Know Who You’re Talking To
We are beginning a series of messages on The Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6. Together we will see that prayer begins with recognition of who God is and leads us to participation in his kingdom and will, trust him to be our provider, ask for and accept forgiveness, and trust him to lead us away from trials.
This portion of scripture is also known as the “Our Father”. Jesus is speaking to his followers here in the Sermon on the Mount, which is the GSOAT (greatest sermon of all time), and his disciples ask Jesus to teach them to pray. This is fascinating! They didn’t ask for him to teach them to preach, lead, perform miracles or anything else. The one thing they most identified as needing his instruction in was the area of prayer.
I believe that this is as John Mark Comer has said, “The disciples sensed what was true, that Jesus’ extraordinary outward life with people was a result of his extraordinary inward life with God.”
Here Jesus begins his teaching on prayer and from his very first words we see that Jesus is positioning us to receive from God more than he is going to God with demands. Our posture as we come before God is important! You could say, a life of impactful prayer begins with a recognition of who you’re praying to.
When I think about someone who is of importance, or at least perceived self-importance, feels slighted or disrespected they might lash out, “You better know who you’re talking to!” I believe this is Jesus’ first teaching on prayer. Not that God is wielding threats wanting us to come before him as we pray peeing our spiritual or literal pants but that we need to understand prayer is an incredible honor and blessing that we don’t deserve! We have access to the God of the universe and he is holy!
We must recognize that God’s position is one of holiness. “Our Father in heaven,” Jesus begins. While God is in Heaven, this is not referring exclusively to the place where we go when we die. This word is speaking to the existence of God in the air we are breathing. God is near, God is omnipresent, and God is over all things.
Colossians 1 tells us that Jesus is the firstborn of all creation, author of all created things, before all things, and holding everything together. These traits are also true of all parts of the Trinity. God is the creator (Genesis 1:1) and the sustainer (Psalm 54:4). It all starts with God, ends with God, and God is everything in between.
God is holy, which means to be set apart or different. To be God, one would have to be holy. Like Sesame Street taught us, when you compare God to humanity, one of these things is not like the other. God is powerful, and we are weak. God is all-knowing, and we are often foolish. God is the creator, and we are the created. God is perfect, and we are sinful. Our approach to God must be founded on an understanding of who we are in light of who God is.
God’s holiness is also displayed in his person. Holy is the most accurate description of God; it’s his defining characteristic. If you were to do superlatives for all living beings ever, God would be voted “Most Holy”.
If you were in a room and Shaquille O’Neal walked in, it would be noticeable that he is a large human. At seven feet one inch and over 320 pounds, he stands out as different from most human beings. Just as you might see Shaq and say “That is a big person”, when we encounter God, we cannot help but express that he is overwhelmingly, shockingly, prolifically holy. This is not God’s only characteristic but is the one that stands out the most.
In Isaiah, we are given a prophetic glimpse into God’s Heavenly throne room. In this place, day and night, angels circle the throne of God and repeat back to one another, “Holy, Holy, Holy”. This isn’t because the record is stuck or that’s the only word they know. They repeat this because as they circle God’s throne, with each lap, they gain a new perspective of his great and awesome holiness. They would say something else, but they haven’t gotten past how holy he is.
Brothers and sisters, do we know who we’re talking to? We are talking to the living creator of the universe. When we pray, the God of ALL gods bends his ear to hear us and listen. R.C. Sproul said, “The failure of modern evangelicalism is the failure to understand the holiness of God.”
This is the beginning of a life of prayer. To be humbled at the awesomeness of our God. To be overwhelmed with how holy he is and still to have confidence to walk into his presence as a child does with their loving father!
9 “Therefore, you should pray like this:
Our Father in heaven,
your name be honored as holy.
