As I was sitting and listening to the sermon yesterday on the beginning of the Lord’s Prayer (Matt. 6:9-10) I was struck by my discomfort with the dual nature of the opening line. In the beginning of the prayer Jesus not only directs our thoughts to the unequalled holiness of the God (hallowed be your name.) but also to the familial role of Father (Our Father in Heaven). This duality of incomprehensible Sovereign Creator and approachable Father is a difficult one to hold in tension. It may not be quite as difficult to consider as the Hypostatic Union (Jesus is 100% God and 100% man) but I would argue it is close. Maybe much of that is simply rooted in my own tainted understanding of the word “father” because of my upbringing but it seems that this truth is one that the church has wrestled with throughout its existence.
It is no coincidence that this is how Jesus starts this iconic prayer; in order to get any further into what Jesus will outline later in the prayer a disciple must first be able to truly acknowledge God as a father and as sovereign. It is to both of these roles that He is teaching us to appeal to when He says, “your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” The sovereign aspect is clear…He reigns in His kingdom in Heaven. The heart of this section, though, is the request that God would come down to where the one praying is at and establish His kingdom in front of him/her.
This is the exact image of a child asking for a parent to come and make everything OK. There is trust and an understanding that the parent is uniquely equipped to handle the thing the child is unable to handle…the child doesn’t know how the parent will take care of it (doesn’t even really care how) but inherently knows it to be true. How much truer this is with our Heavenly Father. I’m coming to realize (much to my dismay owing to my skewed understanding of God as Father) that this part of the prayer can only be prayed in spirit and truth if a person fully embraces the Fatherhood of God.
Someone who primarily interacts with God as Sovereign Lord but not as Father (*raises hand*) will struggle with desiring to see His will implemented as Jesus is explaining. If I peel back how I have often viewed this: I pray for His will to be done already knowing intellectually that His will has to be done because He is Sovereign Lord. This is formulaic, as opposed to desiring to be a part of His will unfolding in my life as His beloved child. Jesus demonstrates this for us (3 times!) in the Garden of Gethsemane before His arrest/trial/execution. I want to leave you with this bookending of Jesus’s prayers to reinforce the submission of our will to God’s is through recognizing Him as our heavenly Father.
Matt. 6:9-10 “Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.”
Matt. 26:39 “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup (his crucifixion) to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.”
May you know the Father truly and find yourself wrapped in His love. May you ever seek to align your will with His. Blessings to you all!
