OUR FATHER IN HEAVEN

Matthew 6:9-13
9 Pray like this: ‘Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. 10 Let your Kingdom come. Let your will be done, as in heaven, so on earth. 11 Give us today our daily bread. 12 Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors. 13 Bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For yours is the Kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. Amen. (WEB)

The name of God was so holy in New Testament times that the Pharisees could not even speak His name. Then Jesus comes along and teaches the disciples to pray the Lord's prayer in Aramaic which was the people's language. Jesus didn't instruct the simple folks of His day to pray a grandiose, impersonal prayer to Almighty God but to simply start the prayer with these words... "Our Father in heaven".

This is a prayer that has been prayed by millions of people since the days of the early church. It is a prayer that is prayed by dignitaries and politicians and by little children in Sunday school. My hope today is that when we say this prayer, we would all be reminded about why we call God "Our Father". For this is the very point of the gospel message....  Jesus died for each and every one of us so that we could know Him personally.

In John 20:17, the first post-resurrection message that Jesus heralded to Mary when He met her in the garden was this... 17 Jesus said to her, “Don’t hold me, for I haven’t yet ascended to my Father; but go to my brothers, and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” (WEB)

May each and everyone of us know that it is the desire of the Godhead for us not only to call God our Father, but to know Him intimately as our real Heavenly Dad.

John 16:25-27
25 I have spoken these things to you in figures of speech. But the time is coming when I will no more speak to you in figures of speech, but will tell you plainly about the Father. 26 In that day you will ask in my name; and I don’t say to you, that I will pray to the Father for you, 27 for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me, and have believed that I came forth from God. (WEB)