Our Father

Introduction

Last week we started studying about the topic of prayer. As Jesus is going through His Sermon on the Mount, He addresses in Chapter 6 three spiritual disciplines: giving, prayer, and fasting.

We just finished a 12-week study on Wednesday evenings through a book titled Don’t Give the Enemy a Seat at Your Table. This has been a study through Psalm 23 with a special focus on verse 5 that says,

Psalm 23:5 (KJV 1900)

5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

We studied that this table is an invitation directly from God to have an intimate relationship with Him as He sustains us, strengthens us, and gives us rest in the midst of life’s battles. We are invited to sit in His presences, have deep conversations with Him, and focus just on Him.

Through this study, we also learned that there are enemies that would love nothing more than to ruin that time we have with God. Those enemies come in the form of Satan (who is described as a roaring lion, prowling around, seeking whom he may devour), other people that would distract us from God (whether innocently or through malicious intent), and even our own selves.

We discussed various strategies in dealing with these enemies that attempt to sabotage our focus on God, and one of those strategies was the implementation of the armor of God.

We find our primary reference to the whole armor of God in Ephesians 6:10-18

Ephesians 6:10–18 (KJV 1900)

10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

[For many people, this is the end of the list of the armor of God, but this is not the end of. There is one more thing that is mentioned. It doesn’t often get included in the list probably because it is not attributed as actual piece of armor or a weapon, so when I reference it, I call it the Christian’s close-air-support. The soldiers Paul was envisioning then did not have radios, but that’s his loss. The next verse talks to us about what I would consider in the modern soldier’s kit to be his radio, and that element for the Christian is prayer.]

18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

Prayer is this last element. Prayer is talking with God. It is our avenue of approach to the Father. Prayer is extremely important to the Christian, not only in our fight against temptation, but in our relationship with God and our daily walk with Him.

Just like giving, prayer was a thing that was common to the Jews. It was a part of their regular lives to pray to God. The leaders of various sects of Judaism would practice prayer and would teach their students how to pray. Jesus, at one point, was asked by His disciples how to pray, because they saw in Him a genuine relationship with the Father. We find this request in Luke 11:1. Jesus then proceeds to teach the disciples a way to approach God the Father in prayer.

And as we study this section of the Sermon, we began last week by looking at Jesus’ two warnings about how not to pray. The first is warning is to not make prayer about yourself. We do not pray so that we will be praised by others. The second warning is to not be focused so much on the prayer (the length, the wording, the formula) that we would lose sight of the One we are praying to.

The leaders of various sects of Judaism would practice prayer and would teach their students how to pray. They made a big show of it, standing on the street corners and in very obvious places in the various synagogues. They would repeat prayers and phrases in their prayers, their speech would often be high and lofty, but Jesus called them out by saying that they prayed for the purpose of man hearing their prayers and not for the purpose of God hearing their prayers.

Some people may take this and say, "Prayer seems like it is pretty complicated; I think it will be best if I just don't pray." But Jesus mentioned prayer in this way in Matthew: "When you pray..." not "If you pray..." Jesus taught that we need to have the practice of prayer in our lives.

When thinking about prayer, if you have never had a consistent prayer time, when the subject of prayer gets brought up, you may have a certain dread of taking the time to pray. You may think that you do not know what to do when you pray or what to say. What are the right words? So Jesus starts teaching in this Sermon on the Mount directed at His disciples on the topic of how to pray.

The Model Prayer

After he gets done showing how not to pray, He immediately starts in on the issue of how to pray. It is from this section that we get what is commonly referred to as the Lord’s Prayer. I don’t like to call it the Lord’s Prayer as much as the Model Prayer for the simple reason that this prayer contains elements that would not apply to Jesus as the Son of God, namely that this prayer contains a portion that asks for forgiveness of sin, and Jesus was sinless. But this was and is a model prayer. It was modeled by Jesus so that we, his disciples, would know how to approach God.

It is a short prayer that was to be used as a model of how to talk to God, what things to discuss with Him, and within that prayer we also find how we are to relate to God.

So go with me to Matthew 6:9-13. After Jesus teaches his disciples how not to pray, He transitions to the model prayer by saying this:

Matthew 6:9–13 (KJV 1900) [Will you join me in reading this passage out loud, all together?]

9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

11 Give us this day our daily bread.

12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

Throughout this series, we will focus on one of the seven elements of this prayer each week.

This morning we will take the very first phrase of this model prayer and we will study what it means, and how we can make this part of our prayer practice. This first phrase is found in Matthew 6:9 is

Matthew 6:9 (KJV 1900)

9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven...

There are two elements to this phrase. The first is Our Father.

Our Father

These two words are absolutely amazing! This was a new way to address God. The Jews had a belief that was self-imposed, that God was far away. That it took a lot for them to be able to get a hold of God. Yes, to approach the presence of God was a serious thing, but God had opened Himself up for close communication to all. I've referenced this before, but when the Israelites came out of Egypt and Moses was on Mount Sinai and he had been there for a while, the Israelites got impatient and made an idol, a golden calf. They brazenly proclaimed, "This is the god that brought us out of Egypt!" When Moses came down off the mount in the middle of their party that was to honor a false god of their own making, God said, "I am going to kill them all," but Moses interceded for them.

So God told Moses to set up a tent outside the camp. This tent was to be called the tabernacle of meeting, and anyone that wanted to go and meet with God could do so. But out of the estimated 2.4 million Jews, 600,000 who were men of fighting age and later became Israel's first army, only 2 people went to that tent of meeting: Joshua and Moses.

Everyone else, the Bible says, stayed at their tent and watched Moses go. They were content with somebody else's closeness with God, but were not willing to go and meet God themselves. From that moment, God was viewed by the majority of the people as unapproachable by man.

So when Jesus tells His disciples, "When you pray, address God a your Father," you can rest assured that this was mind-blowing for them. A father is approachable. A father cares about what goes on in the lives of his children. A father truly loves his children. A father makes time for his kids and provides good things for them.

"Abba" was the most common way that Jesus referred to God the Father. It is a term of endearment that was not only used by little children but by adults also as they addressed their own fathers whom they loved deeply.

Is it considered strange now to address God as Father?

How can the familiarity with the term "Father", in regards to addressing God, affected how people relate or approach God?

What Does It Mean for a Christian That God Is Our Father?

He loves us.

He has saved us.

He not only saved us, but adopted us. He wants us!

He is not some God that is just "out there," He is a God that takes interest in us, our personal lives, and what goes on with us.

He feels pain when we hurt.

He loves for us to have a relationship with Him. He longs for closeness.

He has our best interest in mind.

He cares for what you and I care about.

We don't need special permission to talk to Him.

We have access to Him like no other person has.

We can trust Him.

He desires to hear from us.

So the first thing that Jesus makes sure about His disciples as they learn to pray is that they know how to relate to God. Jesus makes sure that they are know who they are and who He is to them.

Knowing how to approach someone makes a difference in how we talk to them. Think about a child's ideal relationship with his father. Some of you may have grown up in a home where dad maybe was not the greatest, or maybe he wasn't good at all, but I think we can imagine what a good father-son relationship looks like. When a kid, 8 - 10 years old needs something fixed, to whom does he go? His dad.

How does he approach? In mock British accent: "Oh father, thou who hast begat me from thy loins, know that your child finds himself weak and unable to loosen the bolt that shall enable him to properly align the front wheel of the bicycle that thou hast so lovingly and graciously gifted him this past Christmas day. Let it be known that thy strength is needed, for I cannot, in mine own power and intellect, resolve the issue of said misaligned bike. I pray the, father, for the love that thou must surely possess unto thy son, succor me in this my hour of need."

Nope! The kid goes to his dad and says, "Dad, this bike is all wobbly! Can you fix it?"

In fact, when he and his friends were riding their bikes and the son crashed after trying to land the jump that caused his bike tire to get out of alignment, and the friends said, "Oh no, your bike is messed up! What are you going to do now?" The son immediately responded, "My dad can fix this!"

Does the son take into consideration that the dad is resting? No.

Does he take into consideration that he has just had a long day? No.

Does the son even consider that the dad may not know how to fix the bike? Nope.

The son just knows that his dad can fix anything.

We have a way that our kids can communicate with us in those times we leave them all at home and Tahsha and I must go somewhere. We have explained to them to call us in case an emergency or if there is a big issue. I can't ever remember a single call that has truly been an emergency, but we get calls all the time. I see my phone ring from that number and I rush to get it, because every time I am wondering what kind of things could be going wrong.

And most of the time it's Ella, especially since now Ian and Mia have their own phones; sometimes it is one of the others, but mostly it is Ella. "Dad, can I have a snack? Dad, can my bedtime be later today? Dad, Ian won't let me watch TV, can you tell him to let me watch TV? Dad, what time are you coming back? When you get back can I ride my bike?" Yup, never an emergency, which I am glad for... But you know what, she doesn't ever even think, "I wonder if this is a good time to call?" Nah, she just calls. Someday, she won't, and I am not looking forward to that day. I love that she calls me. I love that she blows me kisses and that she "catches" the kisses that I blow to her. She has a bedtime routine with Tahsha and me, and I hope she never grows out of it.

If you are saved, God is your Father. Be like a child when you approach Him. Be bold, burst into that throne room as you pray and just approach God as your Father.

Don't have the mindset of, "Well, I just don't want to bother God too much." Don't be like that mountain climber that found himself in a tight spot on the face of a mountain. The temperature was dropping, he had run out of food and water, and he wasn't going to make it down in time before the storm hit, so he prayed. "Lord, it's been a long time since I've talked to you, about five years, if memory serves me right. But if you'll get me down off this mountain before the storm hits, I promise not to bother you again for another five years."

Don't be like that! God, like the loving Father he is, wants to hear from you!

Which Art in Heaven

The second part of the opening phrase of this model prayer is “which art in heaven.” Recognizing that God is not just a God that exists, or even the God that saves us is extremely important. Knowing that He has adopted us as His children when we were saved is extremely important. However, the phrase “our Father” might be problematic for some people. If you grew up in a home with a loving dad, then looking at God as a Father might not be an issue. It may never have even crossed your mind that some people might have a problem with this.

A few years ago, I was speaking to some men about God being our Heavenly Father. As we discussed what this meant, one of the men there spoke up and said, “I could never look at God as a father. What a horrible thing! I would hate to have God as my Father.” Now, this was a Christian man, so that shook me a bit, and I asked, “Why would that be such a horrible thing?”

“My dad,” he said, “was a horrible person. He didn’t care anything about me except for to punish me and beat me and call me names, and I couldn’t stand to think that God is anything like that. I know God is not like that, and so I refuse to call Him ‘Father.’”

Listen, dads, you are the representation of God in your family’s life. We are to be like Jesus. The way we treat our wives should be so loving that it reflects Jesus’ love for us. The way we treat our children should reflect the love that God the Father has for us and the mercy and grace and care he has for us. You and I are the first view of God that our children get, and it falls on our shoulders to represent Him well in our families.

We must understand this: despite whatever experiences we may have had with earthly fathers, God is our heavenly Father. He is good, He is love, and He is caring beyond anything we could ever imagine.

God is approachable. Even when we have messed up and fallen into sin, God wants us to come near Him. Hebrews 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

Let us come boldly before the throne of what? GRACE!

So we can obtain what? GRACE and HELP in the time of need!

God wishes for us to communicate with Him so badly.

Matthew 6:8b says

Matthew 6:8b (KJV 1900)

8 ...your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.

But at the same time, we find in Matthew 7:7-11 that God is a good Father who knows how to give good gifts, and still wishes us to ask Him.

Matthew 7:7–11 (KJV 1900)

7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:

8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

9 Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?

10 Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?

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?

Now, the role of prayer is not simply to ask for things, and as we continue, I hope that you will see that there is so much more to prayer than that.

If you are saved, God is your Father, and He is a good Father. He has such a great desire that we would communicate with him and have fellowship with him. Like the good Father that He is, He awaits your prayer time; He is wants to show you His goodness. He want you to get to know Him. He wants to spend time with you, because ultimately, it is this time spent together that will begin to transform you into a disciple that truly brings honor and glory to the Father, a disciple that is salt and light in dark and flavorless world. A disciple that embodies the beatitudes and is therefore a disciple who is truly and deeply joyful.

I think that one of the best pictures we have of a loving Father is found in the story of the Prodigal Son. You may be familiar with it. A man has two sons, and one day the younger son speaks to his dad. “Dad, I wish you would just go ahead and give me everything that is going to be mine when you die. Time’s a-wastin’, and I’ve got a life to live.”

The father gives his son the portion of the inheritance that corresponds to him, and after a few days, the younger son runs off to a far away city. Once there, he begins living it up. He is surrounded by people because, as the Proverb says, the rich man has lots of friends. But there comes a famine, a food shortage, upon that land. Soon, the money runs out, and wouldn’t you know it, the friends ran out too.

Hungry and not seeing any other options, the young man takes a job as a pig farmer’s helper. According to his culture, this was an unclean thing to do and cut him off even more from God and his family, who would have never stooped to do something that shameful. He’s so hungry though, and as he feeds the pigs his stomach growls. He begins to think that maybe eating some of the slop that the pigs are eating wouldn’t be such a bad thing after all. But one day, he comes to his senses.

He remembers his father and he remembers his father’s house. But how could he possibly go back? He had torched that bridge on his way out. His final request from his father was basically a statement saying, “You’re not dying fast enough, go ahead an give me my inheritance so that I can treat you as if you are dead and ignore you.” How horribly he had dishonored his father. Bad enough that if he did go back and his father would not forgive him, he could be stoned to death.

But then he gets an idea: he remembers how even the servants at his father’s house had good food to eat, decent clothes to wear, and a place to stay. They were provided for way better than he was living right now.

He thinks to himself, “I know! I’ll go back to my father’s house, and I will acknowledge my sin before him and God. I know he won’t take me back as a son, but maybe, just maybe, he will take me on as a servant.” And that is just what he does.

And the picture of the kind of Father that God is is found as Jesus takes us back to the father’s house. There, waiting at the gate of the property, stands the father. It seems that since the day his son left, he has made it a practice to look down the road he last saw his son leave by and hope for his return. And as he stares down that road, a figure starts to become clear as it approaches.

Having watched his son grow up in his house, the father quickly recognizes the familiar gait of the man walking up the road. Immediately, the father does something that no self-respecting man would do, he ran. Jewish men did not run. That was for boys and young men, not older fellows like this father. If they did run, it was only in emergencies, but definitely not to greet someone who had expressed their desire for your death. But this dad takes off and runs down the path toward his son.

When he gets there, the son begins his rehearsed speech, “Father, I have sinned against you and against God, and I recognize that I am no longer worthy to be called your son...”, but that is all he is able to get out, because his dad throws his arms around his son and begins kissing him. He calls out to the servants and says, “Bring out a cloak, put some shoes on his feet, and give him a family ring to wear. My son is back! He was lost, and now he’s found. Let’s have a barbecue and celebrate that he’s home.”

THAT is the picture Jesus gives us of God as our Father.

Invitation

I don’t know how your prayer life is, but if it is non-existent, or if it is just very sporadic, I want you to know this: God is longing for you to come to a place where you abide with Him, dwell with Him, walk with Him daily. He is eager to have time with you. He is eager to show you more and more about himself. If you have just stopped praying because there is sin in your life, he is eager for you to confess that sin and restore fellowship with you, much like the parable that we just heard. Jesus told that parable, and though he never gave it a title, it is known as the parable of the Prodigal Son.

The word “prodigal” has two meanings. The first is one that we are familiar with - spending money or resources freely and recklessly; wastefully extravagant. With that definition, it is not hard to see why we have come to know this parable as “the Prodigal Son.”

However, a few years ago, I discovered another definition of the word prodigal. The second definition is this - having or giving something in an extravagant way; reckless extravagance.

With this definition, the title “prodigal” best belongs to the father of the parable. The father in this story is the most recklessly extravagant in the eyes of others. He gives his wealth generously to an ungrateful son and lavishes love on him when he returns after wasting it all. And this is the kind of heavenly Father we have.

If you are far from God right now, he is longing for your return to lavish his love and grace and mercy on you. Come back, confess, and be restored. “How?” you might ask. Through prayer. Approach the Father this morning with a heart that longs for him and his forgiveness.

Maybe you are here today and do not have a father-son relationship with God. Today is the day that you could start that relationship off, not because of your goodness, because it is your sins that separate you from God, but it is because God sent His Son Jesus to die and pay for your sins so that you could not only be saved from the condemnation of sin, but be adopted into the family of God as His son or daughter.

End Recording

Home Groups

Is it considered strange now to address God as Father?

How can the familiarity with the term "Father", in regards to addressing God, affected how people relate or approach God?

How does viewing God as a loving and approachable Father change the way we pray?

For those who may have had difficult relationships with their earthly fathers, how can understanding God's fatherly love be healing?

What are some common misconceptions people might have about God that hinder them from approaching Him as a Father?

What does it mean to you personally to "come boldly to the throne of grace" as mentioned in Hebrews 4:16?

Jesus says in Matthew 7:7-11 that God is a good Father who knows how to give good gifts. How do we reconcile this truth with times when our prayers seem unanswered?

What are practical steps we can take to ensure that we are consistently approaching God in prayer, not just during times of need but also in daily life?

Reflecting on the story of the prodigal son, how does God’s response to us when we come to Him, even after we’ve strayed, show His heart as a loving Father?

What role does prayer play in our relationship with God, and how can we cultivate a deeper prayer life?