Our Father Who Art in Heaven

You know, The Lord's prayer was never a prayer actually prayed BY Jesus. It's more fitting to call it the Disciple's prayer as it was what Jesus taught them to pray. For the next few weeks, or months or however long it takes me to finish, I plan on going through The Disciples Prayer, placing an emphasis on certain individual components and the way they these components resonate throughout The Scriptures.

Our Father, Who Art in Heaven - Mt 6:9

Chronicles 20:6 And said, O Lord God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven? and rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee?

Matthew 5:16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

Matthew 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; 45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

Matthew 6:26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?

Matthew 7:11 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?

Luke 10:21 In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes: even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight.

John 12:28 Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.

John 17:1 These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:

Ephesians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:

Sometimes, for some reason, Heaven seems really, really far away to us. It’s not.
Look at the verse in John 12 where Jesus speaks to The Father, saying “Glorify thy name” –the next word is THEN (like right then), The Father responds. Heaven is just beyond the vail of this temporal world and there is no delay. Everything that is happening in real time with us is being seen in real time in Heaven. God's Will and timing for His purposes are the only deciding factor - there's no account for distance when considering why your prayers haven't been answered.
And as God being Our Father: Many of us don’t know how to reconcile the idea of God being a Sovereign and inconceivably Glorious and Omnipotent Ruler with being a Father with real “fatherly” cares and concerns for His children. Some go too far and begin dismissing His attributes; conceptualizing Him into something less Holy, and inappropriately more common. All I can say is – spend time with Him. Let His word explain exactly who He is, and pray that He help you attain to a proper embracing of Him as God and Father.

So why do this? I think that it's simply in us to become liturgical and develop routines. Routines that become automatic rather than engaging. Many of us have repeated this prayer in church, following along with the Pastor. And as conceptually beautiful a thing it is to be unified in speech, I'd be careful to find a time where we can really internalize the weight of these words. This is for that. You may have already taken your prayer life to levels way beyond this, but if not, maybe this will spur you to attempt something new; Something that will draw you closer into your prayer closet (physically if that’s how you roll, as well as in your heart, spiritually) and closer to 'making it real' when you pray to Our Father, who art in Heaven.


In HIm,
Cros