“Our Father…”

Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. Matthew 6:9-13

The Season of Lent started last week on Ash Wednesday. And as Christians around the world traditionally do on Ash Wednesday, we read from Matthew chapter 6. In this passage of Scripture, Jesus teaches about the spiritual disciplines of giving, fasting, and prayer. Jesus also teaches us how to pray by giving us the Lord’s Prayer.

During this Season of Lent, we will be spending time in a sermon series on the Lord’s Prayer. We began this sermon series last Sunday as we considered the phrase,

Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

Jesus used the Aramaic word for father, “abba”, when He addressed God the Father. Abba is a very familiar term which is best translated as, “daddy”. Abba is also a word that young children without teeth can pronounce. As Jesus teaches us to refer to God as our daddy, He’s teaching us to have a childlike faith in God and a childlike dependence on God.

This week we will look at the phrase,

Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

Here Jesus is calling us to pray that all of God’s creation will acknowledge the sovereignty of God and submit to His rule. The Kingdom of God will ultimately extend throughout all of creation at the end of time. So, as we pray for God’s Kingdom to come, we are praying for His will to be done both now and in the future.

I’m looking forward to seeing how God will bless our prayer life during this Lenten study of the Lord’s Prayer.

In Christ,

Pastor David