Bible study: The Lord's Prayer - "Our Father Which Art in Heaven, Hallowed be Thy Name"

 Our Father Which Art in Heaven, Hallowed be Thy Name/Our Father Who Art in Heaven, Hallowed Be Your Name

(For each lesson, where appropriate, a contemporary version of the portion of the prayer will be offered.)

The Lord's Prayer is also called the "Our Father prayer" by some. 

Jesus lays out the architecture and tone of the model prayer that He is teaching His disciples in its opening words, borrowing from the principles of the Mosaic Law - specifically, The Ten Commandments at Exodus 20. Commandments 1 and 2:

2“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; 3 you shall have no other gods before me."

4 “You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above or that is on the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God,"

 When we pray, we must be cognizant as to whom we are praying. We are to be aware that Our Father always takes primary position because of who He is. He is Creator God, He is Elohim (the "im" is a plural suffix that indicates His superiority and infers the Godhead). He is Adonai, Sovereign Lord. The Old Testament is filled with the names God has identified Himself by. One of them is that of a Father role, as implied by Hosea 1:10, Interestingly, in Isaiah 63, the prophet speaks about a nation of people sinking deeping into the consequences of their sins and rebellion who are calling out to the One they disobeyed for help, attempting to appease Him by calling Him their Father - even to the extent of belittling their human ancestor Abraham!

In the era in which Jesus lived, there were specific laws and standards that existed under Roman rule, so that two different legal customs for fathers were in place. Fathers who sired a son through natural means, had absolute control over the child's life. Referencing a documentary that was aired on PBS about the first century life in Roman times, the commentator noted that the father - if displeased with his natural child - had the absolute right to disinherit the child, to abandon it, to sell it into slavery, or even to kill it. However, if a child were adopted according to the law, it was absolutely forbidden for the father to do harm to that child; the father had a legal responsibility to the child until the age of majority, and was required to include the adopted son as an heir to his estate. This was common practice. As beloved children of God, the first century Christians aware of those legal terms recognized that as adopted children, how much more would God, their Father, provide for and care for them? As seen in the above linked Ephesians passage, we become joint heirs with Christ; we who have been sanctified as children of  holy God have been given the privilege of calling the God and Sovereign of all things "Father. Those in the first century hearing this prayer model and Jesus' words, if spoken in Aramic, may have heard the word Abba spoken. If spoken in Hebrew, the words that may have been used are Avi and Avinu, which are the familiar titles used affectionately for a Father. 

Heaven. Jesus spoke about our Father in heaven a number of times. In so doing, He reveals a relationship between humankind and God that many of the religious leaders and lawyers had glossed over. Jesus was reaffirming God's role of heavenly Father; in the Old Testament there are minimal references to a Father in heaven. Interestingly, we see in Isaiah 63 a people sinking in the quicksand of their rebellion and wickedness who are calling out for help, appeasing God by calling Him Father. In one of John the Baptist's strong sermons, he points out to the proud Pharisees and Saduccees who were fond of calling Abraham their Father, that Abraham would not even recognize them. In another instance, when Jesus was speaking in John 8, the religious leaders verbally assault Him as He preached about His Father. The leaders, always having ulterior motives when approaching Jesus once again claim Abraham as their Father, and like John the Baptist had already said, Jesus, too informed the self-righteous leaders that if Abraham was indeed their Father, then they would know who Jesus was; He would go on to say that the father they came from was the devil. 

Jesus referring to God the Father and Father of heaven would have been understood by believers as the Most High God who existed beyond their eyesight, in a place called heaven, where the hosts of angels dwell. In the 21st century, some have commented that mankind has traveled into space, has sent spacecrafts beyond what was once the 'known' universe, to a distance of 14 billion miles, with tools that can capture images of light years away. None of the images have revealed a 'heaven', or heavenly being - let alone God and His throne! Heaven is so far beyond the created universe no human can ever reach it. Heaven is literally out of time as we know it. God uses heaven as a marker or descriptor for the reason that it is beyond the reach of flesh and blood. Flesh and blood cannot inherit, visit, or fly by or around heaven! The Father of Heaven lives in light inaccessible!

So, in the opening words of Jesus' model prayer, we are being taught about the One to whom the Lord's Prayer is directed - the believers' Father in Heaven where His throne and courts are. The prayer is indeed a model for how we should construct our prayers - praising and honoring God, rather than a straight shot to the "I wants". This adoration is to be genuine, and aids in giving a believer a sense of place. That we must approach God humbly. Also, with love, as a child would have for their human father.

Hallowed beYour Name. We now come the last part of the opening words that reveal the Father. Going back again to the Ten Commandments, this commandment follows the one above: 7 “You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name." 

"Hallowed" means to hold something sacred, to regard it as holy, and deserving of all reverence. Yahweh or Jehovah is the name God gives Himself in His covenant relationship with Israel. His name Yahweh/Jehovah is the "tetragrammaton" or the four-letter name that God told Moses to identify Him by. That translates to YHWH, which means "I AM THAT I AM". The original Hebrew language had no vowels. The meaning of the YHWH is that God has self-revealed Himself to be from everlasting to everlasting, never created by someone. His perpetual existence expands beyond anything our minds can imagine. Not even the amazingly large universe we can read about and see parts of through telescopes is able to contain Him. He revealed Himself to the nation of Israel through Moses to teach them that He always has been and always will be, therefore, capable of keeping any of His promises; He does not grow old, nor weary. He is Creator and Sustainer, The Great I AM  That is the name we are to keep holy, as well as all the names revealed to mankind through God's Word for the Triune God. 

Jesus, in His earthly ministry, was always able to take just a few words and yet describe a panorama of thought and revealed truth. In the opening words alone of the Lord's Prayer, we are being given to understand that, when we pray, we are to remember the reverence we are to have for God, not only in prayer, but in all we do. When we approach a holy God, our approach must be in humility, for He is a God whose Name is power, and "The Name" (Hashem) - the Jewish substitute for the holy name Yahweh -  requires all honor and glory and worship to be given to Him. When one prays, it is an act of worship. (Leviticus 25:1-3; Isaiah 25:1; Deuteronomy 6:13; 1 Chronicle 16:29; Nehemiah 9:5; Malachi 2:2). 

Therefore, before we even begin to pray - especially if we have just come through a difficult moment or are stressed, and even perhaps ask to pray, take a couple of moments to ponder - not what you are going to say, but rather, to whom you are saying it to. Reflect on what it means for us to be able to approach such an Almighty God, the El Shaddai (All-Sufficient God), and Adonai Tzebaot (Lord of Hosts), having full awareness of the reverence and honor due Him, the reverence of His name. As we ponder these things, genuinely and soberly, we will then know what to pray.

EXPLORING 

1. Have you ever had an audience with a head of state (like a Governor, Mayor of a large city, the County Executive, etc.? If so, what did that feel like? Why do you think you felt that way? Were you limited time-wise in chatting with him or her? Were you allowed to touch him or her?  

If you haven't had an audience with a head of state, what if you were to receive an invitation to attend a function at which a former President that you always wanted to meet was going to be -- how would you respond? What would you say to him? Do you think he would friend you on Facebook or some other social media platform? Why or why not?  

2. When you think about God as Father, what comes to mind? Does the description about him in this page give you pause? Are you as hesitant to talk to God as you would an important dignitary, considering God's importance and position? Why or why not? If you were to think that you took God for granted at any time, what would make you change your mind?  

3. How should a person hallow God's name? Have you ever heard anyone misuse God's name before - even if they are telling a joke? How did that make you feel? Have you ever misused God's name? How does that make you feel now?

King of Glory  - Todd Dulaney, performed by The Pentecostals of Alexandria - invitation to worship and prayer

Dear Father, Our Abba, 
We come to You with bowed hearts to hear Your voice. We are so unworthy to be in your presence, Abba, or to even presume a closeness with you. It is only due to Your Son's, our Savior's sacrifice and cleansing blood that we can even speak with You. Open our hearts and minds to the Greatness of You, Father, so that we may never belittle you, misuse your name, or act in a way that would be shameful. You deserve all the glory, all the praise, all the honor. May our lips speak praise from our hearts. In Jesus' name. Amen.