Illustration: A strange event happened in a small Kentucky town some years ago. It seems that there were two churches in the town and one distillery owned by an atheist. The churches were always doing battle with the atheist owner of the distillery. They had tried several times to get it closed. Finally, they had a prayer meeting with both congregations present. In a lengthy, vigorous meeting, they poured out their hearts to God. They asked God to do a supernatural work and put an end to the evil pouring forth from the distillery. They prayed in faith. But to everyone's surprise, a storm blew up, and lightning struck the distillery. While they were praying, the distillery burned to the ground. The people shouted, "Hallelujah," their prayers had been answered. The atheist owner of the distillery was duly disturbed by the events of the day. But he filed his insurance claims determined to rebuild his distillery. But the insurance company refused his payment request, saying that this was an ACT OF GOD. After some thought, the atheist decided to sue the two churches. He contended that they had conspired with God to burn his distillery, and they should pay for the damages. When the case came to court, the churches denied responsibility for the burning of the distillery. The judge made this telling comment: This is a perplexing situation. Here we have an atheist owner who believes in prayer and two churches who deny it. (I am sorry, I forgot the Source of this story)
Last Sunday, we talked about, "Why Do We Pray?" Today we'll continue with "How should we pray?" Let's read Matt 6:9-13. It is known as "The Lord's Prayer." I think we should call it "The Disciple Prayer" taught by our Lord, Jesus Christ. Jesus doesn't need to ask forgiveness to His Father! This is the best prayer ever taught. We can divide the prayer into two parts; the first relates to God, and the second one relates to our needs. Today we'll discuss the first part of the prayer (Matthew 6:9).
"Our" - The prayer begins with a significant word, "Our," not "My." Salvation is personal or individual. But when accepted Christ as our Lord and Savior, we became the children of God. That is why we can call Him "Father." Together with other believers at church and around the world, we become one big spiritual family in Christ. By saying, "Our Father," we are reminded that we are not the only child of God. Sometimes we only pray about ourselves and what we want. Someone says, "The heart of a child of God is a brotherly heart, in respect of all other Christians: it asks nothing but in the spirit of unity, fellowship, and Christian love." That is why we have prayer time on Friday and Sunday.
"Father" – The object of our prayer is not an unknown god or other gods but God the Father, the only true God, the Creator of the universe. Knowing who the true object of prayer is, is very important; otherwise, we don't come to the true God, and we worship a wrong god. Acts 17:22-23 "Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: "People of Athens! I see that in every way, you are very religious. For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you." Some people say, "Well, I was talking to the man upstairs." We need to remember that God is more than the man upstairs, more than a man, and farther than just upstairs.
To call God "Father" shows how close our relationship is with Him. Islam has 99 names of God, but they don't call their god "Father." The Old Testament refers to God as Father seven times, and each time from "corporate" Israel. The New Testament, however, makes at least 275 allusions to God as "Father." This is important, for, in the ancient Near East, names meant something. Christ probably taught in Aramaic, and the Aramaic word for father is "Abba," which is similar to our "Daddy." When we think of the connotation of the word "daddy," we can understand just what kind of relationship we have with God. These few words at the beginning of the Lord's Prayer present one of the great paradoxes of theology. Theologians say that God is immanent, and yet God is transcendent. The word "immanent" means that God is with us, present, in our hearts and minds. The term "transcendent" means that God is in heaven; God is different from us; God is up there. We balance the immanence and transcendence when we say the Lord's Prayer. "Our Father" – intimate, loving, kind, present, immanent.
"in heaven" - The phrase "our Father in heaven" was prevalent among the ancient Jews, and was used by them precisely in the same sense as it is used here by our Lord. This phrase in the Scriptures seems used to express:
1. His Omnipresence. "But will God really dwell on the earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built!" 1 Kings 8:27.
2. His Majesty and Dominion over his creatures. "Lord, the God of our ancestors, are you not the God who is in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. Power and might are in your hand, and no one can withstand you." 2 Chron 20:6.
3. His Power and Might. "Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him." Psalm 115:3.
4. His Omniscience. "The Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord is on his heavenly throne. He observes everyone on earth; his eyes examine them." Psalm 11:4.
5. His infinite Purity and Holiness. "Look down from heaven, your holy dwelling place, and bless your people Israel and the land you have given us as you promised on oath to our ancestors, a land flowing with milk and honey." Deuteronomy 26:15.
"Hallowed be" – in Greek, it means "a thing separated from the earth, or from earthly purposes and employments." It is similar to the word "sanctified." The Scripture frequently uses it for the consecration of a thing or person to a holy use or offices, like the Levites, first-born, tabernacle, temple, and their utensils, which were all set apart from every earthly, common, or profane use, and employed wholly in the service of God. So, the Divine Majesty may be sanctified by us, in analogy to those things, viz, when we separate him from, and in our conceptions and desires exalt him above, earth and all things.
"Your name" - That is, God himself, with all the attributes of his Divine nature - his power, wisdom, justice, mercy, etc.
How can we hallow God's name?
- With our lips; when all our conversation is holy, loving, kind, build up others, and glorify God (Eph
5:19; Col 4:6)
- With our minds; when our minds are transformed, and we have the mind of Christ (1 Cor 2:16;
Romans 12:2)
- With our conducts; by becoming the salt of the earth and light of the world (Matt 5:13-14)
- With our love; by loving God, each other, and others (Matt 22:37-38; John 13:34; 15:12)
