Yesterday we talked about the nature of the Lord’s Prayer; how it is a battle cry, not a ‘cute’ prayer to say lightly. Today we start the process of diving deeper into the each of the phrases.

To begin with, let us read the prayer as listed in Matthew 6:9-13 (note that it is also listed in Luke 11:2-4).

Our Father in heaven
hallowed be Your Name,
Your kingdom come
Your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread
Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one

Our Father in heaven….

We speak not to our earthly father – but to the One who made all things.

Gal 3:26-29 – You are all sons (and daughters) of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, there you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Gal 4:6-7 –  Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out “Abba, Father”.

It is because of His Love that we can know him – not through works, but through grace..

On a side note, I found it odd that a fairly respected Bible Dictionary mentioned that it was ‘common’ to call God “Father” in first century Judaism. However, the Rabbinical sources that they quote were from the mid to late second century and into the third century. Seeing that those sources where 100 plus years after the time of Jesus, I don’t think you can say that first century Judaism called God “Father.” Most likely, in my view, second and third century Judaism was influenced by follows of Jesus to the point that some Rabbis started using the term in their prayers.  :/

Continued tomorrow…