DAILY BYTE
As we bring this week’s devotions to a close, we conclude by looking at the significance of the last words of the opening phrase of the Lord’s Prayer, as recorded in Matthew’s gospel – the words “in heaven”.
Dallas Willard makes the important observation that in the original Greek the words that are usually translated “in heaven” are in fact in the plural. Therefore, a more accurate translation of this phrase would be something like, “Our Father, the one in the heavens.”
This distinction is of vital significance if one considers the cosmology of the Ancient Near East. In those ancient times it was believed that the structure of the universe was such that above the earth there were no fewer than seven heavens.
The first heaven referred to the atmosphere around our heads, and quite literally the air that we breathe. Each subsequent heaven was higher and wider than the one before, with the seventh or highest heaven being the uttermost reaches of the universe, as understood in ancient times.
The point Dallas Willard makes is that by losing the plural of ‘heavens’ we have robbed the wording of what Jesus intended. ‘Our Father who art in heaven’ has come to mean, ‘Our Father who is far away.’ But a more faithful rendering of what was originally intended would be something like, “Our Father who not only fills the entire universe but is also right here with us, close at hand.”
While we won’t change the words of the Lord’s Prayer when we say ‘Our Father who art in heaven,’ we can change our understanding of what those words really mean. That God is with us. That the realm God inhabits is not far removed from us, but is close at hand. That while God is utterly above and beyond us, God is also fully present with us, around us and in us – like the very air we breathe in which we live and move. What a tremendous encouragement this is for us, that truly we are not alone.
And so, when we pray ‘Our Father in heaven’, this is not just a familiar phrase we can rattle off without thinking. It’s part of Jesus’ core teaching on how to pray, and points to important principles in the life of prayer.
This week we have explored some of these principles:
1. True prayer is all about relationship with a personal God. It’s not about religious obligation, or pious pretense – it’s about being real before God, and taking hold of the personal relationship with God that God intends for us all.
2. True prayer is about reorienting our lives and experience towards God. It’s directed beyond ourselves, and moves us out of our narrow self-obsessed world into the wide-open realm of God.
3. True prayer is always a corporate activity. The very act of praying binds us with others, and not just those for whom we pray, but also those who have gone before us and have helped to shape our lives, who join with the Spirit in interceding on our behalf.
4. True prayer recognizes the presence of God in all things. It affirms God’s greatness in filling and enfolding the entire universe, and also God’s grace in filling and enfolding us.
PRAY-AS-YOU-GO
Father, you are with us. Jesus, you have promised never to leave us nor forsake us. Holy Spirit, you are our friend, our helper, our companion. What a magnificent God you are! Amen.
SCRIPTURE READING
The God who made the world and everything in it, this Master of sky and land, doesn't live in custom-made shrines or need the human race to run errands for him, as if he couldn't take care of himself. He makes the creatures; the creatures don't make him. Starting from scratch, he made the entire human race and made the earth hospitable, with plenty of time and space for living so we could seek after God, and not just grope around in the dark but actually find him. He doesn't play hide-and-seek with us. He's not remote; he's near. We live and move in him, can't get away from him!
Acts 17:24-28 (The Message)
