General Superintendent
Max Edwards
14, 2025
Our Father which art in heaven, 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. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.
(Adapted from Matthew 6:9-13, and Luke 11:1-4)
“Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name!”
“One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” Luke 11:1
There was something wonderful and beautiful about the Lord’s prayers that motivated this early disciple to ask to be taught to pray. Almost certainly one of the most attractive aspects of Jesus prayer language was his intimate way of addressing his Father God.
The Lord’s Prayer, in keeping with that genuine intimacy, begins with those jaw-dropping words, “Our Father …”
Our God is not the least bit interested in pressing us toward a dead and dry religious interaction. According to the words of Jesus spoken over and again, the kind of interaction God invites us to have with him is personal, warm, familial, and invigorating. God embraces us as his own dear children. Jesus used the term, “your Father” at least nine times in Matthew 6 alone!
Christ’s followers heard him cry out to his “Abba” (daddy) many times in intimate prayer. This kind of personal, close, family relationship was unheard of in the religions of the ancient near east! And even though Greek and Roman mythology included examples of demigods who were the offspring of elicit relationships between the “gods” and a human partner, there was never an invitation to enjoy the beauty of a close and treasured relation.
But our God - - the Creator who authored the entire expansive universe - - welcomes us into his arms to spend time with him. Yes, we come in adoration, venerating him as the King, as we should! “Hallowed be thy name!” With reverence, we come! But we need not come out of terror, fearful of a scowling, distant, impersonal God. No, we come into his presence with delight and joy, knowing that we are his precious child. He has created us, as well as adopted us!! We are not just his family by birth; we are his family by his choice! He sent Jesus to bring us home to himself, even though we had rebelled and ran away.
“The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”” Romans 8:15