In Matthew chapter 6 Jesus Christ teaches us after what manner we should pray. He says a sincere and heartfelt prayer that has become known as The Lord's Prayer. Every single word of that prayer is packed with meaning. Let's begin with “Our Father which art in Heaven.” The first word is Our. Heavenly Father is not just my God or your God. He's everyone's God. Heavenly Father looks after and cares for every single one of His children. All of us have equal access and opportunity to call on Him and can expect to be heard and answered, whether we are white or black, male or female, rich or poor, believers or unbelievers. “Our” is incredibly important to remember when we pray. If we are praying for the strength to forgive the one who has wronged us, and the one who wronged us is praying for forgiveness, Our Father is listening to both of us. The second word of the Lord's Prayer is “Father.” When we pray to God, it is not appropriate to think of ourselves as calling in an airstrike, or making a wish with a genie, or kowtowing before the Supreme Ruler of the Universe. We are speaking with our Father. Our Father happens to have the power to rain down fire and destruction, grant miracles, and does in fact rule and govern the Universe, but while doing all of those things and an infinitude of others, He is also our Father. He wants the best for us. He's there to catch us when we fall. He lovingly points out when we are not fully living up to all that we could be. Although we do sometimes have to wrestle with God, we should not view prayer primarily as a form of combat. Neither is it a shopping list to hand to our butler, nor an exercise in self-flagellation. Rather, prayer is a chance for a child to speak with their Father, to share the highlights of the day, to seek reassurance when feeling overwhelmed, and most of all just to be near and feel close to Him. Jesus showed us how we can have this kind of prayer because He did not treat this as some empty gesture, speaking into thin air with no idea if anyone out there was listening. “Our Father which art in Heaven.” “Which art” is important because it embraces the idea that God exists and He is actively engaged in the details of our lives. God was not some hokey bronze-age mythological invention. He didn't wind up the universe and set it all in motion and then dust off His hands and move onto His next project. He was not killed off by the rigorous application of rationalism and material objectivism and the pursuit of scientific inquiry. He is not the opium of the masses. God is real. He is really here and He really listens to and answers each and every one of our prayers, maybe not always at the time and manner of our choosing, but always in a way that does the most good. And the way that He is able to do this is reflected in the last part of this opening phrase of the Lord's Prayer. “Our Father which art in Heaven” helps us to put God in His proper place. Our Father is in Heaven. He can see the end from the beginning. He can see the whole world and all of its moving parts and how everything is connected not just in the present moment, but how the triumphs and tragedies of all of His children ripple through the ages and place the burden of history on each new generation that must decide to either preserve and build on or dismantle and destroy the legacies of the past. He knows it all from the galactic down to the microscopic scale and everything in between. Why would we not want to seek His help and guidance through prayer every chance we got? I hope that when we pray, we do so in the manner that Jesus showed us. I hope we remember that we are praying to Our Father which art in Heaven, that He is more than a God or a Supreme Creator, that He is first and foremost a Father, and not just to a select few but to everyone, and that He is not an absentee Father but is intimately involved in the details of our lives, but at the same time He is in Heaven and can see and comprehend and govern all things.
