First Person Possessive

Matthew 6:9 (KJV) After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

(Proverbs 11 also read)

I have a lot of questions about prayer.  This came up recently when we were touching on the subject in Sunday school and people were talking about making a prayer list.  Most of the items on the prayer list had to do with physical issues.  The problems are very real.  Bringing them before God in prayer is appropriate.  And yet when I read the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus seems to be saying something else to us.

What struck me this morning was not about that.  That is just how I got to where I am thinking now.  I started looking at the words that we use “our” and “which”.  At first, I started wondering why the king James version says, “which” when the NASB says “who”.  As I looked at the Greek, with my limited knowledge, I saw that these were basic words that had to do with mine and me, and not necessarily with God.  At least not with His character.

I saw other translations, which I think put this better, where they said our God in heaven.  But even beyond that, my eyes, and turn to the word “Father”.  I noticed that the reference to father came before the reference to His holy name and His holiness.  So I looked up this phrase.  “Our father in heaven” is a common expression of Jesus.  What is unusual about it is the reference to God as father.  This is not an Old Testament expression.  This is something that Jesus introduced and emphasized.  And we are to call God Father.  This is not the “ABBA” Father, this is just the Greek word where we get the term paternal.

So?  We are to think of God as father.  If you did not have a loving father in your life, then I would encourage you to look into what it means biblically to be a father and embrace God in that way.