By Karen Patrick
Introduction
Twentieth-century author and pastor A.W. Tozer writes in his classic book, Knowledge of the Holy, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.”1 If this is true, then it is vitally important for Christians to understand the heart of the One they worship as Father, and there is perhaps no better way to approach this topic than through his Son’s own teaching on prayer.
It’s been said that what is popularly known as the Lord’s Prayer in Scripture might be better titled the Disciples’ Prayer. This model prayer, given by Jesus to his disciples and recorded in Matthew 6:9–13, is nestled within the larger context of the Sermon on the Mount. He immediately precedes it with teaching on giving and immediately follows it with teaching on fasting.
In all three cases—giving, praying, and fasting—Jesus cautions his followers to guard themselves against hypocrisy since God is more concerned about inner righteousness than outward appearances.
Our Heavenly Father
Jesus refers to God as Father ten times within this section of Scripture, signifying that these disciplines are intimate acts of worship reserved for God’s adopted children and directed toward their Heavenly Father.
J.I. Packer summarizes the purpose of the Disciples’ Prayer like this: “The prayer teaches us, first, how to invoke God (as our Father through Christ, a Father who in his transcendent awesomeness is not at all remote, and who truly loves his children); and, second, how to adjust to God (by seeing ourselves as here to glorify him and by learning as lovers of him to desire that we and every rational creature should fulfill that goal).”2
Revering God
“Pray then like this: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.” (Matt. 6:9)
Because we have been adopted into God’s family based on Christ’s righteousness, the Father grants his children the intimate privilege of approaching him in prayer. He longs for his image-bearers to have fellowship with him and to be conformed into the image of his Son.
Since he is holy and we bear his image, we come before his throne of grace with reverence, acknowledging that his holy name is now set on us as his representatives in our spheres of influence.
Timothy Keller explains what both Martin Luther and Augustine taught about Matthew 6:9: “It is a request that faith in God would spread throughout the world, that Christians would honor God with the Christ-likeness or holiness of their lives, and that more and more people would honor God and call on his name.”3
Seeking God’s Will
“Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matt. 6:10)
The Father’s heart is that his ambassadors would long for him to demonstrate his kingdom’s relevance over every square inch of their lives. While God’s sovereignty—his reign—is externally evident in the world around us, it initially works itself from the inside out in individual believers. Keller explains, “It is asking God to extend his royal power over every part of our lives—emotions, desires, thoughts, and commitments.”4
Because the Sovereign of the universe is also our compassionate Heavenly Father, we can confidently know that in working out his will, he is also lovingly working out the details of our lives. We can trust him in the same way Jesus trusted him on the eve of his crucifixion.
Packer says, “We walk in the footsteps of our Savior when we tell him and the Father that however much we find ourselves longing for something else, the Father’s will has priority for us. . . we want our Father’s will and only his will, whether or not at the moment we know how much it involves.”5
Daily Provision
“Give us this day our daily bread,” (Matt. 6:11)
Physical necessities are a very real source of anxiety for many in the world today, but God’s children can be confident that the Father’s heart is to provide for every need.
Daily dependence on God provides relief for physical needs and demonstrates trust in him. Failure to do so results in worry. Pastor Jonny Ardavanis explains it like this: “When we pool our anxieties rather than channel them toward God, we live as functional atheists. We may claim to believe in God, but when our hearts are weighed down by cares and concerns to the degree that we become anxious about them, Jesus said we are living exactly as the Gentiles, who didn’t know God at all (Matthew 6:32).”6
The Father’s heart is to provide daily sustenance for the physical, spiritual, and emotional needs of his children.
Reconciliation and Rescue
“and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” (Matt. 6:12–13)
We come to our Heavenly Father acknowledging that it is only as we are reconciled to him that we can then be reconciled to others. The Father’s heart is merciful in forgiving our sin and gracious in enabling us to forgive others.
Not only that, but he is our omnipotent defender whose heart is to guard us against every attack of the enemy. According to Keller, Augustine believed that the last two petitions in this model prayer were for protection against the remaining evil inside us and from malignant external forces that desire to harm us.7
The Father’s heart is to reconcile and rescue his children.
Trusting the Father’s Heart
Having taught his followers how to approach their Heavenly Father through the disciplines of giving, praying, and fasting, Jesus provides some practical application points in Matthew 6:19–34. He describes what it looks like to daily trust the Father’s heart in three ways: valuing eternal treasures, directing our gaze toward God, and serving him alone.
Jesus teaches that placing our lives in the Father’s hands is the only path to true and lasting peace. He promises to provide all we need, just as he does for his entire creation, by finding our deepest needs satisfied in his trustworthy character. We become intimately acquainted with him by spending time with him in prayer as Jesus modeled in the Disciples’ Prayer.
Notes:
- A.W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy (HarperOne, 1961), 1.
- J.I. Packer and Carolyn Nystrom, Praying: Finding Our Way Through Duty to Delight (InterVarsity Press, 2006), 152.
- Timothy Keller, Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God (Penguin Books, 2016), 111.
- Keller, 111.
- Packer and Nystrom, 159.
- Jonny Ardavanis, Consider the Lilies: Finding Perfect Peace in the Character of God (Zondervan Books, 2024), 47.
- Keller, 117.