In Luke 11, the disciples of Jesus came to Him and said, “Lord, teach us to pray.” Jesus responded with what has become known as ‘The Lord’s Prayer.’
It is important to note that the disciples didn’t ask Jesus to teach them what to pray but “to pray’.
Jesus’ response to this tells us so much about His mission and purpose for coming to this world. He starts the prayer by instructing us to begin with “Our Father.”
This is revolutionary and, at that time in history, probably considered scandalous. For the Jewish person of the first century, even pronouncing God’s name was forbidden. For Jesus to tell His disciples to address God as “Our Father” – was incredible.
It signifies and emphasises that Jesus came to call us into a restored relationship with God. A relationship that had been severed in the Garden of Eden several centuries before. A relationship that could only be restored by the sacrificial death of Jesus, the perfect Lamb of God, on an altar that was a wooden cross erected on a garbage heap outside Jerusalem.
God came to this planet and said, “come to me, follow me, be with me, eat with me” – signifying His desire to be in relationship with us.
May we as “The Hand of God, in the Heart of the City,” remember we are assisting Jesus in bringing men and women back into a relationship with God symbolized by His permission to address His Father as our Father.
Major Ray Braddock
hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us,
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
forever and ever.
Amen