The Lord's Prayer doesn't just teach us to pray. It summarizes the entire Christian life, starting with the terms of our relationship with God. Only Jesus has earned the right to call God Father. By inviting us to call him our Father, too, Jesus preaches the Good News: That all who trust in his death and resurrection can be adopted into God's family. This means he is not only willing to hear our prayers, but eager to hear them! At the same time, he is no mere human father, but our Father in heaven, ruling over the universe with all power and glory at his disposal. Holding both qualities together – his nearness and his otherness – ensures that we are praying to the real God, not performing for others or trying to manipulate him into blessing us.
Our Father in Heaven
Pray Like This
May 15, 2022 • Matthew 6:5–13
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Pray Like This
Our Deliverance
June 19, 2022 • Walter Henegar • Matthew 6:9–13
The root of all temptation is distrust in the goodness of God. All kinds of circumstances, then, can be tempting – not just obvious enticements to engage in illicit behavior. Tempting circumstances include any form of evil, or the Evil One, which can overwhelm us and lead to cynicism, resignation or despair. For this reason Jesus encourages us to ask our Father to spare us from the worst of both. Because Jesus himself was not delivered from temptation, yet resisted it anyway, all who trust him are spared the full force of it.