4 Which Art in Heaven
Which Art in Heaven
The vitality of prayer lies largely in the vision of God that prompts it. Drab thoughts of God make prayer dull. (Could this be your problem?) A book was once published with the title Great Prayers of the Bible: the mark of great prayers, in the Bible or elsewhere, is that they express a great awareness of a great God.
The invocation of God in the Lord’s Prayer draws us into just such an awareness. “Our Father” speaks of the quality and depth of God’s love to Christ’s people—all the sustained care and concern that a perfect father could show. “Which art in heaven” sets before us the fact that our divine Father is great—eternal, infinite, almighty: thus it makes us realize that God’s love is unchanging, unlimited, unconquerable in its purpose, and more than able to deal with all the needs we bring when we pray. Prayer shaped and supported by thoughts like this will not be dull
Heaven
Since God is spirit, “heaven” here cannot signify a place remote from us which he inhabits. The Greek gods were thought of as spending most of their time far away from earth in the celestial equivalent of the Bahamas, but the God of the Bible is not like this. Granted, the “heaven” where saints and angels dwell has to be thought of as a sort of locality, because saints and angels, as God’s creatures, exist in space and time; but when the Creator is said to be “in heaven” the thought is that he exists on a different plane from us, rather than in a different place. That God in heaven is always near to his children on earth is something which the Bible takes for granted throughout.
Worship
Knowledge of God’s greatness should both humble us (cut us down to size!) and move us to worship. The Lord’s Prayer was meant to teach us, not just to ask for things, but also to worship God for all that he is, and thus to hallow his name in our own hearts. Angels and saints in glory worship God as Father (Ephesians 3:14ff.), and so on earth must we.
Knowing that our Father God is in heaven, or (putting it the other way round) knowing that God in heaven is our Father, is meant to increase our wonder, joy, and sense of privilege at being his children and being given the “hot line” or prayer for communication with him. “Hot line” it truly is, for though he is Lord of the worlds, he always has time for us; his eye is on everything every moment, yet we always have his full attention whenever we call on him. Marvelous! But have we really taken it in? It merits much thought, and there are two roads along which our minds can travel in order to grasp it properly.
Either: think first of God’s greatness, as the infinite and eternal Creator who “dwells in unapproachable light” (1 Timothy 6:16), apparently remote. Think of Solomon’s question, “Will God dwell indeed with man on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain thee . . . ” (2 Chronicles 6:18). But then think of what is in effect God’s reply to Solomon: “Thus says the high and lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: ‘I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and humble spirit . . . ’” (Isaiah 57:15). And then remind yourself that this promise finds its deepest fulfillment when God becomes the Father of insignificant sinful mortals like us, sinners who are contrite in repentance and humble in acknowledging their ill-desert and fleeing by faith to Jesus for refuge. For this awesome, holy, transcendent God stoops down in love to lift us up from the gutter, so to speak, brings us into his family, gives himself to us in unstinting fellowship, and thus enriches us forever.
Or: think of God’s fatherhood, and then remind yourself that he is “in heaven” (a “heavenly” Father, as we say); which means that he is free from all the limitations, inadequacies, and flaws that are found in earthly parents, and that his fatherhood, like all his other relationships, is from every standpoint absolutely ideal, perfect and glorious. Dwell on the fact that there is no better father, no parent more deeply committed to his children’s welfare, or more wise and generous in promoting it, than God the Creator.
Let your thoughts move to and fro like an accelerating pendulum, taking ever wider swings. “He’s my Father—and he’s God in heaven; he’s God in heaven—and he’s my Father! It’s beyond belief—but it’s true!” Grasp this, or rather, let it grasp you; then tell God what you feel about it; and that will be the worship which our Lord wanted to evoke when he gave us this thought-pattern for the invocation of the One who is both his Father and ours.
Further Bible Study
In touch with God transcendent:
Isaiah 40
Questions for Thought and Discussion
What is the importance of the fact that the God to whom we pray is in heaven?
What is meant by saying that God “exists on a different plane from us, rather than in a different place”? What does this tell us about God?
What response should a knowledge of God’s greatness evoke in us?