Our Father in Heaven

"In this manner, therefore, pray: 

      Our Father in heaven,
      Hallowed be Your name.
      Your kingdom come.
      Your will be done
      On earth as it is in heaven.
       Give us this day our daily bread.
       And forgive us our debts,
      As we forgive our debtors.
      And do not lead us into temptation,
      But deliver us from the evil one.
      For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen" (Matthew 6:9-12).

Jesus gave us the perfect model for simple prayer (Matt 6:9). Yet the Lord’s Prayer is so profound and has such great depth it covers all the essentials of prayer including everything we need to bring before our Father.

This prayer shows us that we don’t have to say many words to reach His heart. “It is so simple that a child can say it, and so divinely rich that it encompasses all that God can give. A model and inspiration for all other prayer, it draws us at the same time back to itself as the deepest utterance of our souls before God,” wrote Andrew Murray. (Murray, With Christ in the School of Prayer,  30.)

In the Lord’s prayer, we are saying we will give honor to our Father’s name, our Father’s kingdom, and our Father’s will. We present to Him our daily needs, our daily sins and weaknesses, and our daily dangers. We confess our daily need for forgiveness and to forgive others. We pray “our” and “we” that we may include others as well. We begin by honoring our Father and end by glorifying Him with praise.

Our Father in Heaven

Start prayer like this, Jesus said. “Our Father in heaven” (Matt. 6:9a). Call him “Father, dear Father” (Rom. 8:15). He is a caring, loving Father who welcomes us. For we are His very own children, adopted into His family, and He desires our companionship.

Murray said that when we say our Father we are placed “at once in the center of the wonderful revelation that Jesus came to make: His Father is our Father, too. It is the essence of redemption: Christ delivers us from the curse so that we can become the children of God.” (Murray, With Christ in the School of Prayer,  30-31.)

“The title Father tells us much about God’s character. It reveals that He cares about us and takes us responsibility for us. As our Father, He desires what is best for us and loves us so much that He disciplines us for our own good. He is approachable and is involved in all aspects of our lives.” (Lee Brase, Praying From God’s Heart, 28) 

“The knowledge of God’s Father-love is the first and simplest, but also the last and highest lesson in the school of prayer,” wrote Murray. “Prayer begins in a personal relationship with the living God as well as a personal, conscious fellowship of love with Him. In the knowledge of God’s Fatherliness revealed by the Holy Spirit, the power of prayer will root and grow.”  (Murray, With Christ in the School of Prayer,  31.)


The word “heaven” may give us the feeling that our God and Father is far off and impersonal. But the Lord promises, He “is near us whenever we pray to him” (Deut. 4:7b).

So let us come to Him as children excited to see our Father who waits for us with open arms. His door is always open. He is the only one we can be sure will hear us and talk to us, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.