I am writing to you, fathers, because you have come to know the One who is from the beginning.—1 John 2:13
God is a Father in the creative sense and the familial sense. So, for whom was the Lord’s Prayer designed—for everyone or only for God’s redeemed children? There is no doubt in my mind that it was intended for Christ’s true disciples. Obviously many people outside the Christian church find the words of the Lord’s Prayer greatly appealing, but much of the appeal is sentimental rather than spiritual.
To understand the Lord’s Prayer and apply its principles in the way our Lord intended, one needs to have experienced a genuine conversion. Then, and only then, does its meaning become apparent. Jesus shows us in the first sentence of His prayer pattern that true prayer must begin with a concept of God as Father. Someone has pointed out that the term “Father” answers all the philosophical questions about the nature of God. A father is a person; therefore God is not an impersonal being, aloof from all our troubles and trials. And, above all, a father is predisposed, by reason of his familial relationship, to give careful attention to what his child says.
When we pray, then, to the Father, we must hold in our minds the picture of our eternal Creator as a being who has a father’s heart, a father’s love, and a father’s strength. This, then, must be the second note we strike when praying—God is a Father, and we must come to Him with all the trust and frankness of a child. Otherwise it is not a prayer.
Prayer
O God, I am so grateful that in the word “Father” I discover the greatest truth about You. My heart pillows itself on that glorious and wonderful fact. Thank You—Father. Amen.
Further Study
Jn 1:12; 5:17-47; 2Co 6:17-18; Gl 4:5-6
How did Jesus speak of His Father?
What is God’s promise to those who believe?
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