You can’t start off anything important without an opening line. In fact, it is said that the quality of the opening line will often dictate the quality of the entire piece.
But, you say, the first line of the Lord’s Prayer is nothing more than a mere greeting!
Or is it? Could it be that this is one of the most important lines in the entire prayer?
Let’s take a look: “Our Father in Heaven…” (Matthew 6:9a NLT)
As many of you may have heard before, the Greek word translated as “Father” in our English translations is “Abba”.
In English we have many ways of expressing the father figure in our lives. Some of you may call your father by that specific title: Father. Maybe this is because that is what your father wished for you to call him, or perhaps it is because you are somehow estranged from him. Or maybe it is just what you’ve always called him! Either way, it is a bit more formal way to refer to your paternal parent. Some of you may call your father, “papa”. Many European languages translate the word as such, and those with European roots may have had fathers who wished to be called papa. My two boys call their Belgian dad, “papa”. Other much-less formal ways of referring to your father include, “pa”, “pop”, “dad”, or even “old man”. But most young children who are brought up in an English-speaking culture, refer to their father as “Daddy”.
Isn’t it interesting that the direct translation of the full meaning behind the Greek word “Abba” is … “Daddy”! When Jesus opened the perfect prayer, He used the term that a young child would use!
Why?
The reason is simple: Young children are completely dependent upon their parents! The need their parents. They simply cannot do anything on their own. When we open the perfect prayer with “my Daddy”, we are simply saying that we are totally and completely dependent upon … Abba! Daddy God! And I may add, it serves as a very important reminder that with Him we can do ALL things; but without Him, we are nothing!
But wait. Isn’t calling God “Daddy” taking away from His holiness? Isn’t it putting God on the same level as our earthly father? I mean, for some of you, those who were blessed with very good earthly fathers, this may seem a compliment to God. But some of you were not blessed with good fathers. Does this mean we are putting God on the same level as those men who probably should never have been a father in the first place?
Not at all. We aren’t called to open the prayer simply with “Dear Daddy”. Rather, we are told to open it with Dear Daddy … in Heaven! This is the subtle way for us to remember that our Daddy God isn’t like any earthly father! He is so much higher and so much better. Even if your earthly father was a good dad and loved you beyond comprehension, human love is never perfect. But God’s is. By opening this prayer with “Our Heavenly Daddy”, we are saying that we are totally and completely dependent upon the One who loves us perfectly!
But there is more! We know that God is omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent: He is the One who is all powerful, all present and all knowing! The One we can trust with our most precious things! When we say, “Our Heavenly Daddy”, we are acknowledging that God is everywhere, that He knows everything and that He has the power to bring everything into being!
As you pray this perfect prayer every day this week, as you have committed to doing, meditate upon the fact that you are praying to the most perfect Father possible, the only One capable of loving you perfectly, the One Who is always there, Who knows everything and Who is all powerful! The One we can – and should! – depend upon completely! Then ask Him to help you remember throughout the day to come to Him with complete dependency as young children come to their earthly fathers!
Please join us next Friday for “Hallowed Be Your Name: The Perfect Prayer, Part 2″ to learn a part of this prayer that brings daily change in my personal walk with God!
In His love,
Lyn
Lynona Gordon Chaffart
Author, Moderator, Acting Director, Answers2Prayer Ministries
(To access the entire “The Perfect Prayer” mini-series, please click here!)
