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OUR FATHER IN HEAVEN Matthew 6:9
One day the disciples of Jesus asked Him to teach them to pray. In response, He gave them what we commonly call the Lord’s Prayer. This is a prayer we can say alone; a prayer we can say together; a prayer that we can pray through.. using it as guide to what to pray about. It is also a prayer that can greatly enrich our lives. It can fill our lives with meaning! It can give us significance, purpose, direction, contentment, freedom, and confidence. Today we look at how it gives us significance.
Many years ago I conducted a very sad funeral. There were two people present - the undertaker and I. No one missed the man we buried that day. No one needed him. That made me think. If I lay dying, all alone, how would I feel? Unloved, uncared for, insignificant or would I feel significant?
How would you feel? Would you feel significant? Yes. You would.. if you had trusted Jesus.. and had reflected deeply on the prayer He taught us to pray..
When we address God as 'Our Father in heaven' we remind ourselves of how significant we really are.
When we say 'Our Father' we remind ourselves that..
The Bible tells us that God is the Father of the human race. He is the Source of the human race, the Creator of us all. The Apostle Paul said.. Acts 17:24-28.. The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’ We are His offspring. He is our Father! Jesus said.. Matthew 5:43-45.. You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. We have a Father in heaven who created us.. and shows love to everyone of us! When we believe that, it gives us dignity. We value ourselves and others and feel significant – God created us and cares for us!
But there is something better than that. When we say ‘Our Father’ we remind ourselves that..
When Jesus was here many people did not welcome Him, but those who did welcome Him were far richer for it. The Apostle John writes.. John 1:10-13.. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God - children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. When we consider Jesus.. and believe in Him.. put our trust in Him.. receive Him into our lives.. we are born again - born as God's children. When we are born again like that God gives His Spirit to us. The Apostle Paul writes.. Romans 8:15,16.. You did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. The Apostle John is deeply moved by this and writes.. 1 John 3:1.. How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! That is great. Nothing can top that! Ralph Neighbour tells us that Cowboy Joe Evans used to say, "If God has called you to be His child, don't ever stoop to become kings or presidents" [Survival Kit II p23]. We are children of God. And as Neighbour says.. Nothing we will ever be.. or do.. can make us more significant. If we base our worth on what others think of us we will be permanently miserable. If we believe in Jesus.. become a child of God.. and remind ourselves that we are.. and find our significance there.. we will be happy and content.
That cannot be bettered! But there is more. It leads on to other things.. When we say ‘Our Father’ we remind ourselves that because we are God's children..
The Apostle Paul writes.. Ephesians 2:11-13,18,19.. Remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth.. were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.. Through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household.. And thus we pray, Our Father! We are part of a very large family. Christianity Today reports that there are now 2 billion people in the world who call themselves Christians. 648 million of that number call themselves evangelicals.. and 37 million of that number call themselves Baptists [World Wide Web Oct 2010]. When we are feeling insignificant.. of no account.. part of an unpopular minority in an ever increasing Godless world - pray Our Father.. and remember that! And value other believers.. even if they differ from us!
That is great but it doesn't end there. When we say ‘Our Father’ we remind ourselves that because we are God's children..
The Apostle Paul writes.. Romans 8:17,18.. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. And the Apostle John says.. 1 John 3:2.. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. We are children of God.. His heirs. Heirs of the Father! We have a fantastic future. Death is not the end but a doorway into the presence of God.. into heaven itself.. where we will see Jesus and be like Him!
Robert Davis was a prominent Pastor of a large church. At 53 yrs of age he preached his last sermon. He had been hit by Alzheimer's Disease. He has written about his feelings in a great little book, My Journey into Alzheimer's Disease. All the significance he had found in being a pastor and preacher was taken from him.. and his significance as a child of God became all important.. and with that.. his hope of heaven. Here are a few excerpts from what he wrote.. “While I remain here, I can only look forward to my body becoming more painful as it gives up more functions. My spirit will become more agitated, sleepless, and restless.. Someday my heart will stop beating and my body will be coldly stretched out. Someone unknowingly will say, 'Bob Davis is dead.' I am not dead! At the moment my heart stops beating I will at last be fully alive. The exhaustion of pain and frustration will be gone and I will instantly experience glorious peace and rest. At last I will have rest from sin, wickedness, uncertainty, injustice, and all of the other horrible things that sin produces to ruin man's sojourn on earth. Painful earth memories will also be removed.. We will.. have new bodies. What joy it will be to leave this old, imperfect body behind. We will receive.. a new mind. How I long for that! Right now, I walk in partial moonlight. How depressing it would be if all I had to look forward to in life was to journey down into this darkening moonlight only to end up in the cold blackness of the grave. However, I can look beyond the moonlight and see glorious 'Sonlight' emanating from the Son of God Himself enthroned in that place where all things are changed to become perfect - heaven. This view makes life make sense, gives me patience, and produces a yearning in my heart.” [My Journey into Alzheimer's Disease - Robert Davis. Excerpts from pages 149-157]
When we say 'Our Father in heaven' and really believe it.. We remind ourselves that we are part of the human race that God created.. that we are children of God in a more special way than that.. through faith in Jesus.. deeply loved.. significant.. that we are part of His world-wide family.. that we have a fantastic future!
The key to saying that.. to believing that.. is Jesus! As we read in John 1:12,13.. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God - children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. If you have received Jesus.. you are a child of God! Appreciate what that means! Appreciate your significance! If you have not yet received Jesus.. why not receive Him today?
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