The Lord’s Prayer, Part 1 of 6

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Our Father

Matthew 6:9-13[1] sets forth what we commonly call “The Lord’s Prayer,” although so far as we know this was not a prayer that Jesus himself ever prayed. It is instead his instructions for how we should pray. In the next six blog posts, let’s do a deep dive into this prayer. We begin with the first two words: “Our Father.”

The Bible refers to God in many ways. He is of course the Creator,[2] but the Scriptures also describe him as a judge,[3] a king,[4] a shepherd,[5] and a friend.[6] The most common name for God in the Old Testament is “Yahweh” (also spelled as “Jehovah”), which is used more than 6,000 times. This name is usually translated as “Lord.”[7] But in The Lord’s Prayer, as in most of the New Testament, God is referred to as our “Father.”[8]

When we think of the qualities of a good parent, what comes to mind? Certainly, a good parent protects and provides for his children. And so does God.[9] A good parent teaches and disciplines her child. God does the same.[10] But most of all, a good parent loves her child unconditionally. Even when her child rebels against her authority, disobeys her, makes poor choices, and gets into trouble, that parent continues to love him, no matter what. God does, too.[11] And that is critical. In no other human relationship is love so completely unconditional as a parent’s love for her child. God, who is perfect,[12] is also the perfect Parent. He radiates this unconditional love.

When we view God as a loving parent, the New Testament comes into sharper focus. Unlike in other religions, God is not merely a judge, hunting for a reason to condemn us or impartially weighing our deeds on the scales of justice to see whether or not we deserve to go to Heaven.[13] He is instead a loving Father. We cannot earn his love through obedience or accomplishments or any manner of genuflection—because we already have it.

In the parable of the Prodigal Son,[14] the father’s gracious acceptance of his younger son upon his return is a wonderful illustration of agapaô, the Greek word for selfless, self-giving, self-sacrificing love.[15] This is unconditional love that always sees value in the person loved. This is the love a good parent has for her child. And this is the love that God has for us.

God’s unconditional love for us also means that he is a God of second chances—and many more chances after that.

So no matter how bad we’ve been, or for how long, “our Father” stands ready to forgive his children. We simply need to come back to him.

Next week we’ll consider the two lines after “Our Father.”


[1]. Luke 11:2-4 contains a shorter version of this same prayer.

[2]. See Genesis chapters 1-2. See also Ecclesiastes 12:1, Isaiah 27:11, 40:28, 43:1, 43:15; Romans 1:25; and 1 Peter 4:19.

[3]. See Genesis 18:25; Judges 11:27; Job 23:7; Psalms 7:11, 50:6, 75:7, 94:2; Isaiah 33:22; 2 Timothy 4:8; Hebrews 12:23; and James 5:9. Many other verses, too numerous to list, speak of God judging people. See, for example, 1 Samuel 2:10; 1 Chronicles 16:33; and Psalms 9:8, 67:4, 96:10.

[4]. See Psalms 5:2, 10:16, 24:7-10, 29:10, 44:4, 47:2, 47:6-7, 68:24, 84:3, 95:3, 98:6, 145:1, 149:2; Isaiah 6:5, 33:22, 41:21, 43:15, 44:6; Jeremiah 8:19, 10:7, 10:10, 46:18, 48:15, 51:57; Daniel 4:37; Zephaniah 3:15; Zechariah 14:9, 14:16-17; Malachi 1:14; Matthew 2:2, 25:34, 25:40; 1 Timothy 1:17, 6:15; Revelation 15:3, 17:14, 19:16. (And see Zechariah 9:9, Matthew 21:5, and John 12:15.)

[5]. See Genesis 49:24; Psalms 23:1, 28:9, 80:1; Isaiah 40:11; Jeremiah 31:10; Ezekiel 34:12; Matthew 26:31 (quoting Zechariah 13:7); Mark 14:27; John 10:11-14; Hebrews 13:20; 1 Peter 2:25, 5:4; Revelation 7:17.

[6]. See 2 Chronicles 20:7; Isaiah 41:8; Jeremiah 3:4; John 15:13-15.

[7]. In Genesis alone, God is referred to as “Jehovah,” or “Lord,” in 148 different verses: Genesis 2:4-5, 2:7-9, 2:15-16, 2:18-19, 2:21-22, 3:1, 3:8-9, 3:13-14, 3:21-23, 4:1, 4:3-4, 4:6, 4:9, 4:13, 4:15-16, 4:26, 5:29, 6:3,. 6:5-8, 7:1, 7:5, 7:16, 8:20-21, 9:26, 10:9, 11:5-6, 11:8-9, 12:1, 12:4, 12:7-8, 12:17, 13:4, 13:10, 13:13-14, 13:18, 14:22, 15:1-2, 15:4, 15:6-8, 15:18, 16:2, 16:5, 16:7, 16:9-11, 16:13, 17:1, 18:1, 18:13-14, 18:17, 18:19-20, 18:22, 18:26-27, 18:30-33, 19:13-14, 19:16, 19:24, 19:27, 20:4, 20:18, 21:1, 21:33, 22:11, 22:14-16, 24:1, 24:3, 24:7, 24:12, 24:21, 24:26-27, 24:31, 24:35, 24:40, 24:42, 24:44, 24:48, 24:50-52, 24:56, 25:21-23, 26:2, 26:12, 26:22, 26:24-25, 26:28-29, 27:7, 27:20, 27:27, 28:13, 28:16, 28:21, 29:31-33, 29:35, 30:24, 30:27, 30:30, 31:3, 31:49, 32:9, 38:7, 38:10, 39:2-3, 39:5, 39:21, 39:23, 49:18.

[8]. Only one book of the New Testament—the very short 3rd letter of John—fails to refer to God as Father. God is also sometimes represented as a Father in the Old Testament. See, for example: Deuteronomy 32:6; Psalms 68:5; Isaiah 9:6, 63:16, 64:8; Jeremiah 3:4, 3:19, 31:9.

[9]. See Genesis 1:29-30, 9:2-3; Exodus 16:2-18, 16:35, 17:1-6, 23:20; Numbers 11:4-6, 11:31-32, 20:2-11; Deuteronomy 8:7-10; Ruth 1:6; 1 Kings 17:2-16; Job 36:31; Psalms 12:5-7, 32:7, 36:6-7, 40:11, 61:2-4, 78:24-29, 91:11, 104:10-15, 104:27-28, 121:2-8; Isaiah 52:12; Daniel 12:1.

[10]. See Hebrews 12:4-11. See also, Deuteronomy 4:36, 8:5, 11:2; Proverbs 3:11-12; Revelation 3:19.

[11]. See, for example, Romans 5:6-8.

[12]. See Matthew 5:48.

[13]. For example, the Koran says: “We shall set up just scales on the Day of Resurrection, so that no man shall in the least be wronged. Actions as small as a grain of mustard seed shall be weighed out. Our reckoning shall suffice.” (21:47) Also: “Those whose good deeds weigh heavy in the scales shall triumph, but those whose deeds are light shall forfeit their souls and abide in Hell forever.” (23:102-103) See also, 18:49, 34:3-5, 69:18, 82:9-16. (The quotations in this footnote are from Dawood, The Koran.)

[14]. Luke 15:11-32

[15]. When you see the English word “love” in the New Testament, the original Greek is always either agapaô (or a derivation thereof) or phileô (or a derivation thereof). The latter refers to brotherly love (as in Philadelphia, “City of Brotherly Love”). Agapaô is used in about six times as many New Testament verses as phileô. For more on this, see Chapter Ten, “Is Free Will an Illusion?”


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