Series on the Lord’s Prayer
(Click on the
link below to read the verses.)
Matthew 6:5-15;
Luke 11:1-13
[Jesus taught
his disciples to pray by saying, “Our Father in heaven”. This is the beginning
of what we have come to call The Lord’s Prayer. In this series, we will take a
deep dive into the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples and to learn what it means for us today.]
For instance, he woke me up for school every day
singing, “School days, school days, dear old golden rule days”. But he also put
me to bed every night by reading a book to me and saying a prayer.
Despite this, I was still insecure about his love. Maybe
that’s why I liked the song “Oh My Papa”. The wistful words and melancholic melody
touched my heart.
Oh, my Papa, to
me he was so wonderful
Oh, my Papa, to me he was so good
During the first century in Judea, religion and
prayer were common experiences. They were an accepted part of the culture. It
wasn’t unusual to observe someone praying in public – not just Jews, but pagans
also.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus used the prayers
of pagans and hypocritical Jews as examples of how not to pray. In
contrast, he instructed his disciples to “go into your room, close the door
and pray to your Father”.
However, he didn’t stop there. He continued by
giving his disciples what we know as the Lord’s Prayer. The context of the
passage in Luke, was when his disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray
like John the Baptist had taught his disciples.
Here’s what Jesus told them.
9 “This, then, is
how you should pray:
“‘Our Father in
heaven,
hallowed be your name, NIV Matthew 6
According to Baker’s Evangelical Dictionary of
Theology, God is referred to as Father only 15 times in the whole Old Testament.
They suggest that the reason for this may be that the same metaphor was “frequently
used in the ancient Near East in various fertility religions and carried heavy
sexual overtones”.
Whatever the case may be, because Jesus was the Son
of God calling God his “Father” came naturally. In fact, according to Baker’s
Dictionary, Jesus referred to God as his Father over 165 times in the Gospels.
Jesus conveyed this same perspective of God as our Father in the Lord’s
Prayer.
In the Luke passage, Jesus concluded by telling a
parable about a man who persistently asked for bread from a friend. Finally,
the friend gave in. Jesus’ conclusion was that if earthly fathers know how to
give good gifts, then “how much more will your heavenly Father give
the Holy Spirit to those who ask him”.
Gone are the days
when he could take me on his knee
And with a smile he'd change my tears to laughter
Oh, my Papa, to
me he was so wonderful
Deep in my heart I miss him so today
Like the lyrics of the song, there are still times
when I miss my Dad deeply. But my Heavenly Father is always with me and loves
me unconditionally. In fact, when I pray to him, you could say that he’s
holding me on his knee.
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