Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name…
By: Marsha K. Wright
What does this mean to us today? What did it mean to the disciples of Jesus?
Let’s take a look at what the disciples learned. Let’s start at the very beginning.
I often pondered why the disciples came to Jesus asking him to teach them to pray.
Did they not know how to pray? While I was in my twenties, I took time to learn about “Jews for Jesus”, whose main office is in San Francisco. I learned that they too have many prayers that are taught to them as children. There’s the morning prayer, the blessing of the food prayer, the afternoon prayer, the evening prayer, the prayer (or blessing) when lighting the candle. We too as children learned from our parents many prayers. When we are about three or four, our parents taught us to say grace before we eat. “God is great, God is good, let us thank him for our food.” Even at bedtime, we learned… “Now I lay me down to sleep…”
The disciples of Jesus often pondered how the disciples of John were different than their selves. So, to learn more they came to Jesus, asking….” Teach us to pray like the disciples of John.” Can you imagine the smile on the face of Jesus when he heard this? Jesus then knew that these 12 disciples were ready to learn how to be immersed in a more personal relationship with God, the Father. Praying is more than just the simple prayers that we all learned as children. They learned, you can pray anytime, anywhere, no matter what prayers. You mean: I can pray about my shoes? What about my back? My headache. Even my neighbors? What about finding a job, or a car, or a place to live? And more important, who to spend the rest of your life with.
Jesus took time with these twelve men. These men that He choose from the more than five hundred men that followed Him. As He looked into the faces of these men. He knew their hearts. He knew they wanted to learn what the disciples of John learned. To have an intimate relationship with God.
So He began: “Our Father, who are in heaven, hallowed be thy name.” His name is holy. We hold His name in the highest esteem, reverence. Reverence has been defined as a “feeling or attitude of deep respect, love, and awe. His name is sacred.
Yes, we can call God “Father”. I do. I say Father God. It’s a part of me, my being, my mind. He is my Father. My heavenly Father. I have an earthly father, and mother, who are long passed away. Our mother, (my brother and me) taught us to pray. Even when we were in the beginners in Sunday School. We learned more and more each year. We learned the Lord’s Prayer in Sunday School, in the worship services each week. I’ve been God’s child since I was seven. He has always been Father God to me.
