Monday, December 28

Begin by reading the Lord’s Prayer from Matthew 6:9-13 (NIV)
This then is how you should 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 today our daily bread.
Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.
For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever, Amen.
(this last phrase is actually not in the oldest manuscripts of the Bible, but was added from later tradition)

This prayer of Jesus was essentially his answer His disciples when they asked Him to teach them to pray (Luke 11:1) You will begin each morning reciting this prayer and then meditating on a different aspect of it. In this way you will pray your way through it over the next five days.

Our Father in Heaven…
Perhaps you grew up in a tradition where this prayer was referred to as “The Our Father”. Perhaps you did not have the best earthly father growing up. Perhaps you are a father yourself.
Let’s reflect on this word father for a moment…
What kinds of images come into your mind when you think of a Father?

Father may mean simply the biological or paternal father; the person responsible for the birth of a child.
Father might also be used to refer to the source or beginning of something; as in Albert Einstein is the Father of modern physics.
Father can also be used to describe the relationship between father and child – fatherhood. In this sense, Father describes a relationship of love, trust and intimacy between a father and his child.

The Bible understands God as Father in each of these ways. He is the author of your life, the person responsible for your very being. He is also the beginning and originator of all life. But beyond this, He is Our Father…He is to us a loving, protecting, guiding, disciplining Father in whom we can place all our hope and trust.

In what way is it most difficult for you to think of God as your Father?

In what way(s) do you most need god to be your Father?

Thank God that He is Your Father!

Jeff Frazier