Devotional for the Week 17 Jan 2005

This Week's Devotional | 2004 Devotionals | 2005 Devotionals

Devotional For the Week 17th January 2005

Series on Prayer: The Lord's Prayer
Scriptural Text: Matthew 6:9

As we get serious about making prayer our passion this year, let us study the familiar opening of The Lord's Prayer, the model of all prayers (Matthew 6:9):

Our Father
Who is in heaven
Hallowed be Thy name

1. Our Father

God is not just the Supreme Being - Ruler of the Universe, He wants to be understood as our FATHER! A Creator need not develop a relationship with His Creation. A potter can make a couple of 100 pots and feel nothing for each one of them. Even a King need not develop relationships with his subjects! He can just boss over them. But a Father will! He is a Father who is willing to develop an intimate relationship with us.

Not only did Jesus call God 'Father', He said 'Our Father', meaning that His sonship of God was to be shared with us. We too, would qualify to become children of God. The intimate parental relationship now extends from God and Jesus TO God and us as well! Ephesians 1:5 says that God decided to make us his own children!

"That is, in Christ, he chose us before the world was made so that we would be his holy people - people without blame before him. Because of his love, God had already decided to make us his own children through Jesus Christ, That was what he wanted and what pleased him." Ephesians 1:4-5 (NCV)

2. Who is

Note the present tense. God IS in Heaven now and always. And since God is perfectly good, with no flaws and weaknesses - it is an assurance to know that He will always be so.

It's not about you or me. It's about Him. Look at God's recruitment of Moses in Exodus. God does not spend time right from the start telling Moses how great and suited he is for the job of leading the Israelites to the Promised Land. The capability of Moses is not the issue. God's is. God responds to Moses: "Who made a person's mouth? And who makes someone deaf and not able to speak? Or who gives a person sight or blindness? It is I, the Lord. Now go! I will help you speak, and I will teach you what to say." (Exodus 4:11-12 NCV)

Let us keep our eyes on Him and what He can do and what He's like. He is a good loving God whose plans are to prosper us and not to harm us (Jeremiah 29:11) Let us rise up and repeat the words of Psalm 27:1 with great assurance and confidence: "The LORD is my light and the one who saves me, I fear no one. The LORD protects my life; I am afraid of no one." (NCV)

3. In Heaven

1 Corinthians 1:25 says, "Even the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength." (NCV)

Isaiah 55:8-9 states, "The LORD says, "My thoughts are not like your thoughts. Your ways are not like my ways. Just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts." (NCV)

We come to realize that God, our Father, exists on a different dimension! Just compare how different an ant is to a human being. And that's how different God is from us. If God is mighty enough to ignite the sun, can He not ignite your life if you let Him?

4. Hallowed be Thy name

Wesley once said that praying that God's name be hallowed, is praying that He is duly honored, feared and loved by all in both heaven above and earth beneath! When Jesus teaches us to pray like this - He is instituting an attitude of reverence for God inside our prayers.

'Hallowed' means 'holy'. 'Holy' means 'set apart'. So praying for God's name to be hallowed is the same as praying that His name will be set apart for exaltation. The first words of this prayer are in fact saying this: You who are loving, You who are great, You who live in Heaven .may Your Name be held high. May Your Name be set apart and honored!

Our Response

My friends, knowing that God is willing to be Your Father, knowing that He IS, knowing that He resides on a different dimension - one so much more powerful than our own existence, what is your response? Examine your past days leading up till now. In what ways do you think your life has echoed the final words of 'Hallowed be Thy Name'?

- Ps Joel Yong

Home \| About Us \| BMC This Week \| Ministries \| Gallery \| Devotional \| Resources \| Opportunities \| Contacts
This Week's Devotional \| 2004 Devotionals \| 2005 Devotionals Devotional For the Week 17th January 2005 Series on Prayer: The Lord's Prayer Scriptural Text: Matthew 6:9 As we get serious about making prayer our passion this year, let us study the familiar opening of The Lord's Prayer, the model of all prayers (Matthew 6:9): Our Father Who is in heaven Hallowed be Thy name 1. Our Father God is not just the Supreme Being - Ruler of the Universe, He wants to be understood as our FATHER! A Creator need not develop a relationship with His Creation. A potter can make a couple of 100 pots and feel nothing for each one of them. Even a King need not develop relationships with his subjects! He can just boss over them. But a Father will! He is a Father who is willing to develop an intimate relationship with us. Not only did Jesus call God 'Father', He said 'Our Father', meaning that His sonship of God was to be shared with us. We too, would qualify to become children of God. The intimate parental relationship now extends from God and Jesus TO God and us as well! Ephesians 1:5 says that God decided to make us his own children! "That is, in Christ, he chose us before the world was made so that we would be his holy people - people without blame before him. Because of his love, God had already decided to make us his own children through Jesus Christ, That was what he wanted and what pleased him." Ephesians 1:4-5 (NCV) 2. Who is Note the present tense. God IS in Heaven now and always. And since God is perfectly good, with no flaws and weaknesses - it is an assurance to know that He will always be so. It's not about you or me. It's about Him. Look at God's recruitment of Moses in Exodus. God does not spend time right from the start telling Moses how great and suited he is for the job of leading the Israelites to the Promised Land. The capability of Moses is not the issue. God's is. God responds to Moses: "Who made a person's mouth? And who makes someone deaf and not able to speak? Or who gives a person sight or blindness? It is I, the Lord. Now go! I will help you speak, and I will teach you what to say." (Exodus 4:11-12 NCV) Let us keep our eyes on Him and what He can do and what He's like. He is a good loving God whose plans are to prosper us and not to harm us (Jeremiah 29:11) Let us rise up and repeat the words of Psalm 27:1 with great assurance and confidence: "The LORD is my light and the one who saves me, I fear no one. The LORD protects my life; I am afraid of no one." (NCV) 3. In Heaven 1 Corinthians 1:25 says, *"Even the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength." (NCV)* Isaiah 55:8-9 states, "The LORD says, "My thoughts are not like your thoughts. Your ways are not like my ways. Just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts." (NCV) We come to realize that God, our Father, exists on a different dimension! Just compare how different an ant is to a human being. And that's how different God is from us. If God is mighty enough to ignite the sun, can He not ignite your life if you let Him? 4. Hallowed be Thy name Wesley once said that praying that God's name be hallowed, is praying that He is duly honored, feared and loved by all in both heaven above and earth beneath! When Jesus teaches us to pray like this - He is instituting an attitude of reverence for God inside our prayers. 'Hallowed' means 'holy'. 'Holy' means 'set apart'. So praying for God's name to be hallowed is the same as praying that His name will be set apart for exaltation. The first words of this prayer are in fact saying this: You who are loving, You who are great, You who live in Heaven .may Your Name be held high. May Your Name be set apart and honored! Our Response My friends, knowing that God is willing to be Your Father, knowing that He IS, knowing that He resides on a different dimension - one so much more powerful than our own existence, what is your response? Examine your past days leading up till now. In what ways do you think your life has echoed the final words of 'Hallowed be Thy Name'? *- Ps Joel Yong*
(C) BMC 2005 All Rights Reserved