Luke 10:21-22, Isaiah 49:14-18
We start this foundational, common, shared, prayer with an address
to God. Out of all of the ways that Jesus could start a prayer, and could
teach us to start a prayer, Jesus starts with an intimate address of God. It is
a relational address. It is a familial address. It isn’t distant, or vague, and
isn’t profoundly theological until now.
That address sets the stage for how centuries of Christians have
viewed God. It is the basic understanding that moves this prayer, set in two
intimate words to start everything off. While there are issues with our
earthly fathers, present or absent, remembered or lived with, Christ’s
choice of this phrase of us to start things off is significant.
This isn’t the only intimate phrase that we find to describe God in
Scripture. Don’t overlook the others, as they make it possible for the
disciples (and us) to even consider being able to approach the Creator of
Heaven and Earth as though we are part of the family.
