Plan One: Fearing, Loving, & Trusting GodSample

THE LORD’S PRAYER

In the Lord’s Prayer, the opening address, “Our Father [Abba, Daddy],” is more than a term of endearment; it also recognizes our covenant relationship with God. Elsewhere in Scripture, we are collectively called the bride of Christ. We are family. We are all brothers and sisters who have been adopted into God’s family. His covenant with us is one of family.

He sent His only Son to make atonement for our sins. He sent His Holy Spirit to woo us to His love and give us the inclination to seek Him. He chose to create His holy temple within us. God offers us the opportunity to join His family and enter into a covenant relationship with Him. This is the God we address when we pray “Our Father who is in heaven.”

The fear of the Lord can only be properly understood within the context of a covenant family. It is like a child who, on the one hand, deeply knows that their father loves unconditionally but, on the other hand, knows that their loving father is to be deeply respected and honored and will discipline appropriately for disobedience. Like a child’s respect for their earthly father, the fear of the Lord is an awesome reverence for God.

Only when this wondrous love of God, our Abba Father, is received can we move on to the next portion of the Lord’s prayer: “hallowed be your name.” This God, who we just called Abba, has a name to be revered; it is holy. I must do nothing to bring disrespect and dishonor to Him. Yes, I may call Him my loving, heavenly, Abba-Father, but I must utter those words with reverence, awe, and, yes, fear.

Once we know “Our Abba, who is in heaven,” once His love has captivated our heart, once His name is hallowed and what we do and say brings reverence and awe to His most holy name…we have finally found the fear of the Lord—the proper fear of Abba. Only then does the rest of the Lord’s Prayer fit. With trust, we can say, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” We can receive from Abba the forgiveness of our sins that he “may be feared.”

This loving Abba, whose name is hallowed, is the One we implicitly trust to be right and good.