The Mercy & Majesty of God | Matthew 6:9

We made the point last Lord’s Day that the prayer most often referred to as “the Lord’s Prayer,” is in fact a prayer for disciples. It is a model prayer. It is a teaching instrument. It was never given to be repeated, recited. We have many recorded prayers from the apostles and others in the New Testament and none of them follow this prayer. Indeed, when you look at all the prayers of the Bible you are going to find a great variety in content and form. This prayer is intended to teach disciples the elements of prayer, the important principles of prayer, and in that way, help us obey our Lord when He tells us that we “must not be like them,” (vs.8). We must not be like them whether we are talking about hypocrites or pagans. How does our Savior teach us to pray? Last time we looked at this prayer in its entirety. Now I want us to examine each of its statements more closely. This morning we think about the address of this prayer — how God is addressed at the outset. “Our Father in Heaven.” As we do, we have two main points to consider. (1) The mercy of God — Our Father (2) The majesty of God — in heaven. THE MERCY OF GOD — “OUR FATHER” We have already made mention of this at least twice, so I’m not going to belabor the first observation that always comes to mind when we see this address. The first thing that always comes to mind is the need for salvation. As we have said, no one born of Adam, since the fall, is born into the world with God as their spiritual Father. We are born into the world estranged from God. Needing to be reconciled to God. This is a prayer for genuine disciples. This is a prayer for the saved. This is a prayer for those who know Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord. ONLY THAT PEOPLE CAN TRULY CALL GOD THEIR FATHER. But what I want to focus on, is what this address says to the mind of someone WHO CAN PRAY IT. What does this address say to the mind of someone WHO IS A DISCIPLE? And what I would insist must come to mind are the many mercies wrapped up in that reality. ONE OF THE THINGS THAT SHOULD ALWAYS CHARACTERIZE A BELIEVER’S PRAYER LIFE IS THAT IT’S FULL OF GRATEFULNESS. We should be, MUST BE (if we’re seeing things rightly), a people who are always full of thanksgiving BECAUSE we are people who have received ABUNDANT MERCIES in Jesus Christ. This privileged address — to be able address almighty God as OUR FATHER — should immediately call those mercies to mind. Remember we said that this is like a skeleton, like an outline, and then the Spirit of God will lead us in prayer in a way that the outline is filled in. Well, what kind of “filling in” should take place as we address God as our Father? TO PUT IT IN VERY PRACTICAL TERMS, WHAT SORTS OF REALITIES (TRUTHS) MIGHT COME TO OUR MINDS AS WE ADDRESS GOD AS “OUR FATHER?”