Talking to God: Our Father

Matthew 6:9-13 “This, then, is how you should pray:

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”

Last week we looked at motivation for praying. If our goal is to impress others or to impress God, then our motivation is wrong and we’ve received our reward in full. Please understand that this does not mean we shouldn’t pray out loud. It’s only about motivation.

Today we are looking at a familiar passage, but I want to take it piece by piece. After all, this is how Jesus instructed his disciples to pray. If we want to live like Jesus, if we want Christlikeness, we need to learn to pray like Jesus.

When Jesus says, “This is how you should pray” he does not necessarily mean that we should always or only use these same words. We can “say” the Lord’s Prayer instead of “praying” it, and that’s not helpful either. He is giving us the model of how to pray. 

When Jesus models prayer, the first point, and the most significant point, is who we are praying to. Of course, someone would say, “we’re praying to God. Isn’t that obvious?” Yes, we are praying to God, but did you notice that Jesus didn’t say “God” when he began praying? He addressed his prayer to “Our Father in heaven.”

We can understand that Jesus calls God “Father.” We recognize Jesus’ unique role in the Trinity as the one and only Son of God. God is the Father, Jesus is the Son. But Jesus is instructing his followers that we, too, can call God “Father” for indeed, God is “Our Father.” 

We are not simply God’s creation; we are his children. Listen to Romans 8:14-17 Those who are lef by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.: The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs - heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. 

As God’s children, we can approach his throne boldly. 

It is through the gift and indwelling of the Holy Spirit that we are adopted by God and become his children, with all of the authority and responsibility thereof. The reason the scripture appeals to “sons” is that sons had different roles than daughters in Jesus’ time. A son would inherit all that a father left. A son could speak on behalf of the father and with all of the authority of the father. So when Jesus instructs us to bring our prayers to God saying “Our Father” it is a radical statement about who we are and about the authority we hold. 

It is also a radical statement about our relationship to the Father. Jesus later instructs his followers to ask, seek, and knock, for whoever asks receives, whoever seeks finds, and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. (Matthew 7:8) Then he poses a hypothetical situation: “Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:9-11)

We do not go to God as a stranger, asking for a favor. We do not go to God as a beggar, begging for alms. We do not go to God as slaves, groveling for better conditions. We do not go to God as employees, petitioning for higher wages. We go to God as God’s children. How great is the 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)

I want to make one thing clear. There are some preachers out there who say that once you accept Jesus, once you are adopted as God’s children, then everything will be smooth and easy, you’ll make money and be healthy. Those people deny and defy the Bible itself. The passage I read from Romans 8 reminds us that we are God’s heirs if we share in his suffering. This is the part of Christianity that we don’t like to talk about. It’s not what we tell people when we are out evangelizing. But our suffering allows us to identify with Jesus Christ. 

Peter says “But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed.” (1 Peter 3:14). 

Jesus says that the kingdom of heaven belongs to those who are persecuted, that Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:10-12) We have a reward for being persecuted for our faith. We have a reward if we suffer for Christ.

There is one last thing I want to point out in how we address God the Father. We address him as “Our” Father. Even in the way we address God, we are reminded that we are brothers and sisters in Christ. We are in this together. In the US, we have a history and ethos of being very individualistic, so I have to really preach this. Here, it’s more of a reminder, that being God’s children is our identity. Not our tribe. Not our skin color. Not our nationality. So we are the same, unified in Christ.