Today’s Reading: Matthew 6:9 (HCSB)
Therefore, you should pray like this: Our Father in heaven, Your name be honored as holy.
Today’s Question: To whom do you pray?
Today’s Commentary:
Adoption is a beautiful thing. Our family has been in the process of adopting two little girls (whom we do not know yet) for the last two years. I can hardly imagine the joy we will experience the day we meet these two precious gems and they are declared a part of our family. This is a great picture of what God has done for those who have trusted in Christ for salvation.
Spiritually speaking, I was an orphan, lost in sin and hopelessness. Like an adoption process, God reached out to me and invited me to be a part of His eternal family. Before November 1992, I could refer to Him as God. Now I address Him as Father God (Abba).
This is how Jesus begins a model of prayer in this Great Sermon. “Our [Abba] Father…” Every prayer should begin with a focus and recognition of whom we are praying to. If we fail to mentally engage ourselves with the God who created us, then we are simply uttering words to no one. God the Father should be the thought we focus on when praying. Jesus Himself addressed God only as Father (some 60 times in the Gospels), never referring to Him by any other name!
Names were extremely important in the ancient world. A name typically described one’s character. Hallowed means holy, set apart. So when Jesus teaches us to pray to God the Father, “Hallowed be thy Name,” we are recognizing who God is. He is the all-powerful, all-knowing, sovereign ruler of everything. We are recognizing that He is perfect. We are submitting ourselves as one would in bowing before a King. We are recognizing that while He is perfect, we are sinners in need of His mercy and grace. We are set free because God the Father intervened.
We need to understand that the concept of God’s Fatherhood was new for the Jewish audience Jesus was teaching. To hear Jesus refer to God as His Father was close to blasphemy. To state that we should pray to God as “our Father” must have been unbelievable.
For us today, this is less shocking, because we have been well-exposed to Trinitarian teaching. But do we fully grasp the Fatherhood of God? I am challenged by the words of J. I. Packer: “If you want to judge how well a person understands Christianity, find out how much he makes of the thought of being God’s child, and having God as his Father. If this is not the thought that prompts and controls his worship and prayers and his whole outlook on life, it means that he does not understand Christianity very well at all.” May we be known in the world as those who have a deep love for God the Father, a resolute devotion to God the Son, and a relentless desire to walk in God the Spirit.
“Follow One, Lead Others” Principle #31: The disciple of Christ should address God the Father with reverence and, at the same time, recognize His desire for a personal relationship.
Today’s Prayer Point: Ask God to increase your knowledge of His character and to deepen your relationship with Him.
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Shepherding Well 