When his disciples asked him “Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1) our Lord responded with these words: “Our Father…” These words are filled with meaning. The previous post was dedicated to the word “our” in this response, which teaches us to pray “with and for others” as the Westminster Larger Catechism puts it. This post will deal with the next word “Father”.
The significance of our Lord Jesus teaching us to pray to God as “Father” would be difficult to overstate. God is his true Father. He is God’s true Son and God is well pleased with his Son. Christ is always doing what is pleasing to his Father. His relationship with God is not broken or distorted in anyway, but rather he enjoys perfect fellowship and union with God as man. In this respect, he is unlike us in every way! Our relationship with God is broken, imperfect. It is marred by our sin and the curse of death. But Christ here teaches us to pray to God even as he prays; that is, as Father. Our gracious Lord Jesus teaches us to approach God from the same position which he himself does. We are received by God in the same manner as Christ himself. We are part of the family of God, adopted into his family by grace alone.
Does a father care for his child? Does he listen? Does he know what is going on? Does he know their pain and sorrow? Yes, and so then does Christ teach us here that God so cares for us. But we find even more comfort than just this analogy. We know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and also called God Father. So then, does God care for him? Does God listen to him? Yes. In the same way, so does God listen to and care for us. As much as God loves his only Son, so does he love us, his adopted children.
We see this prayer, “Our Father”, everywhere in Scripture. It may be said as a declaration of holy conviction, “O God, you are my God”, or as a supplication that God would indeed see and hear us. The Psalms and all of Holy Scripture are littered with this prayer. When understood this way, and especially considering it is God Himself who teaches us to pray in this manner, we confess that God is more ready to hear our prayers than we are to say them! (Heidelberg Catechism Question 129)
Take some time and reflect on this. Let these words sink in. Pray them over and over and you will never exhaust the riches of comfort and grace which they convey. Think about it. Christ did not teach us first to pray to God as “Master”, “Judge”, “Most Holy and Righteous God” or even “Almighty God”. Certainly it is appropriate to call God such things as he is all of them, as we will see in Part III on the preface, but Christ has taught us firstly and above all to know him as the God of magnificent grace and forgiveness. Even that he would adopt us as his children. It would be enough to be regarded as servants for all eternity, but God has blessed us with such love and grace which we would never dare ask for nor that we could imagine; namely, that before God we possess the same security, position, and love from God as the blessed Lord Jesus Christ himself. What a merciful God who teaches his sinful creatures to call him “Father”?
…but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God…’
John 20:17
