THE LORD’S PRAYER PART 6: THAT FIRST WORD “OUR”

Pray then like this: "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. –Matthew 6:9 (ESV)

  After Jesus points out the wrong approaches to prayer by the religious hypocrites and pagans, he gives us the model in which we are to frame our prayers. It is therefore supremely valuable that we study in depth the model prayer that our Savior has given to us.

   The prayer begins with an address. Our prayers are directed to our Father who is in heaven. Then follows a series of petitions or requests: hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven, give us this day our daily bread, forgive us our debts, and lead us not into temptation. What this means to us is that our petitions should harmonize with the petitions found in the Lord’s Prayer. These petitions are certainly in God’s will because they came from Jesus Christ. What needs and requests do we lift up to the Lord? Before we ask, it is helpful to first test how it agrees with Lord’s Prayer petitions. When we align our requests to the Lord’s Prayer, we can be confident that we are praying in God’s will.

   The first word, “our”, should not be overlooked. This cannot be referring to universal humanity because not all men have that father-child relationship with God. We enter into that relationship by adoption as his sons through Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:5). The gospel of John says,

“But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” - John 1:12 (ESV)

   Therefore, the word, “our”, signifies the universal brotherhood of those who believe in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. It points to the amazing and comforting truth that God is the perfect, heavenly Father to all his children. He is the perfect Father because we are all heard equally, blessed equally, and disciplined equally. God does not play favorites! He does not hear the prayer of one over the other because he loves that person more than the other. That is what an earthly father might possibly do, but not God. All too often, we fail to see God as the perfect Father because of our experience with our earthly fathers. We have individual needs, struggles, desires, and blessings but the Father’s love is always the same to all.

   One other thought with the word “our” is that we ought to pray for the needs and interests of our fellow brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ. Oftentimes, our prayers are always self-centered. I wonder how our prayer requests will change if we always consider the good of others. How would it change us? I believe that it will result to a more compassionate heart, more sensitivity to the needs of others, and spur action to help the unfortunate. We change and become Christ’s hands and feet.