February 6
“Our Father who art in heaven.”
With this devotion, the sixth in our series dealing with prayer, we turn our attention to the introduction to the Lord’s Prayer. We will use the English version of the Lord’s Prayer as it has been used for hundreds of years by English-speaking people. We begin with the words, “Our Father.” God is the Creator of all people, but He is the Father only of Christians. He is the Father of all the believers in Jesus as the Son of God and their only Savior. All and only Christians are members of God’s family.
The apostle John wrote, “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God . . . Beloved, now we are children of God,” 1 John 3:1-2. The apostle Paul wrote, “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus,” Galatians 3:26. Speaking of the unity and oneness of the Christian Church, the apostle wrote to the Ephesians, “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all,” Ephesians 4:4-6.
God invites us to believe that He is our true Father. Believing that He is indeed our Father, we should approach Him in prayer without any fear and without doubting His loving invitation to come to Him and to make known to Him our desires and requests.
We pray to our Father who is in heaven. However, when we pray, we should not think of God as being far away and far removed from us. We do not have to shout and scream and jump up and down and wave our arms to get God’s attention! While God is in heaven, He is still near at hand. That God is in heaven tells us that He is above and over all. He sees all and knows all.
Through the prophet Isaiah, the Lord says, “You shall call and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am,’” Isaiah 58:9. “It shall come to pass that before they call, I will answer, and while they are still speaking, I will hear,” Isaiah 65:24. How encouraging it is to know that God knows for what and for whom we are going to pray before we ever begin praying! What an amazing promise: “Before they call, I will answer, and while they are still speaking, I will hear!” God promises to hear and answer our prayers even before they are spoken! What an encouragement to pray!
Our heavenly Father reminds us that He is the almighty God, “Who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think,” Ephesians 3:20. Let us thank and praise Him for calling us to faith in Jesus as our Savior, who suffered, died, and rose again to redeem us, and for providing for us the necessities of this life.
Our Father, Thou in heav’n above, Who biddest us to dwell in love,
As brethren of one family, To cry in ev’ry need to Thee,
Teach us no thoughtless words to say, But from our inmost heart to pray. Amen.