Our Father in Heaven

In Luke's account of the Lord's prayer, it is preceded by one of the disciples asking Jesus to teach them to pray.

Our Father in Heaven

"In this manner, therefore, pray:
'Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.'"

(Matthew 6:9)

We have moved our weekly prayer meetings at church a few times. We at one time would pray on Tuesday evenings, then we switched to Wednesday evenings, and now we have our corporate prayer meetings at church on Sunday mornings before worship. A funny thing happened at one of the weekly prayer meetings a few years back on a Tuesday evening. We were listening to a trio singing The Lord's Prayer. It was very powerful and worshipful, but right in the middle of the song, a little four-year-old boy walked right up the stage and tried to get the attention of Lori Fair, wife of our worship pastor, Jeff. It was funny but also very sweet. The little fellow felt comfortable in going to Lori and wanted her to help him so he could continue watching Paw Patrol. My son, Leighton, ran up on stage and whisked the little fellow away, and the trio did not miss a beat and kept on singing!

Our focus this week in the devotionals is the Lord's prayer. In Luke's account of the prayer, it is preceded by one of the disciples asking Jesus to teach them to pray. Is that not very interesting? He did not ask Jesus to teach them to preach, or how to be a great leader, or how to be a better father, etc.; rather, he asked Jesus to teach them to pray. Of course, being a great teacher, leader, parent, etc. are praiseworthy, but that is not what he requested. Also in Luke 11:1, the text says that the disciple asked Jesus this question after Jesus had finished His prayer time. The disciples watched Jesus very closely, and they knew that the key to His effectiveness in ministry was Who He was and the intimacy He shared with the Father.

So, in response to the question, Jesus taught His disciples then and all His disciples throughout the centuries the Lord's Prayer or the Model Prayer. First, Jesus commands us to pray. Then, He gives a memorable prayer that we should pray often. Jesus begins His prayer with praise. God is our Father; think on that for a moment. He created us, loves, and sustains us. He is in heaven, transcendent, above, and greater than us. What is our reaction to recognizing His greatness? We give Him praise: "hallowed be Your name." The word "hallowed" or made holy is an aorist passive imperative in Greek. We are commanded that He be hallowed or recognized as being holy.

Every prayer we pray should begin with praise, an acknowledgement of God for Who He is. He is holy, awesome, and abounding in love and mercy toward His creation.

Will you pause even now before you go any further in your day and simply praise God?