Monday, January 14, 2008
Our Father in Heaven
For this first quarter of 2008 we'll be going through the Lord's Prayer to learn more about who God is.
In our first week, we talked about God as our "heavenly Father" and what that image entails.
In our first week, we talked about God as our "heavenly Father" and what that image entails.
"This, then, is how you should pray: " 'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,(Matthew 6:9)
By using the term "Father", Jesus was telling the Jews that God is not just a God to be feared and worshipped. He was telling them that God wants them to have a much closer and personal relationship with Him, like that of a father with a child.
As a loving Father, God takes care of you in 2 ways:
- He takes care of all your needs (Matthew 6:28-34; 7:7-12; Isaiah 49:14-16)
- He disciplines you for your good (Hebrews 12:4-11)
The second part of Matthew 6:9 talks about our response as God's children. The word "hallowed" can either mean to 'set apart as holy' or 'to honour'. So what are some ways that we can honour God?
- We honour Him by being obedient to Him (1 John 5:3)
- We honour Him by trusting Him to run our life and not doing things our own way without seeking Him first (Matthew 6:33)
I pray that in the coming weeks, God will teach us how to love and honour Him as our heavenly Father.
Posted at 5:59 AM | Love, Marcus
