Day 1 — “Our Father”: The Way God Wants to Be Known
Day 1 “Our Father”: The Way God Wants to Be Known
Scripture: Matthew 6:9–14
“Therefore, you should pray like this: Our Father in heaven, your name be honored as holy. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. “For if you forgive others their offenses, your heavenly Father will forgive you as well.
The disciples approach Jesus and ask Him a very important question. Notice, they did not ask Him how to perform miracles or how to draw a large crowd. They asked Him how to pray. Again and again, they had watched Jesus withdraw from the noise and the demands of ministry to go to quiet, lonely places. They saw Him leave early in the morning or stay behind late into the night to speak with His Father.
What perhaps stood out to them was not merely that Jesus prayed, but how He prayed. There was a real intimacy, a familiarity, and depth of communion that was unlike anything they had ever seen. This was not a ritual prayer. This was relationship.
The disciples sensed that Jesus' power flowed from His prayer life, and that His prayer life flowed from His unique relationship with the Father. So, they came to Him and said, “Lord, teach us to pray.”
And what Jesus said was absolutely radical to first century Jews. He does not begin with technique or posture or length. He begins with identity: “Our Father.” Before He teaches them what to say, He teaches them who God is, and who they are in relation to Him. Prayer, Jesus shows us, is not first about getting words right; it is about approaching the right God in the right way.
For first-century Jews, this was radical. God was Yahweh—the Holy One, the Almighty, the God who dwelled in unapproachable light. Yet Jesus reveals that God is not only transcendent, but immanent.
Jesus alone is the eternal Son of God by nature. What belongs to Him by right is now given to us by adoption. Through His obedience, death, and resurrection, sinners are welcomed into the family of God by grace through faith in Christ alone.
This should change your prayer life entirely. You are not begging God for attention. He is not annoyed by your constant pleading and crying out to Him. You are not trying to earn His favor. You are speaking to your Heavenly Father who loves you. He already knows your needs and has set His love upon you; and He will not withhold any good thing from you.
This does not mean that we can approach our Heavenly Father in a casual, careless, or flippant way- but confident, reverent, and bold as a child who runs to a loving father without fear.
Prayer:
Father, teach me to come to You as You truly are—not as I fear You might be, but as You have revealed Yourself to be. Help me pray with reverence and trust, knowing I belong to You through Christ. Amen.
“Therefore, you should pray like this: Our Father in heaven, your name be honored as holy. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. “For if you forgive others their offenses, your heavenly Father will forgive you as well.
The disciples approach Jesus and ask Him a very important question. Notice, they did not ask Him how to perform miracles or how to draw a large crowd. They asked Him how to pray. Again and again, they had watched Jesus withdraw from the noise and the demands of ministry to go to quiet, lonely places. They saw Him leave early in the morning or stay behind late into the night to speak with His Father.
What perhaps stood out to them was not merely that Jesus prayed, but how He prayed. There was a real intimacy, a familiarity, and depth of communion that was unlike anything they had ever seen. This was not a ritual prayer. This was relationship.
The disciples sensed that Jesus' power flowed from His prayer life, and that His prayer life flowed from His unique relationship with the Father. So, they came to Him and said, “Lord, teach us to pray.”
And what Jesus said was absolutely radical to first century Jews. He does not begin with technique or posture or length. He begins with identity: “Our Father.” Before He teaches them what to say, He teaches them who God is, and who they are in relation to Him. Prayer, Jesus shows us, is not first about getting words right; it is about approaching the right God in the right way.
For first-century Jews, this was radical. God was Yahweh—the Holy One, the Almighty, the God who dwelled in unapproachable light. Yet Jesus reveals that God is not only transcendent, but immanent.
Jesus alone is the eternal Son of God by nature. What belongs to Him by right is now given to us by adoption. Through His obedience, death, and resurrection, sinners are welcomed into the family of God by grace through faith in Christ alone.
This should change your prayer life entirely. You are not begging God for attention. He is not annoyed by your constant pleading and crying out to Him. You are not trying to earn His favor. You are speaking to your Heavenly Father who loves you. He already knows your needs and has set His love upon you; and He will not withhold any good thing from you.
This does not mean that we can approach our Heavenly Father in a casual, careless, or flippant way- but confident, reverent, and bold as a child who runs to a loving father without fear.
Prayer:
Father, teach me to come to You as You truly are—not as I fear You might be, but as You have revealed Yourself to be. Help me pray with reverence and trust, knowing I belong to You through Christ. Amen.
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