[Jesus said]: “This, then, is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.’”
The Lord’s Prayer is all about relationship. It begins by looking to God, because everything in this prayer flows out of our intimate relationship with our Heavenly Father. As an Aramaic speaker, the word that would have been in Jesus’ mind was ‘Abba’. He would have used this word to
address His earthly father, Joseph, and it literally means ‘daddy’. It is a warm and intimate word, and Jesus is clearly wanting His followers to enjoy that kind of closeness to God.
As we pray to our heavenly Daddy we are fully aware that He has a unique status. He is holy and set apart from anything that is imperfect. So we begin the prayer by affirming that He is to be totally respected,
or “hallowed”. We aren’t only recognising the importance of respecting God’s name but also honouring Him for all that He is and all that He has done. As we pray “our Father”, we are also affirming that we have
brothers and sisters and that we are part of a community of people which wants to live for God. Christian faith can never be a solitary, private affair, and this wonderful prayer reminds us that we are part of an amazing worldwide family.
The Lord’s Prayer should never be said unthinkingly or quickly. It is the prayer for those who are fully committed to putting their heavenly Father first in their lives.
Question How would you describe your personal relationship with God?
Prayer Loving heavenly Father, we thank You that You have invited us, through Your Son Jesus, into such an intimate relationship with You and one another.
Amen

Released on 9 Nov 2026