Our Father Who Art in Heaven
Our Father Who Art in Heaven
In the Lord’s Prayer, what pertains to God is requested first, for God alone is the Giver. Therefore, we turn to Him in our petitions — we turn to Him as a Father, full of tenderness, who knows our needs.
The saints found joy in their prayers through the love of God as a Father. When we say “Our Father,” do we remember that we ought to live as His children? It is enough to say, “Our Father,” and He knows the rest.
We spoke in the previous issues about prayer and its importance, and about the phrase “Thy will be done” from the Lord’s Prayer. Perhaps it is best that we now contemplate the entire Lord’s Prayer, beginning with its first words.
The Structure of the Lord’s Prayer
What does this prayer contain? It holds seven petitions: the first three concern God Himself — Hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
The next three concern humanity — Give us this day our daily bread, forgive us our trespasses, and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.
Thus, in this prayer, God comes first.
Before we ask for anything of our own, we first seek that God’s name be hallowed among people, that His will be done, and that His kingdom reign. This is what truly matters, whether or not our personal requests are granted.
We find a similar order in the Ten Commandments: the first four, written on the first tablet, concern our relationship with God; the remaining ones concern our relationship with others. The relationship with God is primary — and if we are right with God, we will necessarily be right with people as well.
The Lord Himself taught us this:
“Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” (Matthew 6:33)
And when asked about the greatest commandment in the Law, Christ said:
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.”
And the second is:
“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Naturally, if one truly loves God with all his heart, he will also love his neighbor.
So God must be first — in the commandments, in prayer, and in obedience.
We must obey God rather than men. And if pleasing people would come at the expense of obeying God, then it is God whom we must please, even if others are displeased. As the Apostle said:
“If I still pleased men, I would not be a servant of Christ.” (Galatians 1:10)
And the Lord said:
“He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me.” (Matthew 10:37)
Turning Toward God in Prayer
In prayer, we lift our hearts to God before lifting our hands.
Human beings have many needs, yet in prayer we ask these needs of God — not of people. As the Psalmist says:
“It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man.” (Psalm 118:8)
For God is the source of every good and perfect gift. He not only wants to give, but He is also able to give. Only He can give truly — not humans.
Even the gifts we receive through people, we actually receive from God through them. He is the source — the One who gives to them so that they may give to others. He also places the desire to give within their hearts.
And every gift that comes from God is pure and good:
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights.” (James 1:17)
Therefore, the Church often repeats in her prayers: “From the Lord, we ask.”
“Our Father Who Art in Heaven”
We turn to this giving God as a Father, saying at the beginning of our prayer: “Our Father who art in heaven.”
We approach Him as a Father, not merely as a Master. The word “Father” gives us a sense of His love, tenderness, and the emotional bond that connects us to Him.
In prayer, we do not speak as slaves addressing their lord, but as children speaking to their father. We ask with the boldness of sons, not with the fear of slaves.
This relationship of sonship is made clear in the New Testament. The Lord Jesus repeated it many times in the Sermon on the Mount, teaching that God is our Father.
Saint John the Beloved said:
“Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God.” (1 John 3:1)
The word “Father” therefore expresses the deep love that God has for humanity. He does not wish to treat them as slaves, but as His children. And He said plainly:
“No longer do I call you servants, but I have called you friends.” (John 15:15)
God as Father — From the Beginning
The concept of God as Father did not first appear in the Lord’s Prayer; it existed from ancient times, though not all people realized it.
Before the Flood, Scripture said:
“The sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful.” (Genesis 6:2)
And in the Book of Job, we read:
“There was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord.” (Job 1:6; 2:1)
The Prophet Isaiah said:
“You, O Lord, are our Father.” (Isaiah 63:16)
And God Himself said in rebuke:
“I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against Me.” (Isaiah 1:2)
He also said:
“My son, give Me your heart.” (Proverbs 23:26)
The Father Knows Our Needs
God, as a Father, knows our needs — even before we ask or pray. As the Gospel says:
“Your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.” (Matthew 6:32)
Thus, He provides for all our needs without waiting for us to request them in prayer. For this reason, we should rise above material requests, focusing instead on the spiritual, because God — as a loving Father — gives us the material necessities even without asking.
Indeed, He causes His sun to rise on the just and the unjust, sends rain on the good and the evil, and satisfies every living thing with His goodness.
He provides for His children as part of His fatherly care.
That is why the saints were never preoccupied with asking for worldly needs. Their prayers were an expression of delight in the love of the Father.
When we say “Our Father”, we affirm this relationship with God — and remember the responsibilities it entails.
Are We Truly Living as His Children?
God fulfills all that is expected of a father — showing every fatherly feeling we could imagine. But the crucial question we must ask each time we pray “Our Father” is this:
Do we truly live as His children?
Indeed, we received this sonship when we believed and were baptized. Yet do we behave as children toward our Father?
Saint John says:
“If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him.” (1 John 2:29)
Our actions reveal whether we are truly God’s children.
The Apostle says:
“The children of God are manifest.” (1 John 3:10)
And he adds a powerful statement:
“Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.” (1 John 3:9)
Are we such as this? Or do we call God our Father while living as though we were not His children?
Truly, it is a great honor to be called children of God — He granted us this adoption — but it is also a great responsibility.
Every time we say “Our Father who art in heaven,” we should also feel convicted by that sonship, saying humbly like the prodigal son:
“I am no longer worthy to be called Your son; make me like one of Your hired servants.” (Luke 15:19)
Why? Because the one born of God “does not sin.” Therefore, whoever sins may rightly say, “I am not worthy to be called Your son.”
A son should bear the likeness of his father.
We were created in God’s image and likeness (Genesis 1:26), and we received that image anew in baptism (Galatians 3:27). But do we still bear that image?
Do those who see and deal with us recognize us as true children of God?
Even so, we rely continually on His love and say:
“If we have lost Your likeness, grant it to us again, O Father.”
We hold fast to Your love — You who formed us when we were nothing, created us for Yourself without our asking, and granted us the honor of being called Your children. With this confidence we speak to You.
We, earthly as we are, call upon You — Our Father who art in heaven.
From Your heaven, look upon us as Your children. Teach us Your ways, help us understand Your paths, lead us in the way You see fit, and grant us strength for the journey — and the likeness of Your image.
It is enough for us to pause at the words “Our Father”, even without asking for anything more.
It is enough that we have a Father like You — the Creator of heaven and earth, the infinite and incomprehensible Love.
It is enough to say, “Our Father,” for You know the rest, O Knower of secrets and of what is seen and unseen.
Each one of us, like a weary child, may cast himself into his Father’s arms and say:
“My Father!”
And the Father understands completely what His child needs — without many words, without explanation.
