Day 20 — Our Father

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

— Matthew 6:9–10 (BSB)

Jesus’ disciples watched Him pray all the time. He prayed early in the morning. He prayed all night on a mountain. He prayed before big decisions. No wonder one day they asked Him, “Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1).

Jesus gave them a pattern to follow, and Matthew records it in Jesus’ famous Sermon on the Mount. What He taught has been prayed by Christians all over the world for two thousand years. We call it the Lord’s Prayer. Let’s look at how it begins, because the beginning tells us a lot.

“Our Father.” Jesus could have told us to start with “Dear Almighty Creator of the Universe.” And God is that! But Jesus invites us to call God Father. If you have trusted Jesus, you’re God’s child (remember Day 14?), so you can come to Him the way a kid runs to a loving dad. You don’t need fancy words. You don’t need to be scared.

“In heaven.” But He’s not just any father. He’s in heaven, which means He’s above everything and can do anything. So we come to God as someone close and someone great. He’s near enough to hear a whisper and big enough to handle anything.

“Hallowed be Your name.” “Hallowed” is an old word that means treated as holy. We’re asking that people everywhere, including us, would honor God’s name and see how wonderful He is.

“Your kingdom come, Your will be done.” This is a brave thing to pray. It means, God, I want Your way, not just my way. Before we ask for anything we need, Jesus teaches us to care about what God wants.

Did you notice? The first part of the Lord’s Prayer isn’t about us at all. It’s about God. When we start by remembering who God is, our problems don’t disappear, but they shrink to the right size.

Tomorrow we’ll look at what comes next: asking for what we need. But today, just practice beginning your prayers by looking up.

Think about it: How is praying to God as “Father” different from praying to someone you don’t really know?

Try this: Pray the Lord’s Prayer slowly, one line at a time. After each line, stop and add a sentence in your own words.

Our Father in heaven, thank You that I can call You Father. You are great and holy, and Your name is wonderful. I want Your kingdom to come and Your will to be done, in my home, at my school and in my heart, just like it is in heaven. In Jesus’ name, Amen.