Eld Chew Chong Kiat

We pray the Lord’s Prayer every Lord’s Day during the worship service. It is a most wonderful prayer that the Lord Jesus taught His disciples when they asked Him to teach them.

“And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.  And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. Give us day by day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.” (Luk 11:1-4)

Besides being a prayer that we can pray, we can learn much about what and how to pray. The petitions in the prayer are indeed things that are according to God’s will, that when asked in faith and with understanding, we will surely receive (1John 5:14-15).

This prayer was so significant that the church fathers, in designing the catechism to teach the elements of the faith to the Christians, said “The whole word of God is of use to direct us in prayer; but the special rule of direction is from that form of prayer which Christ taught his disciples, commonly called The Lord’s prayer.” (Westminster Shorter Catechism (WSC) Question 99).

The Lord’s Prayer can be divided into the preface, six petitions and conclusion. “The preface ‘Our Father which art in heaven’ teacheth us to draw near to God with holy reverence and confidence, as children to a father, able and ready to help us and that we should pray with and for others.” (WSC Question 100)

To whom do we pray is the focus of the preface. It is God, of course. But this God is also our Father, the Father who art in heaven. If He is our Father, we come to Him as children, bolstered with child-like confidence. “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God… Beloved, now are we the sons of God…” (1John 3:1-2). Because of Christ, we are adopted as children of the most High, and have access unto God. “In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.” (Ephesians 3:12).

God is a good Father. “Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?  Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?” (Matthew 7:9-11). He will always give what is best, and if there is anything He withholds from us, it must be because they are not good for us. Do we believe that?

He is no mere Father, but God. “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us…” (Ephesians 3:20). “For with God nothing shall be impossible” (Luke 1:37). Let us not doubt His ability; pray believing. He is not only able but ready and willing to help beyond our expectations.

He is our Father in heaven, and we are upon earth. We ought to fear Him. (Ecclesiastes 5:1-7). He knows all things and sees all things. We must not think that we can deceive Him into granting our request and harbour evil motives in our asking or think to hide our sins that we stubbornly refuse to give up. Let us be warned that “If we regard iniquity in our hearts, He will not hear us. (Psalm 66:18)

On the other hand, what a comfort it is to know that God knows all things, for even before we ask, He knows what things we have need of (Matthew 6:8), and even if we know not how to phrase our prayers, He hears it all the same. Just be sure that we turn to God in faith with clean hands and pure hearts, believing that He always provides what is best for us. When we pray thus, the peace of God that passes all understanding will keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:7)

What comfort it brings us when we turn to “Our Father which art in heaven” in prayer! As His sons, we should pray to God, who is our Father and who can do all things, in awe and with holy reverence. We are not to approach Him casually, as some Charismatics teach, without the fear of God. This address is so unique to direct our prayers, which the world knows not about. Most will pray to an unknown god who is always angry and needs to be placated; others pray to a god of their imagination who is like their fairy godmother who will grant their every fancy - wealth, safety and the like, without regard to their iniquities and evil motives. Growing up in an idolatrous home, I saw the same god being prayed to by those who upheld justice as well as the very thieves who were going to rob a bank, and I wondered who this god would help. Such are the misguided objects that men pray to. But our Lord Jesus teaches us to pray to God as “Our Father which art in heaven.” Let us never forget the beauty and wonder of this address that gives confidence to our hearts when we pray, and yet never lose our fear of Him.

We may learn one more vital lesson from this preface. He is not just our personal God, but the God and Father of all believers. All who are in Christ are one in the body of Christ and children of the same Father in heaven. Let us, therefore, bear one another’s burdens by praying with and for others. This is our privilege. We can uphold one another before the throne of grace to intercede on each other’s behalf. Pray for one another to our Father. This is a way to express our love for each other. We know that God alone can help and is willing to help. When God answers our prayers, we will have fullness of joy together, and our relationship with one another will be deepened.

As children of God, we can pray on behalf of those who are outside Christ, that they may know God. God is good and His goodness extends to the unsaved, in the sunshine and the rain (Matthew 5:45), and by His longsuffering and grace. Some wonder if Christians can pray for unbelievers. If we are to pray for those who hate, curse and persecute us (Mathew 5:44), surely we can pray for unbelievers. Our Lord Jesus and the martyr Stephen prayed for the unbelieving who killed them so that their eyes might be opened to know the truth. In like manner, we can pray for unbelievers that they too may know Him, for their greatest need in life is to experience the forgiveness of sin from God in Christ.

May this preface inspire us every time we pray the Lord’s prayer, that we might pray in faith, confidence and holy fear.