Yes, you’ve been keeping (hopefully) your Lent commitments for nineteen days! Way to go! By now hopefully you’re not craving what you gave up near as much as you were two weeks ago, and maybe a new habit is emerging.

Today we will begin a two-week journey through the Lord’s Prayer. Phrase by phrase we will look at how Jesus taught us to pray and discover, not a prayer to be memorized and repeated (though there’s nothing wrong about that0, but a pattern to follow when coming to the Father. Let’s jump in.

Our Father.

I don’t know if you’ve ever thought about this. Before the earth existed as you and I know it, a family lived happily and contentedly with one another. A Father loved his Son, a Son loved his Father. Together they loved the Spirit. They never disagreed. Ever. Never argued. Never worked against one another, only with each other.

Because God is One and yet three, the three Persons of the trinity neither clamored for priority or place, never sought to “one-up” one another, never tried to position oneself over the other. No insecurity. No confusion. No bewildering days. Perfectly happy. Perfectly holy.

Jesus spoke often of the Father’s love for him and his love for the Father. And when teaching us to pray instructed us to address his Father the same way he does. Our Father.

Here’s where the rub comes. If you’ve had a difficult home life, an absentee or abusive father, Jesus’ instructions are hard to swallow. Could I encourage you to do some things?

  • Observe a good dad with his son or daughter. Let that image saturate your thinking, inform your feelings.
  • Ask God to change your heart to Him as your Father.
  • Read the Gospels where Jesus addresses his Father. Note the intimacy. The love. The trust. How real their relationship was (and is).
  • Deliberately begin every prayer with an adjective before Father. Our ________________ (loving) Father. Our constant Father. Our faithful Father.

Our Father is waiting to spend time with you.