“Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.’” Matthew 6:9
Many have memorized Jesus’ model prayer, and can easily recite it in a matter of a minute or two; maybe even less time. If Jesus taught us to pray by recitation, our prayers would certainly be brief. The key point we must not miss is that He taught us to pray “in this way.” Such a phrase suggests that He is giving us a prayer outline to guide us in praying according to important priorities. If there is an order to priorities, it is to honor our Father first as we come before Him in prayer.
Our Father resides in a heavenly realm, which may not be so very far from us. At the risk of speculating, perhaps He dwells in another dimension very close to us.
His name is holy. Some have so respected His name as to substitute the word, “LORD,” in place of His personal name. Whether His name is most accurately spelled and pronounced Jehovah or Yahweh, it is important that we know our Father has a name. Above all, we are privileged to call Him our Father.
In recent times I have come to know and appreciate some of the many titles and names of our Father, such as the I AM, El-Shaddai (God Almighty), Rohi (my Shepherd), Rapha (our Healer), Tsidkenu (our Righteousness), Jireh (He Will Provide), Nissi (our Banner), and Shalom (our Peace). There are other titles and names, and all these are rich with meaning, and can greatly help us as we worship our Father in prayer. They provide specific qualities for which we praise and thank Him.
To return to Jesus’ initial words about praying “in this way,” it is important that we personally express ourselves as we pray. To imagine that Jesus gave us the specific verbiage that we all should use in prayer would be to say that we should always use certain prescribed words in our conversations with one another. This would be superficial and impersonal. How we speak to an acquaintance and how we speak to a close friend or our spouse varies greatly.
Our Father is eager to hear us tell Him about Himself, in our own words and from our personal experience. This is the true language of prayer.
Using Jesus’ model prayer as an outline, may we be greatly enriched as we communion with our heavenly Father in heartfelt prayer.
©Steve Taylor, 2022 --Used by permission
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