THE LORD'S PRAYER

"OUR FATHER"

A Fresh Look at the Perfect Prayer

Luke 11: 1-4;  Matthew 6: 9-13

January 23, 2000

Those disciples could have asked Jesus to teach them how to raise money, get more people to join them, or how to conduct a meeting. They asked Jesus to teach them to pray. They had watched Him pray many times.  He seemed to enter the discipline so easily- like meeting an intimate friend.  They wanted to pray like Him. That request continues today. Teach us to pray.

We call it the Lord's Prayer, but really, it is the Disciples' Prayer. Two places contain the prayer, Luke 11 and Matthew 6.  In John 17, where we hear Jesus praying for us, His Church.  We call it the "High Priestly Prayer."  We come to the first of seven messages on the Lord's Prayer...I trust God will use His Word for His purposes in these thoughts.

Prayer absorbs us. Many excellent books tell us why, where, when, and what  and how to pray.  Workshops in meditation and higher consciousness fill up with seekers of God.  Yet it is interesting.  Everyone wants to know about prayer...few take the time to pray.  Everyone wants to be close to God, ... but few take the time to develop a relationship with God the way Jesus did. 

We know this prayer and can recite it.  But under pressure we might be closer to that new Christian who was asked to pray his first prayer over a meal:  "Now I lay me down to sleep..."  I hope we can do better. This prayer  seems to grip us in its simple gracious phrases.  This prayer becomes the start for a life-long relationship with God we can call OUR FATHER!

Why should we pray?  Because we can come to God in Heaven and call Him FATHER...like Jesus!  The words come from Jesus. 

A number of years ago, a group of professors in various disciplines have come together in what is called, THE JESUS SEMINAR.  They took it upon themselves to vote on what they believe are the true words of Jesus. With cards color coded, they vote on the words of Jesus:  RED, direct words of Jesus; PINK, close to what Jesus said; GRAY, indirectly connected to Him; and WHITE, no connection at all to Jesus.  Only one word received their vote of approval:  FATHER.  The rest of the words had little or no connection to Jesus, according to this Seminar. 

They can think what they want...I prefer to declare positive, hopeful words today:  these words are the direct words of our Lord.  Jesus was raised in the synagogue and He traveled to the great Temple in the city of Jerusalem.  He knew all the prayers.  This prayer was shaped by His Hebrew roots.  I can come to this prayer, knowing Jesus prayed this way.  They reflect the way He was raised.  They reflect a knowledge of God we desperately want. 

FIRST, note the sense of community in this prayer.    "Our..."   It is good to hold that precious word, "Our."  We are all infected with selfishness.  You might have heard the advertisement:  Man, 35, wants woman about 25 with tractor. Send picture of tractor.  We cannot escape the fact...this prayer is meant to be prayed IN FELLOWSHIP WITH OTHERS. "Look not only to your own interests, but the interests of others.." (Phil. 2)  Old Testament law was clear: "Love your neighbor as yourself." (Lev. 19.18) 

When we join up with Jesus Christ, we join up with a community of believers in Jesus.  We declare we want to be part of a kingdom and have the King of kings rule over us.  We can pray it alone, but the words remind us...we are part of His Kingdom, where we must learn to live and to forgive each other.

"I came up with one thing," one poet reflected, "And I don't believe I am wrong, that nobody,  I mean nobody can make it all alone."  (Angelou) We need each other...and so we say, OUR father! We cannot make it all alone.  Individualism must give way to be part of His community HIS BODY!

SECOND Jesus shows us a great model if we are fathers - AND A FATHER TO HOLD ON TO, if our own fathers fail us.  Jesus shows us how fathers and fatherhood can be.  How tragic are the pictures we see of fathers on TV.  The images are not nice for the most part.  Men have forgotten how to be fathers.  The TV only reinforces our many failures.  But when Jesus said, FATHER... THIS WAS THE WAY GOD WANTED TO BE REVEALED! 

He revealed His Father who loved all - Jew and Gentile, men and women.  He    REVEALED that God loves and includes children, women, and those who are broken and cast away in life.  But some do not have memories of a father like Jesus revealed.  Martin Luther had horrible problems with his own father.  That made it very difficult for him to love God as father. 

Some, maybe even here, recall their father..who hit them, or worse, ignored them...or  abandoned them..but the Father of Jesus Christ, God ... the One who created the world...never leaves us...never forsakes us.

My father was a good man and a good father.  But he had his weaknesses, just as I have had.  I struggled with the LESSONBOOK FOR FATHERS.  My children were patient.  I reminded them, "I've never done this before!" Oh, but when I caught on, it was much easier.  I saw Christ on the cross for me...a gift to us from His own Father.  I looked at Jesus with fresh eyes and new energy!  His father was also mine, THROUGH JESUS CHRIST!  That was where I found strength and hope!

Catch on!  We have a great God who shows us men how to be fathers.  He helps the single mother draw upon His love to help her when the father is missing.  He gives us His Father, if our earthly fathers lef us down.  Good things happen.  One little girl won a "Father's Day" contest with her brief picture of her father.  "He is so kind and gentle.  I think he was a girl when he was growing up."

Consider the great story of the Prodigal Son who shows us a father willing to humiliate himself to restore his lost son.  Jesus called God His Father...that title is welcomed in every generation.  That was how God revealed Himself. He invites us to call Him....OUR FATHER...when we place our trust in Jesus Christ for our whole future!

Jesus called God FATHER.  He revealed a challenge to men who want to rule over women.  The patriarchal system often crushed women and children. But when Jesus called God His Father, and our Father, He showed THE GRACE OF HIS LOVE FOR ALL OF US AS A PERFECT FATHER.

Let's see, we have learned in these first two words:  First, we are part of His kingdom, His community when we pray.  And second, we see through believing in Jesus that we will have a great father to model our lives, ..or to hold, if our fathers fail us.

THIRD, God the Father ASSURES US OF HIS LOVE.  I'll never forget one time in my young life, when I needed my dad.  I was trying to deliver a message into the school, while my dad waited in the car.  Some older kids tried to give me a hard time.  As they began to push me around, my dad watched it all.  Then, from the car came his booming voice,  "Hey, leave my son alone!"   And they did! It was one of those break-through moments where I knew my dad was there for me! 

Have you been assured of His love? Today?  Recall a touch, a voice, a word, a deed, that confirmed you were HIS CHILD!

FOURTH, KNOW THAT GOD THE FATHER DELIGHTS IN YOU AND WANTS TO SPEND TIME WITH YOU.

The great baseball player, Harmon Killebrew, grew up not too far from where I once lived.  One time Harmon's father had all his boys in the front yard. They were playing baseball.  A neighbor passed by and shouted, "If you keep playing baseball in your front yard, you won't have any grass left." His dad shouted back, "I'm not raising grass, I'm raising four sons!"

I hope you are gripped by the wonder of His desire to be with you...to spend time with you!

But one more thing:  the one we can call Our Father...is APPROACHABLE!  He wants you and me to come to Him and be with Him for times of talking and listening.  Never forget the personal touch.  If you love Jesus Christ, you have the great privilege of rushing into His presence and cry out FATHER!  If you have had a "lover's quarrel" with God, and He just doesn't seem to care about you...come to him.  Cry out, FATHER! And tell Him that you love Him...and watch what begins to happen in your own life.

I encourage you to pray only the opening words of the Lord's Prayer this week.  Look at your precious family...and breathe it out, OUR FATHER. Consider your church and pray those two words with thanksgiving, OUR FATHER!  Enter your workplace and watch Him with you as you say to Him quietly, OUR FATHER.  Be creative.  But try it.  You will be amazed at the wealth of meaning He will show you...WHEN YOU SAY, OUR FATHER!