Matt.6:9 – Pray, then, in this way:
‘Our Father, who is in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
Jesus was introducing His disciples to a whole new way to approach God, He was also introducing us to the beginning of a new level of intimacy with God. Jesus had enjoyed this intimacy with God from eternity; after all, He was the Father’s only begotten Son. Before Christ no one ever could address God as Father. This was only made possible because of the work of redemption accomplished by Jesus. Today He lives in a continual state of prayer enjoying intimacy with His Father. This is what has changed, He has brought us into this place of intimacy with the Father also. This is the beginning of our life of prayer. Addressing God as our Father is the privelege of those who have become sons and daughters. Here is how Andrew Murray describes this.
“Our Father who art in the heavens! To appreciate this word of adoration correctly, I must remember that none of the saints in Scripture had ever ventured to address God as their Father. The invocation places us at once in the center of the wonderful revelation the Son came to make of His Father as our Father too. It comprehends the mystery of redemption – Christ delivers us from the curse so that we might become the children of God. It includes the mystery of regeneration – the Spirit in the new birth gives us the new life. Then it introduces the mystery of faith – even before the redemption is accomplished or understood, the word is given to the disciples to prepare them for the blessed experience still to come. The words are the key to the whole prayer – to all prayer. It takes time; it takes life to study them and it will take eternity to understand them fully. The knowledge of God’s Father-love is the first and simplest but also the last and highest lesson in the school of prayer.”
This reminds me of the wedding garment Jesus spoke of in His parable of the wedding feast. To put on this wedding garment is to put on Christ. When the Father looks at us all He can see is His beloved Son. We approach the Father the same way Jesus does; we too can call Him our Father. This is what was purchased for us at Calvary, intimacy with God. We can now approach God the same way Jesus does, “Our Father Who art in heaven, hallowed be Your name”.
