"Our Father" Matthew 6:9

"Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name."

Jesus has just been teaching on how not to pray -now He teaches how we ought to pray.  Although we sometimes recite this prayer in our church services, it was not really meant to be used as a rote or ceremonial prayer, rather as a model for the kinds of things we ought to pray.

The Greek word Abba (father) that Jesus uses here was the intimate word that all little boys called their fathers, leading many to think that the proper English translation should be daddy instead of Father.   On the other hand,  Abba was also the word that most adults called their fathers, so we might not want to get hung up on the word daddy.  Jesus wasn't likely instructing us to use a new title so much as inviting us to think of God differently.   Abba is a word that implies intimacy, warmth, trust and love -Jesus certainly meant to imply these things.  In the Old Testament, there are quite a few references suggesting father-like qualities of God, but this is the first place we are instructed to use such an intimate word to address God.  This is clearly an invitation to think of ourselves as a part a family, not just a religion.

The word hallowed simply means sacred or holy.  This, then, reminds us that God's name is important.  In the Old Testament, the Ten Commandments told us not to take the name of the Lord in vain.  There is a connection here.  In modern times, we have come to think that taking God's name in vain means using it in a cursing sense -and, of course, it does mean that.  But because God's name is holy and sacred, this warning to not use His name in vain means considerably more than not cursing.  Vain means without reason.  We should not refer to God flippantly, lightly, or without specific reason.  When we call on the name of the Lord, it is a holy thing.  We live in a culture that disrespects and dishonors God.  Let's make sure that we have no part in such foolishness.

So, in this first phrase of the Lord's Prayer, we have two concepts that are both important and can bring us to a balanced understanding of how we ought to think about and address God.  His name is sacred and He is God in heaven -implying sovereignty and holiness and majesty.  But He is also Father -implying intimacy and warmth and trust.

This is our God.