Mitcham Baptist Church

On Sunday night we began a new series
on prayer, using the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:5-15 as a framework for
our exploration. I’ve spoken on prayer many times now, but this time
around I wanted to avoid getting into the theological/academic
questions surrounding prayer and just look at what it was Jesus was
teaching when he spoke these words to his disciples.

The sort of questions I’m avoiding are things like, “If God knows
everything, why do we have to pray?” It is good to ask these 
questions, and searching for the answers makes prayer, and faith, more
fulfilling. But for the purpose of this series, I’m assuming prayer is
something we are required to do because Jesus himself prayed and he
taught others to do the same. If it was essential for Jesus, it must be
for us.

On Sunday night i concentrated on the first four words of the Lord’s prayer; Our Father in heaven.

Given the paragraph that comes immediately before the Lord’s prayer,
it seems strange that the first word of the prayer is ‘Our’. Jesus has
just described prayer as an action where you disappear into a private
place in your home, where nobody can see or hear you, and where it can
be just you and God. You would expect a prayer in this setting to begin
with a personal address to God, but the word ‘our’ acknowledges that
even when we are alone, we are still part of the Body of Christ. Faith
is expressed the community of people known as God’s. So we are a group,
owned by God.

There are many instances where more personal expressions of prayer
are recorded in the Bible, with Jesus’ “My God, my God…” from the cross
being the most well known. But in this teaching about prayer, Jesus
seems to make the point that prayer is a community task, and the
community is owned by God. We don’t engage in new age spirituality or
post modern belief that constructs faith as a personal possession that
can be manipulated and changed. Together, we are part of something much
bigger than ourselves.

The next word of the prayer has been a stumbling block for many when
it comes to prayer. Calling God ‘father’ is an impossibility for anyone
who has had bad experiences with their own father. “If God is anything
like my old man, then I don’t want anything to do with him…” is
something I’ve heard a few times now. But in context, I think we can
move beyond the word itself to see what Jesus was getting across.

The Jews had an instruction book called the Talmud, which outlined
the rules for living as a Jew. The instructions for Jewish fathers were
quite specific - teach your kids the Torah (things of faith), teach
your kids a trade (the things of education/work), and teach your kids
how to swim (be involved in their upbringing). Addressing God as
‘father’ thus meant an acknowledgement that God was involved in every
part of life.

You might choose to use a different name for God, but I think it’s
helpful to use a name that reminds us of the action of God in every
part of life. “Living God, “Loving God”, “Creator God” and so on are
all fine to use. I guess the good old “Dear God” is fine too, but to me
it seems a little bit limp without some sort of expression that
describes how God is involved in our lives.

The final part of the first line is “in heaven”. At first glance, it
seems to run counter with what we’ve just said about God being involved
in life. “In heaven” makes God seem distant and far away, not involved
in anything we are doing on a day to day basis. But we are always in
danger of thinking of God as part of creation when we only
think in terms of our daily lives. The reality is that God is not part
of creation but is THE creator. God is far more than we can see, feel,
taste and touch, and can’t be limited to our experience of life.
Addressing God ‘in heaven’ reminds us that this is the same God that
reaches out to embrace us, his creation, and be involved in our lives
as individuals and as a community.

The more I think abut it, the more I’m amazed at the profound truth
that is contained in the first four words of this prayer. I’m also
convicted about my own prayer life and how much I take for granted how
I address God - I know we talk of the relationship with God as
important, but after looking at this part of Scripture, something
doesn’t seem right about viewing God just as one of my mates. God is so
much more than that…

Anyway, we will continue to look at the Lord’s prayer next week and
tackle “hallowed be your name”. What does ‘hallowed’ mean afterall. And
what exactly is God’s name?

Feel free to leave any of your own thoughts or questions in the comments section below!