The Lord’s Prayer: Preface

100. What doth the preface of the Lord’s Prayer teach us? A. The preface of the Lord’s Prayer, which is, Our Father which art in heaven, teacheth us to draw near to God with all holy reverence and confidence, as children to a father, able and ready to help us; and that we should pray with and for others.

Terms of Reference

In the preface of the Lord’s prayer (Mt. 6:9),¹ we are taught that God is not our equal, but our superior, and to be addressed as our Father.² While it is true that all human being are children of God in a natural sense on account of creation (Acts 17:25, 28-29),³ only Christians can rightly call God, their Father, in a religious sense in view of their redemption (Jn. 14:6; cf. 8:42-44).⁴ True believers are the children of God because they are “born of God” (Jn. 1:13; cf. Ja. 1:18; 1 Jn. 3:10; 5:4, 18-19) and given the privileges of children (Gal. 4:1-7). This is to say that true believers address God as Father because they have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5; 1 Pet. 1:3, 23; cf. 1 Jn. 2:29; 3:9; 4:7; 5:1, 4, 18) and graciously adopted into his family (Rom 8:23; Eph. 1:5; Gal. 4:5; Jn 1:12).⁵ This is what is principally in view in the Lord’s prayer. Moreover, it is also proper that they should be called children of God by grace because they are, according to their sanctification, transformed after the likeness of Jesus Christ who is the Son of God by nature (Rom. 8:29; cf. Heb. 1:2-3; Col. 1:14).⁶

As children of God, we take on an attitude of holy reverence towards him (Isa. 64:9; Heb. 12:28-29), as well as confidence in his fatherly goodness towards us (Lk. 11:13; Rom. 8:15);⁷ Both components are crucial: after all, holy reverence without confidence leads to unbelief, and confidence without holy reverence breeds contempt. We will touch on this more later, under the section of Practical Implications.

An Expression of Faith

When we pray to our Father, we declare by faith that we believe his goodness towards us in calling us and making us his own—in a way that far exceeds natural kinship (Isa. 63:16). As such, the preface confirms to us where our help comes from. God is able and ready to receive us. This speaks to God’s sovereign power and loving kindness(Isa. 63:15; Neh. 1:4-6).⁸ While only true believers are able to offer prayers acceptable to God, this is not to dissuade those who are struggling with assurance from praying. “All believers unquestionably should strive to obtain, in a high degree, the assurance of faith. But when the struggling faith is really, or even eminently, defective, their exercises [of prayer] are not treated with scorn by the hearer of prayer [i.e., by God].”⁹ By praying, we put away past sins, express a desire for God’s pardon, and a resolve to live for him.

An Expression of Love

The Lord’s prayer teaches us to pray in the plural, not in the singular. Specifically, the possessive adjective Ourin the Lord’s prayer indicates that prayer is not an individual matter, but that it should be united with other believers and intercessory in nature.¹⁰ By addressing God as our Father, we acknowledge that God is the Father of all his people (Gal. 4:6) and that he has given us brothers and sisters in Christ. It is appropriate, therefore, that we should declare our love towards others who are (either presently or potentially in the future) recipients of the same saving grace that we have received. We do this by praying with and for them (e.g., 1 Sam. 12:22-23; Jer. 42:2; Mt. 18:19; Acts 12:5; Ja. 5:16-18). “Such meditations are fitted to banish envy, to quicken our desire of obtaining blessings for our brethren, and to produce joy at the benefits which they receive, as received by them in answer to our prayers [on] their behalf. This address to our heavenly Father, when sincerely and devoutly made, affords exercise to the highest and purest love, and fulfils the whole law of God.”¹¹

An Expression of Awe

The preface gives us a high view of God who we are told is majestically seated in heaven on his throne (cf. 1 Tim. 6:16; Pss. 29:4-7; 97:1-6; 104:2-3). In acknowledgment, we direct our prayers to God with heavenly affections (Ps. 123:1; Lam. 3:41). “That is, in prayer we are to separate our thoughts for a time from their common preoccupation with our own earthly concerns, and to think of heaven, of the greatness, glory, power, and wisdom of God, and to concentrate our thoughts and desires on God and heaven.”¹² God is comfortably enthroned, outside and above the turbulence of this world (Ps. 2:1-4; Job 26:14; cf. Isa. 6:1-7; Rev. 4). Such is God’s radiance that the sun and moon are outshined by his light (cf. Hab. 3:11), and even Seraphim cannot look at him (cf. Isa. 6:1-7).¹³ It is to such a God of glory that we have the privilege of addressing as Father! “Nothing which is not elevated, spiritual, heavenly, and worthy of his inconceivable majesty should be permitted to enter into our conceptions of God.”¹⁴ Moreover, we are also reminded that heaven is where God has laid up precious blessings for his people; there, we have treasures where neither moth nor rust will corrupt, and where thieves cannot break in and steal (Mt. 6:19-21). “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Cor. 2:9). This is all the more reason for us to seek our Father who is heaven and to prioritize matters of eternal good, rather than worrying about the temporary things of this world (Mt. 6:31-33).¹⁵

Practical Implications

This affects not only our prayer life, but the whole of our Christian life. If we profess to be God’s children, then everything we do should be worthy of our heavenly Father.¹⁶ Consider the great privilege that has been bestowed upon us, that we, who were once “children of wrath” (Eph. 2:3), may be called children of God Most High (1 Jn. 3:1).¹⁷ This was beautifully described by Chrysostom (c. 347-407 AD):

“Consider, my beloved, the worthlessness of your nature and mine. Trace our origin—earth, dust, clay, must, ashes. Dust we are, and unto dust we shall return [Gen. 3:19]. Next, contemplate the inestimable riches of the divine goodness toward us, that you are commanded to call God Father—that one who is earthly is commanded to claim a Heavenly—a mortal to claim an Immortal—a corruptible to claim an Incorruptible—a child of time to claim an eternal Father—that you who, but two or three days ago, were nothing more than clay, are commanded to claim as Father, him who is from everlasting to everlasting God.”¹⁸

Realizing this, as professing children of God, let us imitate his holiness and copy his perfections (cf. Mt. 5:48; 1 Pet. 1:16; Lev. 11:44-45; 19:2; 20:7, 26).¹⁹

In summary, the preface of the Lord’s prayer teaches us to address God as Father, so that we approach him with reverence. Just as nature would tell us that a son should honor his earthly father, how much more so should we honor God who is both our Father and King (cf. Mal. 1:6). At the same time, God invites us to come to him with boldness of faith, promising that his love for us far surpasses our human parents (Ps. 103:13; Isa. 49:15; Jer. 31:3).²⁰ By using the possessive adjective Our, we associate ourselves with all of God’s people who share in the same eternal inheritance, and take on ourselves a sincere love for them. By confessing that God is in heaven, we aspire to eternal and glorious things, which far surpass the temporary and fading things of this world (2 Cor. 4:18; Col. 3:1-2).

“We have a Father, who dwells far above all these heavens, in himself, and in his own unapproachable light—an eldest brother, who has gone before us to prepare a habitation—and an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for us [1 Pet. 1:3-4]. These, these, Christians, deserve your solicitude, your regard, your earnest activity. All things else are toys, trifles, shadows, mere nothings, loss and dung [Phil. 3:8]… Do nothing, say nothing, that belongs to earth… Why do you degrade yourself?”²¹

Footnotes

1
WLC Q189: What doth the preface of the Lord’s prayer teach us? A: The preface of the Lord’s prayer (contained in these words, Our Father which art in heaven), teacheth us, when we pray, to draw near to God with confidence of his fatherly goodness, and our interest therein; with reverence, and all other childlike dispositions, heavenly affections, and due apprehensions of his sovereign power, majesty, and gracious condescension: as also, to pray with and for others.
2
Here, the focus is on the first person of the Godhead. But at the same time, we need to remember that God the Father “cannot be invoked in a proper manner without, at the same time, invoking the Son and the Holy Spirit, because they are one in nature and in honour.” In this way, all true prayers are Trinitarian. “In the economy of grace the Father is represented to us under that character in which we ought to address him in our prayers… as originating and bestowing all saving benefits; the Son, as opening up our way to the Father… and the Spirit, as forming within us our prayers and groans.” Witsius, Herman. Sacred Dissertations on the Lord’s Prayer. Reformation Heritage Books, 2010, pp. 154-155.
3
“God who brought us out of nothing into being, is more strictly our Father than our parents who owed to him their relation to us as well as to their own existence.” Ibid, p. 159.
4
This is a reference to true Christians with respect to the inward spiritual reality. It is essential to be part of the inward invisible church, not merely the outward visible church. “Those who belong to the external communion of the church, but have not been born again by the Holy Spirit, cannot call God their Father in the same sense as believers.” To those who are part of the external administration of the church without partaking of its inward substance, it may be true that God is their ‘Father’ in some sense, with respect to “creation, preservation, and a multitude of blessings which he has liberally bestowed upon us; but that nothing short of his being their Father by regeneration and adoption will promote their real happiness.” Ibid, pp. 169-170.
5
“The reasons for calling God our Father are applicable to every believer in every age; for all have been regenerated by God, and adopted into the privileges of his children.” Ibid, p. 160, 162.
6
The Father and Son are related by nature, but we are sons of God by grace. Ibid, pp. 155, 160.
7
The catechism teaches that believers should be confident in God’s fatherly goodness and ‘our interest therein.’ “By ‘interest’ the catechism means their share of the benefits of God’s goodness. We are to realize that our heavenly Father loves us and cares for us, and that it is not a vain or useless thing to approach his throne in prayer. Such an attitude of confidence in God as our Father comes from the special work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts (Rom. 8:15).” Vos, Johannes Geerhardus. The Westminster Larger Catechism: A Commentary. P&R Publishing, 2002, p. 545.
8
“His Almighty arm, which is ever ready to be stretched forth [on] behalf of his own people, no created power is able to resist.” Ibid, p. 174.
9
Witsius, Herman. Sacred Dissertations on the Lord’s Prayer. Reformation Heritage Books, 2010, p. 169. In an earlier lesson, we discussed the difference between the essence of faith and sense of assurance. The former speaks to true saving faith, while the latter refers to our sense of being saved. It is possible for a true Christian to struggle with assurance (Isa. 50:10; 1 Jn. 5:13; Pss. 88:1-18; 77:1-12; Jonah 2:4, 7). But a deep concern about one’s personal salvation, along with an earnest desire to be found in Christ and to depart from sin, is evidence of being in a state of grace, even though assurance may be weak or absent (Isa. 40:11, 29, 31; Mt. 11:28; 12:20; 26:28). In this regard, there are three main ways that we can gain assurance of salvation: (1) objectively, we can know our salvation by laying hold of the plain promises of God (e.g., Acts 16:31); (2) subjectively, the witness of the Holy Spirit testifies to our spirits that we are children of God (e.g., Gal. 4:6); and, (3) evidentially, we can know our salvation through the fruits that are produced in our lives (e.g., 1 John 2:10). A believer who is troubled by doubts about his own salvation ought to do what he can to remove such doubts, and come to God in prayer. For more details, please refer to the Westminster Larger Catechism 80-81, and the Confession of Faith, chapter 18, paragraphs 3 and 4.
10
“Each individual Christian is part of a great organism, the invisible church, or body of Christ; each Christian is related to other members of this spiritual organism; each must have a concern for the welfare of others. God’s relation to us as Father is something which we share with all other Christian people; therefore we should pray with and for others, as occasion may require and as opportunity may exist.” Vos, Johannes Geerhardus. The Westminster Larger Catechism: A Commentary. P&R Publishing, 2002, p. 546. It is also an ancient saying that, “Everyone who prays shall always pray for himself along with the Church.” Witsius, Herman. Sacred Dissertations on the Lord’s Prayer. Reformation Heritage Books, 2010, p. 167.
11
Ibid, p. 180.
12
Vos, Johannes Geerhardus. The Westminster Larger Catechism: A Commentary. P&R Publishing, 2002, p. 545. Similarly, “in all ages, when believers were called to prepare their minds for addressing God in prayer, it was their unquestionable duty to raise their thoughts to heaven.” Witsius, Herman. Sacred Dissertations on the Lord’s Prayer. Reformation Heritage Books, 2010, p. 174.
13
Witsius, Herman. Sacred Dissertations on the Lord’s Prayer. Reformation Heritage Books, 2010, p. 173.
14
Ibid, p. 180.
15
“After raising your mind to objects truly great, the sight of an army marching with uplifted banners… will appear to you nothing more than the bustling activity of so many ants, toiling within a narrow circle.” Ibid, p. 183.
16
“The sins of the godly are worse than others, because they bring a greater reproach upon religion. For the wicked to sin, there is [nothing else] expected from them; swine will wallow in the mire; but when sheep do so, when the godly sin, that [results] in the dishonor of the gospel. ‘By this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme’ (2 Sam 12:14).” Watson, Thomas. The Lord’s Prayer. London: Banner of Truth Trust, 1965, p. 325. In some respects, the sins of Christians are worse than unbelievers: “For other men sin against natural, you against spiritual principles; others sin against a habit of common notion, you against a habit of divine grace. A natural man sins against the light of God in his conscience, a renewed man against the life of God in his heart… Whenever you sin, it must cost you more grief, because your sins are more grievous; and you must grieve the more for them, because the Spirit is grieved by them. Grief for sin is a standing grace in the new creature, and part of a likeness to the Spirit of God, whatsoever some men dream to the contrary.” Charnock, Stephen. The Charnock Discourses. Devoted Publishing, 2017, p. 190.
17
“Yet this great and dreadful Being we style not simply our Creator, or Lord, or Governor, but our Father, and thus, with his full approbation, claim the dignity and privileges of his children.” Witsius, Herman. Sacred Dissertations on the Lord’s Prayer. Reformation Heritage Books, 2010, p. 174.
18
Ibid, p. 177. Similarly, Gregory of Nyssen (c. 335-395 AD) stated: “When our Lord instructs us to call God our Father in prayer, he intends nothing more, in my opinion, than to [instruct] us [to lead] a high and exalted course of life… When we call the incorruptible, and just, and good Being our Father, he bids us prove the relationship by our manner of life.” Ibid, p. 181.
19
Ibid, p. 182.
20
“Human affection, when compared with the riches of the divine kindness, is miserably poor. All that [human parents] can bestow on [their] most beloved objects is so insignificant, that those who might have been deemed superlatively good, are by comparison pronounced to be evil.” Ibid, pp. 178-179. For this reason, in Luke 11:13, Jesus Christ said, “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”
21
Ibid, p. 184.

Footnotes

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