Our Father In Heaven

Our Father In Heaven

This, then, is how you should pray:

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.”

Matthew 6:9

How should we address God? How should we honor the one we pray to? And how should we present ourselves so that he will be gracious and willing to listen to us? No name anywhere makes a more favorable impression on God than the name “Father.” Calling him Father is a friendly, affectionate, deep, and heartfelt way to address him. It wouldn’t comfort us nearly so much if we were to call him Lord, or God, or Judge. For the name Father is instinctive and naturally affectionate. That is why hearing us call him Father pleases God the most and moves him to listen to us. By doing so, we acknowledge ourselves as children of God, which again stirs God’s heart. For there is no voice more dear to a father than his own child’s voice.

It also helps when we say, “in heaven.” These words express distressing need and misery because we are on earth and God is in heaven. Those who pray, “Our Father in heaven,” and do so out of the depths of their hearts, acknowledge that they have a Father and that their Father is in heaven. Moreover, they acknowledge that they are abandoned on earth and are in misery. Those who pray this way soon feel a heartfelt yearning, like a child who lives far from his father’s land in misery and distress among strangers. It’s as if they are saying, “O Father, you are in heaven. I am your poor child far from you on earth, in misery, in peril, in distress, and in need. I am surrounded by devils, great enemies, and many kinds of danger.” Those who pray in this way stand with pure, uplifted hearts toward God. They are able to pray and move God to mercy.