What we see in this first phrase, 'Our Father who is in Heaven,' is not just the nice idea that God is merely a caring Father – someone who might want to do good but who is unable. No! This is ‘our father in heaven’.
Locating God in Heaven is not suggesting that He is far-away and distant or dis-interested (remember, He is Father), rather, the fact that He is in Heaven reminds us that He is Creating God and King of the Universe. He sits on His throne and rules as King where not even the Heavens can contain him [1 Kings 8:27] and the earth is as His footstool [Isa 66:1]. This is ‘His unbounded power.
We don’t come to God as a useless father – someone who cares and is concerned, and has all the best intentions, but unable to really help. No! This is ‘our Father in Heaven.’ When we come before God, we approach the King of Kings, who is also ‘our father in Heaven’.
John Calvin captures this beautifully in his commentary on Matthew 6:9:
Locating God in Heaven is not suggesting that He is far-away and distant or dis-interested (remember, He is Father), rather, the fact that He is in Heaven reminds us that He is Creating God and King of the Universe. He sits on His throne and rules as King where not even the Heavens can contain him [1 Kings 8:27] and the earth is as His footstool [Isa 66:1]. This is ‘His unbounded power.
We don’t come to God as a useless father – someone who cares and is concerned, and has all the best intentions, but unable to really help. No! This is ‘our Father in Heaven.’ When we come before God, we approach the King of Kings, who is also ‘our father in Heaven’.
John Calvin captures this beautifully in his commentary on Matthew 6:9:
"Whenever we engage in prayer, there are two things to be considered, both that we may have access to God, and that we may rely on Him with full and unshaken confidence: his fatherly love toward us, and his boundless power...Father is the appellation given to him...but as it is only the half of our reliance that is founded on the goodness of God, in the next clause, who art in heaven, he gives us a lofty idea of the power of God. When the Scripture says, that God is in heaven, the meaning is, that all things are subject to his dominions, — that the world, and everything in it, is held by his hand, — that his power is everywhere diffused, — that all things are arranged by his providence. This...reminds us that, when we think of him, we ought not to form any low or earthly conceptions: for he is higher than the whole world."
When we approach God in prayer we don't only approach Him as Father, we approach the Creator and King of the Universe.
QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF
- What does John Calvin mean by 'a lofty idea of the power of God'?
- How does the idea of approaching God as King of all things impact what and how you pray?
- Why is it important to approach God as both Father and King (as opposed to just Father or just King)?
You can read all of Calvin's comments on Matthew 6:9 here.