Over the next few days, the devotions will be focused on a common and frequently utilized prayer within the Christian community, the Lord’s Prayer. By examining the words found in this prayer, the opportunity to obtain a deeper understanding may be possible. This will enrich those times when we share in the prayer either as a community of faith or individually.
The most common source of words used in the Lord’s Prayer is found in Matthew 6:9b-13. A shorter version of these words are located in Luke 11:2-4.
“‘Our Father in heaven,
Matthew 6:9b-13 (NIV)
hallowed be your name,
10 your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.’
The next phrase which occurs in the prayer is “who art in heaven.” This phrase calls to mind the spiritual existence of God. Heaven is a spiritual realm. There are no boundaries or limits to this realm. It cannot be seen by the human eye and the only descriptions of it are found in apocalyptic and visionary writings. Jesus places God in such a setting in the prayer so we understand that God is not confined by the aspects of the physical world of which we are a part.
The concept of heaven has been a bit troublesome over time. In ancient civilizations, the idea of heaven was associated with space and the sky. These areas were unattainable physically by people prior to the onset of the scientific and industrial ages. So the people became accustomed to viewing heaven as above them. Since we have a different understanding of sky and space, our understanding of heaven shifts. As mentioned above, our understanding no longer is a place which we can point to but instead we know heaven as a spiritual realm which is not physically obtainable.
In today’s phrase from the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus teaches us that God is a spiritual being who exists in a spiritual realm.
To read Part 1 – Click here
A Faith Understanding 
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