was in no way diminishing God’s position as
Jehovah. He was shifting the paradigm in how
they would relate to God. He would no longer be
just Jehovah. Going forward you can relate to
him as Father. Jesus was shifting the parameters
of how we would understand our relationship
with God.
Why Does ‘Our Father’ Matter?
Now that we have established this new paradigm,
the question that needs to be asked is why does
Our Father matter? Let’s consider these reasons:
- Access
Yet to all who did receive him, to those who
believed in his name, he gave the right to become
children of God – John 1:12 For through him we
both have access to the Father by one Spirit. –
Ephesians 2:18 Think for a moment how the
high priest entered the Holy of Holies in the Old
Testament. They did it once a year on Yom
Kippur, to offer an atonement for the sins of the
people. The Holy of Holies represented the very
presence of God and only one person, one time
throughout the year could enter his presence.
After all, he was Jehovah God.
As father that changes. The very use of that word
implies access.
You have the right because he is your father, to
come into his presence every single day. You
have an open invitation to sit at his feet because
you are not just spending time with God you are
spending time with your father. There is a very
famous picture of John Kennedy Jr, sitting under
the desk in the oval office when his father was
president. To the world he was a president…a
powerful leader. To John Jr, he was Daddy.
Because he was a daddy, the nature of that
relationship gave him the right to sit at his feet.
You have that same access. You can come into
God’s presence and sit at his feet because God is
your father or to put it another way, he’s Daddy. - Intimacy
Come near to God and he will come near to you… –
James 4:8 Not only do we have access to God’s
presence, more importantly he wants us to come.
As a father, he wants you to share your heart
with him. To share your joys. To share your fears
and worries.
He wants to be connected to the most intimate
part of your life. He wants to hold you when you
feel alone. He wants to comfort you when you
are feeling sad or low. He wants to rejoice with
you when things go great. He wants to give you
wisdom when you don’t know what to do.
He is a loving father who wants to be involved in
every aspect of your life, simply because he
loves you and cares for you. Because he is your
father, you are no longer an outsider. You can
now have an intimate, loving relationship with the
almighty God. The ‘Our Father’ establishes the
personal nature of your relationship with God.
You are in him and he is in you. How amazing is
that.
And because we are his children, God has sent the
Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call
out, “Abba, Father.” Now you are no longer a slave
but God’s own child. And since you are his child,
God has made you his heir. – Galatians 4:6-7 - Identity
See what great love the Father has lavished on us,
that we should be called children of God! And that is
what we are! – 1 John 3:1
The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are
God’s children. – Romans 8:16
When my children were born, we had to give
them a name. The purpose of the name was to
give them an identity. Another way of looking at
it is simply: who do they belong to? Quite often,
the identity of the child is connected to the
father. Most children that are born take on the
father’s last name or his identity.
I remember when my son and daughter were
born they weren’t just any babies, they were
Haynes babies…they belonged to me. God being
your father gives you identity and establishes
who you are.
You belong to him.
Because you belong to him, then all the rights
and privileges of being a son or daughter of God
come along with it. My children don’t worry
about food, clothing, or having a place to stay
because they know I will work to provide that for
them, because they belong to me.
Because you identify with God and he is your
father, you can rest assured he will take care of
you, because you belong to him. Your identity is
sealed in him and you are a child of the living
God.
His protection is yours. His provision is yours.
His promises are yours. All because you identify
with him as father.
Our Responsibility to Honor Our Father
You have access to his presence. You can have
intimate fellowship with the living God. Your
identity is sealed in him all because he is your
father. Jesus with these two words “Our Father”
was transforming the nature of our relationship
with God.
From that point forward we will forever be able to
relate to him as father. What an awesome
privilege that is. We get the honor to identify with
him and carry his name.
Moving forward, as we step outside of our
houses…as we interact with people in our
homes, communities, and jobs…we represent
our father to the world at large. I pray that you
and I would do his name justice and uphold the
honor of his great name.
May we all live lives that would make our father
proud. That he would say to us like he said to
Jesus in Matthew 3:17 , this is my son (or
daughter) in whom I am well pleased .
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