THE LORD’S PRAYER
PART 1
By him we cry, “Abba, Father.” Romans 8:15
Luke 11 tells us that one day the disciples watched Jesus take time to pray. When he finished, they said to him, “Lord, teach us how to pray.” So Jesus sat down with them and taught them the words of the Lord’s Prayer. In that beautiful prayer, Jesus showed all his disciples how we have been blessed by our loving God.
First, Jesus taught we should begin our prayer by naming the one to whom we are praying. Perhaps the disciples thought that he meant the God whose name was too sacred to be spoken; the Almighty God; the Creator-God; the ever-present, all-knowing, all-powerful, eternal God. However, instead of using any of those mighty names, Jesus simply said we should pray to our Father, a title for God they were not too familiar with. Seldom in the Old Testament was God addressed as Father. Yet Jesus wants to begin his prayer with the words “Our Father,” a pleasant name, filled with love and intimacy. Our minds picture a father as one who dearly cares for his children: one who provides clothing, food, and a home and one who cares for us when we are sick and teaches us how to live as his children. A father does his best to care for the needs of his children. Jesus wants us to see God as a loving Father who knows about us and is part of our lives.
Paul wrote that because we are God’s adopted sons and daughters, we can call him the intimate name, “Abba, Father.” Abba was the Aramaic form of father that denoted a close, loving, and trusting relationship between child and father. Paul was saying that God’s dear children can freely come to him, their dear Father. He wants us to approach him openly with boldness and speak with him as we would our own fathers. He wants us to tell him what is on our minds and in our hearts. He wants to know what is troubling us, how much we love him, and what we are thankful for.
What a beautiful thing it is when we pray the Lord’s Prayer and to notice, first of all, that we are speaking to our very own Father in heaven. As part of God’s family, what more could we ever hope for?
Think about what it truly means that God is your Abba Father.
From The Gift of Prayer