"Our Father in heaven,In the last section I said that one of the reasons to use the Lord's Prayer is that it is a great pattern or model -- even when we are having a spontaneous prayer time. In other words, the Lord's Prayer is not only theological sound and balanced -- but it works really well, too. Once we have the prayer firmly imprinted in our minds and our hearts there are many ways that we can use it as a starting point for organizing and forming all of our prayers.
hallowed be your Name.
Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours now and forever. Amen"
In this section we will start to "walk' through the prayer itself and I will point out the sections of the model.
Over the years the Lord's Prayer has been outlined or examined in many different ways. For example, In Martin Luther's Small Catechism he identified an introduction, seven petitions, and a conclusion. My approach is a little more simple. I use five separate but related sections or divisions.
If you need a tool for visualizing it you could think of each section as a finger on a hand.
1. PTA (Praise, Thanksgiving, and Adoration)
2. KDIP (Kingdom Defined Intercession and Petition)
3. Confession
4. Intervention
5. Celebration
Division #1. PTA -- Praise, Thanksgiving, and Adoration
"Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your Name."
Notice how the prayer starts -- "Our Father."
This is a very radical departure from the way that people prayed before the first century. The word behind "Father" in the Aramaic language (the language in which Jesus spoke) is "abba" -- a word which is still commonly used by locals in the Middle East. It is not a formal word. It is quite the opposite.
For example, in American English we have the word "father" but children do not usually address their fathers as "father." That would normally be too formal.
I have never said "Hello, Father" to my father. Instead I say "Hi, Dad."
"Dad" is the more personal way of addressing one's father.
Even though most English translations of the Lord's Prayer start out "Our Father" it might be more precise to say "Our Dad." The term "dad" better captures the essence of the word "abba." There is family intimacy in the way that Jesus is telling us to address God.
If you speak a language other than English, look at the Lord's Prayer in your language. Is the word for "father" used in the translation informal or formal language? If it is a good translation it picks up at least some sense of informal affection.
Perhaps just as importantly, though, is the even more basic idea that we can even talk to God as a father. In the Old Testament God is not spoken of as a father very often(1) -- not even using a more formal word for father. But Jesus invites us to do just that -- to address God as "father." Scot McKnight writes:
The Lord's Prayer begins with "Abba, Father." Jesus is decidely lopsided when it comes to names for God: every prayer of Jesus recorded in the Gospels begins with "Abba, Father" except the famous "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" utterance from the cross. Jesus' contemporaries had plenty of "names" for God -- the most notable of which (YHWH) was never pronounced. Other names were used, like Lord and God and God Almighty. Rarely did they address God as "Father" in prayer.Notice, too, that God is not just the loving Father in Jesus' prayer but he is also "our Father."
So why does Jesus focus so narrowly on Abba as the name for God? God may be YHWH, but that sacred name evokes mystery; YHWH may be King, but that term evokes distance. From a long list of names, Jesus chooses Abba. What Jesus wants to evoke with the name Abba is God's unconditional, unlimited, and unwavering love for his people. In this name for God we are standing face-to-face with the very premise of spiritual formation: God loves us and we are his children.
In Abba Jesus chooses a term from home bcause love originates in the home where an Abba dwells. Not only does love begin there, but our first understanding of God begins at home and transfers from both parents to God. We are wired this way. This is not something we do rationally and intentionally. It is something we do instinctually.
Grant me this point, and I'll give you one back: since none of us has perfect parents, none of us has a perfect sense of love to transfer to God. In fact, some of us -- and I say this with the empathy of someone who has heard students' stories for two decades -- had awful childhoods, and just thinking about God's love is confusing, bewildering, and nearly incomprehensible.
Some of our heart openings are rusted shut because of the way our parents loved (or didn't love) us. Those of us with this past need the reeducation of our hearts and a new vision of the beauty of God's love taught by Jesus. What we need is the oil of Abba's love to penetrate through our rusty heart openings... (2)
In some cultures the relationship between God and people is seen in a very individualistic way. For example, in America it is no longer wise to talk about having a "personal relationship" with Jesus because Americans now think of personal as meaning private. It is all about a private relationship "between God and me." However, in the prayer we clearly see that we are relating to our Father as a group of his children. It is not a private matter.
And it is together that we say "hallowed be your name."
To speak of someone's name is to speak of their character -- the essence of who they are.
To "hallow" something is to recognize its holiness -- that is, it (or in this case, he) is completely "other" -- not ordinary. Together we are acknowledging that God is not only our dear Father but that he is also a holy Father. He has no peers. There is no one or no thing like him.
Do you remember the Kaddish?(3) It starts out "Glorified and sanctified be God's great name throughout the world..." These words seem to be based on Ezekiel 38:23 -- "In this way, I will show my greatness and holiness, and I will make myself known to all the nations of the world. Then they will know that I am the LORD." (NLT)
Concisely, we are recognizing that God is truly worthy of glory for he is great, awesome, and powerful like no other. He is "holy" (or "sanctified"). Yet, at the same time he is our dear Father.
In theological terms he is both transcendent (way distant, above, beyond, really out there) and at the same time he is immanent (close, throughout, deeply involved).
How is it that God can be so holy and at the same time be our Abba Father? The answer to this question is a mystery. And our response to this mystery is worship. So, we start out our prayer praising, thanking, and adoring (PTA) God. When we do so we are recognizing and acknowledging the mystery of God's greatness.
Say, "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name." Then pause for a moment and thank him for all the ways that you see his fatherly care in your life. Praise God for who he is -- the one who created all and who holds it all together.
Perhaps you might even want to do this with a song about God's greatness or his fatherly care. Prayer can definitely involve singing. Think of all the prayers in the book of Psalms. The psalms were all originally songs. Maybe you will want to use one of the psalms in this part of the prayer. For example:
My heart is confident in you, O God;If we are using the Lord's Prayer in a group we might start out saying the first line together and then we could pause and allow people in the group to offer more spontaneous words or sentences of praise, thanksgiving, or adoration. They might even want to lead a song.
no wonder I can sing your praises with all my heart!
Wake up, lyre and harp!
I will wake the dawn with my song.
I will thank you, Lord, among all the people.
I will sing your praises among the nations.
For your unfailing love is higher than the heavens.
Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.
Be exalted, O God, above the highest heavens.
May your glory shine over all the earth.
~ Psalm 108:1-5 (NLT)
You can do the same if you are using this prayer during your own personal devotion time or at some other time during the day.
In the next section we will look at the "KDIP -- Kingdom Defined Intercession and Petition" section of the prayer.
SECTION 11 NOTES
(1) Usually when God is referred to as a father in the Old Testament it is in the form of a metaphor. It is not one of his titles or a form of address. A good example of an Old Testament reference to God as father is found in Psalm 89:26, "And he will call out to me, ‘You are my Father, my God, and the Rock of my salvation.’ I will make him my firstborn son, the mightiest king on earth."
Originally "my firstborn" was a reference to King David. It is perhaps also a prophetic reference to Jesus.
(2) The Jesus Creed, pp. 25-26
(3) http://cfor101.blogspot.com/2010/02/section-10.html
ASSIGNMENT #11
1. I used the acronym PTA to describe this first section of the prayer. What words do each of those letters represent? Pretend that you are the author of a new Christian dictionary. Write a dictionary definition of each of those three words. (up to 10 points possible)
2. Jesus once told a parable where there was a very merciful father. Where is that parable found in the Gospels? Write a summary of this parable of the father and his disobedient son. Do your best to explain what it means and how it might be related to the Lord's Prayer? (up to 15 points possible)
3. BONUS: If you were to use a praise song or hymn as a part of praying through this section of the Lord's Prayer, what song or hymn would that be? If it is not in English give me a brief translation. Tell me why you think that this song would be a good fit for this part of the prayer. (up to 10 extra bonus points possible)
Again, email your essay to me at bboydston@piu.edu. Write your essay in the email itself -- or if you use a word processor, copy and paste the essay into the email. Make sure that your name, the name which you used to register for this class, appears at the top of the essay.
I will respond to you as soon as possible. Do not wait for a response from me before you start working on your next assignment.
