April 2021 – When time stands still

The Lord’s Prayer – Part Two AUDIO

Nonetheless Jesus did say more, knowing that we are children with such limited understanding, and that few have the depth of faith of a Teresa.

We begin by addressing God as “Our Father”; not My Father. From the origin of humanity, God intended that we be a people – not a collection of individual persons (Genesis 2:18). God is the Father of the entire human race. “When we cry, Abba, Father, it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God (Rom. 8:15).” He means us to know him intimately. What could be more intimate than calling him Father, or more accurately, Daddy, for that is what the Hebrew word Abba means. “And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba, Father’ (Gal. 4:6).” And so we dare to cry out to him as a little child, Daddy!

The Lord’s Prayer AUDIO

According to the Didache (the oldest patristic document, circa 80-90 AD), the earliest Christian Communities prayed The Lord’s Prayer three times a day, replacing the recitation of the Eighteen Benedictions practiced by the Jews of the time.

Writing at the dawn of the third century, Tertullian stated that the Lord’s Prayer “is truly the summary of the whole gospel.”

And Augustine, Bishop of Hippo from 396-430 AD, wrote: “Run through all the words of the holy prayers (in Scripture), and I do not think that you will find anything in them that is not contained and included in the Lord’s Prayer.”

In Luke’s account, it is one of the disciples that makes the request of Jesus to be taught how to pray. God bless that disciple!

Could we have any better teacher on prayer than the Lord Jesus himself?

Are you willing to join me in a closer look at these precious words that came from the lips of the Son of God?