The Lord’s Prayer: The Joy of Our Heavenly Father

“Our Father in heaven”

When we wish to write or call someone, we all begin from the same place: " Who are we contacting?” It’s the same with prayer: We must ask, “Who are we praying to?” Just like with a letter or a phone call, who we are speaking to affects what we say and how we say it.

Jesus began the Lord’s Prayer by sharing that we pray to “Our Father”. There is both unity and community in our prayers. Notice we pray to “our” Father. Not Peter’s father, not John’s father, not ‘your’ father, or ‘my’ father, but our father. Jesus could have said “pray to my father” or ‘pray to your father, but he didn’t. Jesus uses precision with his words. Each word has a purpose. Throughout the prayer, Jesus points out that we all can approach God equally. We can approach God as a father because he has adopted us into the family of the kingdom of heaven.

For all those led by God’s Spirit are God’s sons. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear. Instead, you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father!” The Spirit himself testifies together with our spirit that we are God’s children,

Romans 8:14–16

‌‌ ‌‌God does not release us from the slavery of sin for him to become absent and unapproachable. No, instead he adopted us into his kingdom. One advantage of being part of the Kingdom of Heaven is the permission to come to God in prayer without hesitation. Yet, the greatest prayer any of us will make is a prayer of surrender to our God. A prayer of adoption into the Kingdom of Heaven. Ultimately, a prayer of repentance, confession, and surrender to the King of Heaven.  

This is one of the significant benefits of being adopted into the family of God. We are no longer isolated and separated from God due to our sin. Now we are joined together because of the love of God. The world doesn’t understand this. We live in a very individualist culture where it’s each person for themselves. If we are not careful, our prayers can be more about “me” instead of “we”.

Sometimes only our families truly know our struggles and fears. There is a sense of transparency with family that we do not experience with the rest of the world. However, this should be a reminder to each of us that the church is a family that prays together and for each other.

Scripture makes it clear that the Church takes great delight in acknowledging God as their Heavenly Father and embracing their identity as His children. We are all family. There should be joy in a church community because we are all family, no matter where we have been or where we are from. As one family in God's love, we offer our prayers, a shared expression of devotion. Church family is not based on race, income, or experience. The church family's foundation is not rooted in the bloodline of our ancestors, but in the blood of the Savior Jesus Christ. The church family doesn’t look like us, but reflects our Creator.

Our Heavenly Father is relational; he wants to hear from us regularly. Matter of fact, we have an open-door policy with God, and the way we walk through that door is through prayer. Every prayer is a gift and opportunity to communicate with the most powerful, all-knowing, and pure being in all of existence.

When we take the scripture Matthew 6:8, “your Father knows the things you need before you ask him,” into consideration, we are reminded of his perfect knowledge. This knowledge is not based on our request. He knows our hearts and needs. Yet, he wants us to come to him freely and not out of forced response. This is incredibly uplifting for both those who have parents and those who are parents through birth, adoption, god-parenting, or other means. The reality is that most of us have people who look to us as a father or mother figure. This is because you do not have to be someone’s biological parent to care for them as a loving parent.

Our example presents a chance to mirror the instances we witness from God in scripture and our daily experiences. However, you may be a parent and you’re saying, “How can I ever strive to be all that God is as a father?”. God is not asking you to be your kids’ heavenly father, but their earthly one. Our flaws can serve as opportunities to lead those who view us as parental figures towards their heavenly father.

You might be facing challenges with your family. You might come from a broken home. Please know we live in a world broken by sin. Families are not perfect, not even the strongest Christian home is perfect. However, God is perfect not just in his knowledge, but in his love.

Earthly parents have limitations that our heavenly father does not. God is over all, and there is an authority in him unlike any other. Where we fail, our God does not. When we fall, he is there ready to help us back up. When we cry to him, he is prepared to listen and comfort us.

Moreover, when our mortal parents depart in this existence, we are reminded in our prayers that we are not without a father. One day, parents, your children will have to learn to walk through life without your encouragement and counsel. Yet, this doesn’t mean that your children will walk through life without a parent. We lead children and those we mentor to the Lord because, no matter how wise we are, He is wiser. No matter how long we think we will live, one day we will die. We should encourage our children and grandchildren that they have a father whose death won’t tear them away from him. Each of us needs to teach the next generation to look to their heavenly father, whose life spans all of eternity. For when we are gone and no longer able to speak or listen to our children, there is still one who is mighty and eager to be there for them. 

Diagnostic Questions:  

1. Do you have people you can regularly pray with and for in your life as you each pray to our Heavenly Father?

2. How can you point your children or those who look to you for guidance back to their heavenly father?

3. Do you pray to God as often as you talk to the family member who lives in your home? If not, what are some ways you can improve in this?

4. How can prayer help you through seasons of grief and loss?

5. How does knowing God has an open-door policy encourage you?