Before we shift to focusing on the phrase 'who is in Heaven' it is worth remembering why 'Our Father' is an important starting place. John Smed offers some helpful thoughts.
"Jesus wants us to start our prayer in the Spirit of His Sonship. If it were up to us, we might pray differently. We might want to jump right into prayers of confession - just to get rid of a bad conscience. We might start by crying out, 'Help Lord! I am drowning here. I need you now!" But Jesus teaches something different, something essential about prayer here. We are to begin our prayer by bonding with God as Father. It is not helpful to run through the Lord's Prayer as a series of unrelated requests. If we start solidly with 'Our Father," the rest of our prayer will be transformed. When we come to Him in the experience and expectation of a child of God, each part of Jesus' prayer will be a Father-child dialogue.
As we pray...we keep in mind that we are coming before a kind and generous Father, who is willing and able to hear and answer us. We ask boldly, because we know He is not offended. Teresa of Avila said, 'You pay God a compliment when you ask great things of him.' Jesus said, like every good father, your Father in heaven 'delights to give good gifts to His children.' Confident and effective prayer begins with 'Our Father.' We start here. We can go no further until we know Him as Father. This precious truth should be carried into all our requests."
QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF
- What do we miss if we fail to approach God as Father?
- As you have practiced approaching God as Father these past days, what particular theme as repeatedly gripped you?
- Have you found a renewed boldness and confidence in your prayers? How could that grow?
This is an excerpt from an excellent study guide on the Lord's Prayer by John Smed, "7 Days of Prayer with Jesus" - you can find it here.
Today's graphic is part of a painting by Hans Gns entitled 'Life is a Journey'
Today's graphic is part of a painting by Hans Gns entitled 'Life is a Journey'