Our Father in Heaven

February 20, 2015

Our Father in Heaven

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name . . .”

Matthew 6:9 NIV

As we have entered the season of Lent, the next six meditations will be on the Lord’s Prayer. I suspect the vast majority of Christian congregations include the Lord’s Prayer in their worship services each week. This is a good thing, but we want to be careful that the frequent use of this prayer does not diminish its power. When the words of this prayer become so familiar we can say them without thinking, we miss an opportunity to draw close to the heart of God. Because the words of this prayer are some of the most radical words spoken by Jesus, in this and the following five meditations, I want us to plumb the depths of this amazing gift Jesus has given to us.

Jesus began with what must have seemed as contradictory statements to his first disciples. His first sentence affirmed the holiness of God’s name. This is something his disciples could appreciate because the Hebrews so revered God they would not speak or write God’s name. When writing God’s name, they used four consonants, YHWH, which is rendered LORD in English translations of the Old Testament. Over time other people inserted vowels so as to render the name of God, YAHWEH. This word was later transliterated into Jehovah. So the disciples would have expected Jesus to affirm the holiness of God’s name, even though they never wrote or spoke His name. But then Jesus astonishes the disciples by referring to God as “our Father.” Jesus personalized God, from being a distant power to a close, loving parent. It is one thing to believe in the God who created heaven and earth, it is another to believe that this God is your Heavenly Father who you trust with the care of your life. Jesus was calling his disciples to follow him into a close, personal, trusting relationship with their Heavenly Father, a relationship that would shape and transform every aspect of their lives.

The psalmist looked into the night sky and saw the work of God’s fingers, the moon and the stars that God set in place. The psalmist then asked, “What are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them?” (Psalm 8:3-4). Jesus answers the question for the psalmist and for you and me. Humans are loved and adored by the God who hung the moon and the stars. The desire of God’s heart is that we would know Him as our Father in heaven. The greatest affirmation of the holiness of God’s name is when His children call Him, Father.

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms is available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ  is available as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188.