Our Father in Heaven
Matthew 6:9
“In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.” (Matthew 6:9)
The words of Christ, like the works of God, are inexhaustible.[1] We have barely scratched the surface of Jesus’ teaching in the Sermon on the Mount and yet we have already received more divine truth than we could ever fully comprehend or keep. Last time, we began looking into the model prayer that Jesus gave to His disciples here in Matthew 6—the prayer often called the Lord’s Prayer. J. C. Ryle comments about the Lord’s Prayer,
No part of Scripture is so full and so simple at the same time as this. It is the first prayer we learn to offer up when we are little children: here is its simplicity. It contains the germ of everything which the most advanced saint can desire: here is its fullness. The more we ponder every word it contains, the more we shall feel this prayer is of God.[2]
This is one reason why I want us to slow down in our verse-by-verse study of the Gospel of Matthew to concentrate our exposition phrase-by-phrase on this prayer. The other reason I want us to dig deeply into its truths is that I want us to truly learn to pray. God calls us to pray. He invites us to pray. He commands us to pray. He exhorts us to seek His face every day. Through Christ Jesus, we have been given unlimited access to the throne room of heaven.[3] Yet, many of us still find it difficult to pray and don’t know how to pray as we ought. My hope is that a detailed study of this model prayer that Jesus taught will help us to be a praying people.
Jesus has already taught us that to come to God in prayer, we must take off any spiritual mask. The Lord taught, “And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites …” (Matt. 5:5). Instead, we are to “pray to your Father who is in the secret place” (Matt. 5:6). The real you has to meet the real God. He is a person.[4] That is why when we pray we “do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do” (Matt. 6:7), because “your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him” (Matt. 6:8). Prayer is not ritual, it is relational.
The heart of this relationship can be found in the opening phrase, “Our Father in heaven …” (Matthew 6:9). In those first words Jesus establishes the foundation for our prayers: a relationship with God as our heavenly Father. God wants us to relate to Him as children to a Father.
What does it mean to address God as “Our Father”?
First, there is a general sense in which God is a Father of all people, since they are His offspring as Creator. Speaking to the pagans at Athens, Paul says,
26 “And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, 27 so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; 28 for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’ (Acts 17:26-28)
But the Bible also teaches that ever since the human race rebelled against God, sinning in the Garden of Eden (Gen. 3), all of us enter life alienated from God. In fact, Jesus told the unbelieving Jews that they were of their father, the devil (John 8:44). It is only when a person is born spiritually by God’s will and power that one becomes a child of God in the true sense. Speaking about Jesus, John 1:11-13 says,
11 He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. 12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: 13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. (John 1:11-13).
Only those who have received Jesus Christ, who have believed in His name, are born again as children of God. Only they have the true privilege of calling God, “Our Father.” This is a prayer for those who know Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord. Thus, if you want to truly pray to God as your Father in Heaven, the first step is to repent of your sins and receive Jesus Christ, believing in His name as your Savior and Lord. Then and only then can you have access through Christ in the Holy Spirit to the Father (Eph. 2:18). Remember that Jesus is teaching disciples here (Matt. 5:1-2), those who will inherit the Kingdom of Heaven. They are the ones who pray like this.
I want to focus our thoughts today on three truths about God revealed at the beginning of this prayer: the person of the Father, the place of the Father, and the people of the Father.
1. The Person of the Father — “Our Father”
“Father” as a title for God was rarely used in the Old Testament (only 14 times) and it was always used with reference to the nation of Israel, not to individuals. Thus where “father” does occur with respect to God, it is commonly by way of analogy, and not used to directly address Him (Deut 32:6; Ps 103:13; Isa 63:16; Mal 2:10). For instance,
- Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the LORD: “Israel is My son, My firstborn.”’ (Exo. 4:22).
- Do you thus deal with the LORD, O foolish and unwise people? Is He not your Father, who bought you? Has He not made you and established you? (Deut. 32:6)
- Doubtless You are our Father, Though Abraham was ignorant of us, And Israel does not acknowledge us. You, O LORD, are our Father; Our Redeemer from Everlasting is Your name. (Isa. 63:16)
- But now, O LORD, You are our Father; We are the clay, and You our potter; And all we are the work of Your hand. (Isa. 64:8)
- They shall come with weeping, And with supplications I will lead them. I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters, In a straight way in which they shall not stumble; For I am a Father to Israel, And Ephraim is My firstborn. (Jer. 31:9)
What a great difference in the New Testament! You cannot get past the first few chapters of Matthew before you are introduced to a whole new concept of the Fatherhood of God. In the Gospels, Jesus speaks of God as Father more than 70 times. Jesus addressed God as Father in all of His prayers, except for the prayer on the cross as He bore our sin, where He quoted Psalm 22:1, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
Here in Matthew 6, Jesus refers to God as Father 12 times. Look at how Jesus teaches about the Father in the Sermon on the Mount:
- Matthew 5:16 – We glorify our Father in heaven by our good works that demonstrate His light in us.
- Matthew 5:44-45 – God our Father in heaven is good to all, even those who hate Him, curse Him and do evil against Him. As His children, we do the same.
- Matthew 5:48 – God our heavenly Father is perfect, so as His children we should be perfect also.
- Matthew 6:4 – Our Father sees in secret and rewards us for secret giving.
- Matthew 6:6-7 – Our Father is unseen, and sees us when we pray in secret.
- Matthew 6:8 – Our Father knows what we need before we ask.
- Matthew 6:14-15 – Our heavenly Father forgives those who forgive.
- Matthew 6:18 – Same idea for fasting – Our Father sees in secret and rewards us.
- Matthew 6:26 – Our heavenly Father cares about birds, and cares even more for us.
- Matthew 6:32 – Our heavenly Father knows the things we need.
- Matthew 7:11 – Our Father in heaven will give good gifts to those who ask Him.
- Matthew 7:21 – Those who do the heavenly Father’s will enter into the kingdom.
This is a huge change from the Old Testament understanding of God as Father. What made the difference?
Jesus made the difference. We can address God in our prayers with a word of intimacy, Father. In the Aramaic that Jesus spoke, that would be ‘Abba’, Jesus’ own characteristic address to God. Nobody had ever addressed God like that. The whole gospel is contained in that one little word, Abba—as Paul well understood.[5] Paul summarizes the change that took place when Jesus came in Galatians 4:4-7:
But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
Because God has sent His Son Jesus into the world, our relationship with Him has changed. When Jesus Christ died on the cross and was raised from the dead, He redeemed us. He purchased for us our freedom from sin and death. Those things that kept us from a personal relationship with God have been removed. We receive this redemption by faith, trusting in Jesus Christ—His death and resurrection—calling on Him as Lord.
God has now adopted those He redeemed into His family. He is truly our Father now. We can have an intimate personal love relationship with God because He is our loving Father and we are His adopted children. Sons and daughters have family rights that guarantee them access to their fathers. That’s a big part of what being a father is all about. My children don’t need an appointment to see me, and I don’t need an appointment to see my Heavenly Father. The Holy Spirit compels me to cry out “Abba, Father!”
In Romans 8 Paul writes about us as children of God in a similar way:
14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs–heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.
As children of God we have:
- A new relationship (Rom. 8:15) – adopted as God’s children
- A new resource (Rom. 8:16) – the Holy Spirit of God who dwells in us
- A new reward (Rom. 8:17; Gal. 3:29) – an inheritance with Christ
- A new responsibility (Rom. 8:17-18) – suffering with Him, glorifying God
Jesus transferred the Fatherhood of God from a theological doctrine into an intimate relationship, and He taught his disciples to pray with the same intimacy. And that is what He does for us. “Our Father”—“Our Abba”—“Our dearest Father”—this is to be the foundational awareness of all our prayers. Does it undergird your prayer life? Is a sense of God’s intimate Fatherhood profound and growing in your life? [6]
J.I. Packer in his excellent book, Knowing God, wrote,
If you want to judge how well a person understands Christianity, find out how much he makes of the thought of being God’s child, and having God as his Father. If this is not the thought that prompts and controls his worship and prayers and his whole outlook on life, it means that he does not understand Christianity very well at all. For everything that Christ taught, everything that makes the New Testament new, and better than the Old, everything that is distinctively Christian as opposed to merely Jewish, is summed up in the knowledge of the Fatherhood of God. “Father” is the Christian name for God.[7]
The Fatherhood of God speaks of this intimate relationship. It also speaks of a loving relationship, a transforming relationship, and a purifying relationship. John writes,
1 Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. 2 Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. 3 And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. (1 John 3:1-3)
You are the center of your heavenly Father’s affection. That is where you find rest for your soul. If you remove prayer from the welcoming heart of our loving Father, prayer becomes a legalistic chore. We do the duty but miss touching the heart of God. By coming to God as needy children, “weary and heavy-laden,” we discover His heart—heaven touches earth and His will is done.[8]
Octavius Winslow wrote,
You may have been a foolish and a sinful child; you may be poor and needy, little and despicable, deeming yourself unworthy to be called a son; nevertheless, the mercy-seat is your Father’s meeting-place; and every atoning drop that sprinkles it, and every golden beam that bathes it, and every accent of love that breathes from it, bids and encourages your approach to God, and cry, “My Father!”[9]
How great is our Father’s love to His children! They are His offspring, He must bless them; they are His children, He must show Himself strong in their defense. Later in His Sermon on the Mount Jesus says, “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!” (Matt. 7:11). If an earthly father watches over his children with unceasing love and care, how much more does our heavenly Father?”[10]
This opening address reminds us of the person of the Father and secondly,
2. The Place of the Father — “Our Father in heaven”
We pray to our Father “in heaven.” If “Father” reminds us of intimacy with God, “in heaven” reminds us of His transcendence. The phrase “in heaven” refers to heaven not just as the abode of God, but especially as the seat of all authority, power, dominion, and greatness. “Father in heaven” implies the respect and authority of a submissive relationship.
Don Carson points out how the ancient Jew had such lofty views of God’s transcendence that he often had no concept of His personhood, and could certainly not think of Him in terms of relationship. On the other hand, our modern way of thinking puts such emphasis on God’s nearness that transcendence and sovereignty have almost disappeared from our thoughts of God.[11]
The Jews of Jesus’ day tended to view God as so awesome and holy that they dared not be too intimate with Him. They dared not utter the name of God, because it was too sacred. They kept their proper distance in the temple, because if they touched any of the sacred objects, they might drop dead. They needed to learn that they could approach God as a merciful and loving Father.
In our day, it seems that the reverse is true. Many American Christians think of God as their Good Buddy in the Sky. They don’t talk much about His consuming holiness and His blinding splendor. They don’t fear His chastening hand. We can be too casual about the Holy One. We need to think with the biblical writers as they pondered the enormity of our Father in heaven:
Psalm 11:4 – The LORD is in His holy temple, The LORD’s throne is in heaven; His eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men.
Psalm 103:19 – The LORD has established His throne in heaven, And His kingdom rules over all.
Psalm 115:3 – But our God is in heaven; He does whatever He pleases.
Because “Our Father” is “in heaven”, it should cause us to respect His authority and to submit to Him in godly fear. As the author of Hebrews puts it (Heb. 12:9), “Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live?” Thus, while we can draw near to the Father as His beloved children, we must always do so with reverence, respect, and submission to His sovereign authority.
Therefore, when you say, “Our father in heaven,” you are proclaiming that He has the authority and power to hear you and to help you when you pray. It is precisely because God is in heaven that He has the power to help you. Because Our Father loves His children and controls everything, we can ask, and He will listen and act. Since He is in heaven with all authority and power, change is possible —and hope is born.[12]
We have seen the person of the Father, the place of the Father, and thirdly we see in this opening address,
3. The People of the Father – “OUR Father”
One last thing: when you pray, “Our Father in heaven,” you are admitting that you do not pray alone. As I said last time, the Lord’s Prayer is not just a “private” prayer. The words “I” and “me” are nowhere to be found. To begin with the word “our” means that you are in a fellowship and a community of God’s children. This is an important insight because it is very easy to become me-oriented when we pray. But when you pray “Our Father,” you are extending your prayers beyond yourself and your needs to include others.
To pray like this imparts a bigness and expansiveness to your prayer because it includes all of God’s children everywhere. When we pray “Our Father” as a congregation, we cease merely to be individuals coming to church with our own particular burdens. Instead, we become part of a family with a common heritage and with shared values. And that family of brothers and sisters is even more decisive than a biological family. It is a family created by the new birth and made possible by the shedding of the blood of Jesus Christ for our redemption.
To sum up our thoughts today, think of it this way:[13]
“Our Father” – that speaks of Community.
“Our Father” – that speaks of Family.
“In heaven“ – that speaks of Authority.
Or to say it another way:
Our means I do not pray alone.
Father means I am not left alone.
In heaven means I do not struggle alone.
Or from a third perspective:
Our reveals I pray with others.
Our Father reveals I pray to One who loves me and has mercy on me.
Our Father in heaven reveals I pray to one who has the power to answer and help me.
Every single word is important. Every word communicates the heart of God and our relationship to Him. “Our“ opens you up to a big view of the universe. “Father“ encourages you to believe that He cares. “In heaven“ means that you don’t have a problem that He can’t handle.
Can you call on God as Father? If so, come boldly to our Father in heaven to find mercy and grace to help in your time of need. If not, come to Jesus. Repent of your sin. Believe on Him. Become a child of God through union with the only begotten Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ.
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[1] Alexander Maclaren, Our Father, https://www.ccel.org/ccel/maclaren/ezek_matt1.iii.xxxii.html
[2] J. C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on Matthew, https://ccel.org/ccel/ryle/matthew/matthew.vii.ii.html
[3] Ray Pritchard, If God is Sovereign, Why Pray?. http://www.keepbelieving.com/sermon/2012-06-21-If-God-is-Sovereign-Why-Pray/
[4] Paul E. Miller and David Powlison, A Praying Life: Connecting with God in a Distracting World (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 2017).
[5] Michael Green, The Message of Matthew: The Kingdom of Heaven, The Bible Speaks Today (Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2001), 100.
[6] R. Kent Hughes, The Sermon on the Mount- The Message of the Kingdom – Preaching the Word
[7] J. I. Packer, Knowing God, Inter Varsity Press Il. 1993, P. 201. Quoting Packer from Evangelical Magazine 7, pp. 19-20.
[8] Paul E. Miller and David Powlison, A Praying Life: Connecting with God in a Distracting World (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 2017).
[9] Octavius Winslow, The FILIAL Spirit of the Lords Prayer. https://www.gracegems.org/Winslows/lp01.htm
[10] Charles H. Spurgeon, Morning and Evening, January 26. https://www.blueletterbible.org/devotionals/me/view.cfm?Date=01/26&Time=am
[11] Don Carson, Sermon on the Mount, 63-64. Quoted by Phil Newton, https://archive.southwoodsbc.org/sermons/matthew_06.09.php
[12] Paul E. Miller and David Powlison, A Praying Life: Connecting with God in a Distracting World (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 2017).
[13] Ray Pritchard, God Our Father, https://www.keepbelieving.com/sermon/god-our-father/
