This begins the first in our closer look at the Model Prayer of the Bible – The Lord’s Prayer. To comprehend the context of it, we look at what led up to Jesus presenting these timeless words as the most famous prayer in all human history. The Words of what we call “The Lord’s Prayer” are a larger part of the great Jewish Prayer – The Amidah. I examined this fully in three parts on my TV program, Plumbline (Part 1 of 3 is below in the YouTube video). Jesus told His disciples in Matthew 6:9-13, that this is HOW they should prayer, when they asked as if He (the Lord) would teach them HOW to pray.
To get our minds around what the Lord means, alongside the Jewishness of this prayer, it will be helpful to exegete or go through the words and phrases which the Creator uses to teach His disciples HOW to pray. This prayer is not some magic formula for some to use to punish wayward church members into reciting “xyz”….and five “Our Fathers”. This is Truth from the Oracles of Heaven for us to examine and enter into an even closer relationship with our God and King – Yahweh.
In light of this, we begin:
“Our Father Who art (is) in Heaven” – Right off the bat, Jesus is telling us, via His disciples at the time, to Whom ANY prayer needs to be addressed – Almighty God, the Father of Lights. It is from Him that ALL good things come to anyone who has ever been alive on this planet, since creation. Please do, let us try and wrap the frail human mind around this for a few minutes! Please consider this: the Creator and Giver of Life is actually listening to each and every one of His redeemed-by-Christ children (us) and hears our pleas, petitions and yes, our praises! This is not just anybody or some “higher power” as the unsaved calls Him. This is God, Almighty Father, Who said to the Son – Yahweh (the Great I Am) “Let us make man in our image”.
The Father declared man and Jesus spoke Adam into existence, fashioning Adam from dust. Then the Third person of the GodHead –Who never disagree- breathed LIFE into this lifeless piece of dust and the first man came into existence. So let’s get this thing in order once and for all. We are His creation and He does not work for us. Every breath we take, every move we make, He’s been watching us, knowing our next step and still, He loves us and wants to hear our prayer. He is the Ultimate Parent. He sees the horrible and wrong things we do, say and feel and still, His mercy, grace and long suffering last a lifetime. That’s our Father.
If we wish to add the dimension of time to Him, He would have existed for billions of years before Moses recorded the account of Creation and eternity is, well, God knows – how many billions of years! We live on a tiny speck of a planet which is one puny galaxy when we consider the Universe. When we consider the moon and stars and the Heavens….what is man, what is this planet that He would be so mindful of us, that He, in the form of the Son would step down from His Eternal Heavenly Throne for 33 years separated from our Father?
He lives in another dimension. His Throne is in the heavenlies. We have several glimpses of the power and majesty of our Father Who is in Heaven and remains there as Ruler of all. In Isaiah 6 we read in part about the worship and power and share fearsome Presence of God which should cause up to sit up straight right now. In Daniel 7
This is the God, our Father in Heaven, to Whom we pray. So right from the start, the very first thing which Jesus is teaching us is this – be VERY aware just to Whom you and I are addressing our prayers. In light of His Power, Awesome Fearsome Majesty and more, we are therefore supposed to be EXTREMELY careful HOW we pray and WHAT we pray for. When we are not sure about where we are going with this thing, it will be beneficial if we just tell the Lord in all humility, that we have no idea how to pray for a situation and we need help. That’s it! We are promised Holy Spirit will translate our prayers up to the Father.
Our Father Who is in Heaven – Who is our Sustainer, Master and Ruler of the Universe. He is all-powerful, all-knowing, all-seeing and Almighty. He can be depended on. He is to Whom we pray. In the Mighty Name of Jesus, Father, we thank You so very much that You have chosen us as Your people, from the Foundation of the earth that we, who are being saved, can call upon Your Name - You the Mighty God of all the universe, of all creation, Owner of all things, Giver of Life, Mighty to Save and Victorious in the Heavens. Thank You for allowing weak and sinful mankind the opportunity to approach You, under the banner of Prayer, that we may be considered worthy enough, under the Blood of The Lamb, to have our pleas, petitions and sometimes pitiful prayers heard in the very Throne Room of Heaven. Thank You that You see us through the lens of Your Son...that You have taken us from the Pit to the very heights of the Heavens. Thank You for Your all powerful attributes that we may be able to stand firm while resting in the Glory and Might of Your Name and those attributes, in Jesus' Holy Name amen and amen. Thank You, most kind, gracious and wonderful Father in Heaven, amen.
