Our Father In Heaven

# Week 2: Our Father in Heaven

## The Lord's Prayer Series

**Text:** Matthew 6:9

**Big Idea:** The name of God deserves your attention and respect.

**Application Question:** When you approach God in prayer, do you approach him as a loving Father or a distant mystery?

---

## INTRODUCTION

We're continuing our journey through the Lord's Prayer, and today we come to the very first words Jesus teaches us to pray: "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name."

These opening words set the tone for everything that follows. Before we ask for anything, before we confess anything, before we bring our needs before God—Jesus teaches us to begin by recognizing who God is.

And notice what Jesus doesn't say. He doesn't say "O great and mighty sovereign ruler of the universe." He doesn't say "Supreme being who exists beyond our comprehension." He says something far more intimate, far more personal, far more revolutionary: "Our Father."

---

## I. GOD IS "OUR" FATHER (v. 9a)

**"Our Father in heaven..."**

### A. Prayer Begins with Community

The very first word in the Lord's Prayer is a communal word: **"our"** (Matthew 6:9).

This immediately tells us something crucial about prayer—it's never just about me. Even when I'm praying alone in my room, I'm praying as part of a family. God is not "my Father" in an exclusive, possessive sense. He is "our Father"—the Father of all who believe.

- Ephesians 4:6 says there is "one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all."

- When we pray, we're joining our voices with millions of believers around the world

- We pray as members of a family, not as isolated individuals

### B. God as Father and Creator

The Greek word for Father here is *pater*. It can mean father in the traditional sense, but it also has the metaphorical meaning of **originator**.

Through prayer, we recognize God's role not only in our personal lives but in the life and existence of everything in creation. God is not just the Father; he is also the Creator.

When we pray "Our Father," we're acknowledging:

- His authority over all creation

- His intimate involvement in our lives

- His generative power that brought everything into being

- His ongoing care and provision for what He has made

### C. The Revolutionary Nature of "Father"

Teaching that God is our Father was **radical** in the time of Jesus and still is today.

In Islam, there are ninety-nine titles or names for God, but "Father" isn't one of them. Islam believes speaking of God as "Father" will lead to idolatry. Many religions find this level of intimacy uncomfortable.

But Jesus wants believers to understand that God IS their Father and to grow that relationship through prayer. This personal relationship with God as Father is unique to Christianity.

**John Stott points out** that beginning the prayer by addressing who God is and where God is located creates a difference between who we are and who God is. If he is in reality "our Father in heaven," then it becomes possible—indeed, essential—to give his concerns priority and to become preoccupied with his name, his kingdom, and his will, not ours.

---

## II. GOD IS IN HEAVEN (v. 9b)

**"Our Father in heaven..."**

### The Tension of Intimacy and Transcendence

God is close enough to be called "Father," yet he is "in heaven"—majestic, holy, transcendent, beyond our full comprehension.

This phrase holds two truths in tension:

- **Intimacy:** He's our Father—personal, caring, accessible

- **Transcendence:** He's in heaven—sovereign, holy, glorious

We need both truths:

- Without intimacy, God becomes distant and unknowable

- Without transcendence, God becomes too small, too manageable, too much like us

This is the God we approach in prayer—close enough to hear our whispers, yet glorious enough to command our awe.

---

## III. HALLOWED BE YOUR NAME (v. 9c)

**"Hallowed be your name."**

### A. What Does "Hallowed" Mean?

The Greek word for hallowed can have multiple meanings:

1. **To take God's name seriously and respectfully**

2. **Not to associate it with anything profane or ungodly**

"Hallowed be your name" is the **first thing** Jesus instructs his believers to ask for. Before we ask for our daily bread, before we ask for forgiveness, before we ask to be delivered from evil—we ask that God's name would be honored.

### B. God's Name Above Our Own

This teaches us something profound about the proper order of prayer:

- **God's holiness comes first**

- His name is placed above and before our individual names

- We learn, through prayer, to take God's holiness seriously

This isn't just about avoiding taking God's name in vain. It's about a heart posture that places God's reputation, God's glory, God's honor at the center of our lives.

### C. The Mystery That Sparks Faith

The Lord's Prayer, while short and simple, can be a means of bringing people to God. Its words may seem mysterious, but in that mystery, a spark of faith can be born.

**Ken Bailey tells a remarkable story** from Latvia after the fall of the USSR. He met a new believer and was surprised to learn she never went to church, never had any family member instruct her in the faith, and never had a secret Bible to study. Curious how she came to faith, he asked her, and she said:

> "At funerals we were allowed to recite the Lord's Prayer. As a young child I heard those strange words and had no idea who we were talking to, what the words meant. When you are in total darkness, the tiniest point of light is very bright. For me the Lord's Prayer was that point of light. By the time I found its meaning I was a Christian."

When we pray "hallowed be your name," we're praying that God's light would shine brightly in our dark world.

---

## CONCLUSION: How Do You Approach God?

Let me bring this home with the application question: **When you approach God in prayer, do you approach him as a loving Father or a distant mystery?**

Some of us have a picture of God that's all intimacy—God is my buddy, my pal, someone who exists to make me happy and give me what I want. That's not the God of Scripture.

Others have a picture of God that's all distance—God is angry, harsh, impossible to please, always disappointed in me. That's not the God Jesus reveals either.

The God we meet in the Lord's Prayer is both:

- **Father** (intimate, loving, personal, caring)

- **In heaven** (majestic, holy, worthy of reverence)

- **Hallowed in name** (deserving of honor, respect, and worship)

This is the God we approach in prayer.

### Final Thought

If you only remember one thing from today, remember this: **The name of God deserves your attention and respect.**

Not because he's an egomaniac demanding we constantly flatter him. But because recognizing who God truly is—our Father in heaven whose name is holy—changes how we pray, how we live, and who we become.

When we begin our prayers with "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name," we're not just reciting a formula. We're positioning our hearts rightly before the God who created us, loves us, and invites us to call him Father.

Let's pray.