This then is how you should pray – Our Father. Remember, it’s how we should pray – not exactly word-for-word what we should pray.
I had to laugh, sadly, when I read the words below in a commentary on these four words in Matthew 6:9.
✏️ Not always in these words, but always to this sense, and in this manner. None ever thought Christians obliged to use no other words than these in prayer, though none must deny the lawfulness of using those words which Christ hath sanctified. 1Poole, M. (1853). Annotations upon the Holy Bible (Vol. 3, p. 27). Robert Carter and Brothers.
Annotations upon the Holy Bible
Of course, that was back in 1853. Coming up on nearly 200 years ago. Maybe, back then, they knew something that we don’t seem to be able to understand or remember. Or maybe we just can’t come up with the words on our own. Especially if we’re with other people praying out loud. For many of us – me included – it’s rarely easy, often uncomfortable, but usually possible, to some extent.
Our Father in Heaven is article #2 in the series: Lord's Prayer. Click button to view titles for entire seriesBefore we get any deeper into it – let’s check out the entire prayer model. Yes – model – pattern – but not to merely be recited mindlessly.
Prayer – Matthew
Mt 6:9…
“ ‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
Mt 6:10 your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Mt 6:11 Give us today our daily bread.
Mt 6:12 Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
Mt 6:13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.’ …
Let’s begin our examination of “Our Father in Heaven” in the middle. We’ll check out “Father” first – then get into the mind-blowing (at that time) word we read as “Our”.
The Father
There’s something about some words in the Bible, like the letters f-a-t-h-e-r. We read them. We notice things, at least in the back of our mind. But we don’t always think about what they are. Especially when those things aren’t consistent. For instance:
📖† 12.12 πατήρd, πατρός m; αββα (a Greek transliteration of an Aramaic word meaning ‘father’): (titles for God, literally ‘father’) one who combines aspects of supernatural authority and care for his people—‘Father.’ 2Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). In Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition., Vol. 1, p. 139). United Bible Societies.
Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament
So far – so good. Kind of. But we’ll see in the next excerpt, it’s not consistent.
📖† In a number of languages it is necessary to distinguish clearly between ‘Father’ when referring to the heavenly Father and ‘father’ as a reference to a human father. The use of capitalization is quite satisfactory for the individual who is reading a text but not for one who is hearing it read, and since more people hear a text read than read it for themselves, it is essential that the reference of ‘Father’ be clear. In order to identify the use of ‘Father’ as a title for God, it is possible in many languages to use ‘Father in heaven’ or ‘Father above’ or ‘Father God.’ In some languages it may even be necessary to identify the ‘Father’ as the creator and therefore employ a phrase such as ‘our Father who created us.’ 3Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). In Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition., Vol. 1, p. 139). United Bible Societies.
Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament
Did you see the inconsistency?
Even in the first excerpt, references to God were capitalized once, but were lowercase once as well. Then, in the second excerpt, the same author, describing the same Greek word, writes about the importance of not only the Capital F – but also being aware to be sure the reader can tell it’s God the Father.
Now, to fill in more details on ambiguous words, and particularly with f-a-t-h-e-r in the Bible, let’s look at one more excerpt.
📖† A particularly complicating factor involved in the use of ‘Father’ as a title for God is its occurrence without a pronominal reference as to whose father is involved. For example, in a number of languages one cannot speak of ‘father’ without indicating whose father, because a person does not become a father except by some relationship to another individual. Therefore, one must always speak of ‘my father’ or ‘his father’ and never simply ‘the father.’ In passages in which Jesus is speaking of ‘the Father’ in relationship to himself, it is necessary usually to employ a phrase such as ‘my Father.’ When, however, ‘Father’ is used as a title for ‘God’ in his relationship to people generally, then one may speak of ‘our Father’ (normally with an inclusive first person plural pronoun if the language in question makes a distinction between inclusive and exclusive first person plural pronoun referents). 4Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). In Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition., Vol. 1, p. 139). United Bible Societies.
Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament
Not to get too deep into the grammar, but – that comment about using the first-person plural, “us”, to mean both the speaker and those hearing the speaker – it’s fine today. However. it’s also the lead-in to the next segment of today’s topic.
Our Father – but who is “us” when Jesus says “our”?
I thought I’d start off my research with a very simple, very general question. I just typed in the following and asked for a response from my eLibrary AI.
❓ “Our Father in heaven”
The response mostly matched what I expected, but with one twist.
🤖✨ The phrase “Our Father in Heaven” would have struck Jesus’ disciples as revolutionary, since Jewish tradition treated God’s name with such reverence that it was rarely spoken aloud.1 This opening invocation establishes two essential dimensions of prayer: intimate relationship and transcendent authority.
The relational dimension centers on the word “our.” This corporate language signals that prayer is not a solitary activity but a shared practice—we pray with and for one another.2 The plural possessive makes grammatical sense only when a family gathers together, much like children assembling to discuss family matters with their father.3 By calling God “our Father,” believers enter into a relationship that Jesus himself enjoys, receiving something of his own connection with God.2 This fatherhood operates not through biological kinship but through Christ’s gracious work, uniting believers into the trinitarian community.4
The phrase “in heaven” balances intimacy with transcendence. While this designation might simply distinguish God from earthly fathers, it also conveys God’s infinite greatness and righteous transcendence—God’s sovereignty over all creation.2 Though God functions as our Father who delights in hearing our concerns, he remains the mighty Creator and Sovereign, able to respond with both power and wisdom.4 Heaven functions as “God’s space, where God’s writ runs and God’s future purposes are waiting in the wings.”4
The phrase appears frequently throughout Matthew’s gospel—twenty times in various forms—but rarely in the other gospels, making it distinctively important to Matthew’s theological vision.5 This opening establishes the prayer’s foundation: approaching God with both the confidence of children and the reverence due to the Almighty.
1 Joshua Young-Gi Hong, Building a House of Prayer: 18 Prayer Models for Approaching God’s Throne, ed. David A. Womack (Alachua, FL: Bridge-Logos, 2008), 14.
2 Douglas Sean O’Donnell, Matthew: All Authority in Heaven and on Earth, ed. R. Kent Hughes, Preaching the Word (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2013), 165–166.
3 Tim Stafford, Surprised by Jesus: His Agenda for Changing Everything in A.D. 30 and Today (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Books, 2006), 140.
4 Tim Chester, The Message of Prayer: Approaching the Throne of Grace, ed. Derek Tidball, The Bible Speaks Today: Bible Themes Series (Nottingham, England: Inter-Varsity Press, 2003), 159–160.
5 David J. Clark, Analyzing & Translating New Testament Discourse, Studies in Koine Greek (Dallas, TX: Fontes Press, 2019).
The part about “Our Father in Heaven” being revolutionary was interesting. Something we don’t see when, or maybe especially when, we pay attention to the Greek words. For those that know Latin, or other languages with a similar sounding word for “father”, it’s πατήρ [pater /pat·ayr/]. Just “father”.
Why is that important? The assumption among many scholars is that Jesus actually spoke in Aramaic, and probably used a term that was more like the word that Jewish people never spoke – or spelled out entirely – YHWH. That would be revolutionary on multiple counts.
However, regardless of the word Jesus actually spoke, the intimate relationship and Jesus’ use of the word we read as “our” was still something new to Jews at that time.
What was new and surprising in “Our Father”?
There were two possibilities here for something new. One was the relationships above. The other was the use of the word, whatever it was, for “f-a-t-h-e-r ” that Jesus used. I decided to go for the second, and add something not provided in the initial response.
❓ Is Mt 6.9 the first time Jesus referred to God as His Father?
Honestly, probably not. And yet, it could be something about the word Jesus did use that wasn’t included in the first response. Sometimes general questions lead to unexpected answers. Other times, they leave things out. Follow-up questions need to try to get the full answer.
The second response was:
🤖✨ No, Matthew 6:9 is not the first time Jesus referred to God as his Father. Earlier in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus refers to “your Father in heaven” in Matthew 5:16, 5:45, and 5:48 (Matt 5:48–6:1), and he continues this pattern through 6:1-8 with references to “your Father” (Matt 5:48–6:1, 4, 6, 8). These passages all precede the Lord’s Prayer in 6:9.
What makes Matthew 6:9 distinctive is not that it’s the first time Jesus uses this language, but rather that Jesus teaches his disciples to pray using “our Father”—a plural form—whereas he himself never addresses God as “our Father”1. His sonship differed from that of his followers because he was by nature the Son, while they were sons through adoption1. This distinction appears clearly in John 20:17 and throughout Matthew, where Jesus refers to “your” Father and “my” Father but never “our” Father1.
The broader significance of Matthew 6:9 lies in its role as the opening invocation of the prayer Jesus teaches his disciples. Jesus referred to God as Father no fewer than sixty times in Matthew, with seventeen of those occurrences in the Sermon on the Mount2. This frequency reflects how central the fatherhood of God was to Jesus’ teaching about discipleship and relationship with the divine.
1 Robert H. Stein, “Fatherhood of God,” in Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology, Baker Reference Library (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1996), 247.
2 Edward P. Meadors, “The Gospel of Matthew,” in What the New Testament Authors Really Cared about: A Survey of Their Writings, ed. Kenneth Berding and Matt Williams (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Academic, 2015), 46.
OK – we’re getting closer. But there’s still something missing.
Our Father = Jesus Father and “our” Father
You’re maybe thinking – Our Father = Jesus Father and “our” Father – what does that mean? If you are – good job!
I had to ask one more question to get to the bottom of the question: ‘What does “Our Father” actually mean’?
❓ So, when Jesus said to pray with “Our Father”, He was including Himself as well as us – and this was the first that so many commentaries was so revolutionary / new/ surprising?
When it told me it requires clarification – that’s usually AI speak for “no, let me straighten you out.”
Fortunately, it did finally give me what we need.
🤖✨ Your interpretation requires clarification based on what the search results actually show. In Matthew 6:9, Jesus teaches the disciples to pray “Our Father in heaven,” and this pronoun undoubtedly includes Jesus himself.1 However, this doesn’t mean Jesus is saying “we pray together” in the way you’re suggesting.
The critical distinction emerges when examining Jesus’ own prayer language elsewhere. Jesus never refers to God as “our” Father—he speaks of “my Father” or “your Father” but never “our Father.”2 In John 20:17, Jesus tells Mary, “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God,” clearly distinguishing between his relationship with God and that of his disciples. Both he and the disciples are “sons” of God and can call God “Father,” but the disciples had become sons by adoption.2
What makes the Lord’s Prayer revolutionary is not that Jesus includes himself in the prayer, but rather that when Jesus taught his disciples to pray “our Father,” it was a revolutionary concept for them. In the Old Testament, the word Father is used in reference to God only fourteen times and always refers to God as the Father of the nation of Israel. It is never used in a personal sense to refer to God as my Father personally or even as our Father collectively.3
The innovation lies in democratizing access to intimate relationship with God. Jesus himself had been calling God “Father” in every one of his prayers. Now Jesus transfers this privilege to his disciples.4 By teaching disciples to address God as “our Father,” Jesus grants them participation in a filial relationship previously unavailable to them—not by including himself in their prayer, but by extending to them the intimacy he alone had previously enjoyed.
1Youngmo Cho, Spirit and Kingdom in the Writings of Luke and Paul: An Attempt to Reconcile These Concepts (Milton Keynes: Paternoster, 2005), 81.
2 Robert H. Stein, The Method and Message of Jesus’ Teachings (Louisville, KY; London: Westminster John Knox Press, 1994), 88–89.
3 Todd Hudson, So Much More: Moving Beyond Kingdom Principles to Kingdom Power (Lake Mary, FL: Creation House, 2014). [See here.]
4 R.C. Sproul, Before the Face of God: Book 2: A Daily Guide for Living from the Gospel of Luke (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House; Ligonier Ministries, 1993). [See here.]
And there we have it. “Our” depends on who says it.
Jesus’ relationship with The Father is not the same as our relationship with The Father
When Jesus tells us to model our prayer by saying “Our Father”, He’s not granting equivalence.
Look at it this way. The Father is Jesus, “father” – Joseph is Jesus’ step-father.
By the same token, we all have earthly fathers – and we are adopted children of The Father. That is, adopted children of Jesus’ Father.
The reference above to John 20:17, when Jesus spoke to Mary Magdalene tells us something about this:
Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene – John
…
Jn 20:17 Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ”
…
Even though the Greek words for “Father” and “God” are identical, Jesus still made the distinction between His Father and the Father of Mary and the disciples. The most apparent reason for that seems to be the relationship difference above.
There’s a passage in Romans where Paul wrote about the adoption factor in our (humans) relationship with God. While we have the breath of God in us, and as believers we also have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, Jesus is the Son of God – part of the Trinity of God.
Future Glory – Romans
Ro 8:18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 19 The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.
Ro 8:22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.
Ro 8:26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.
And so, while Jesus often prayed to His Father, and Jesus told us to pray to our Father – it’s different. There’s a degree of separation between us and Jesus’ Father, in that He adopted us. Jesus is the Son of God. We are adopted children of God.
Let’s face it. Being adopted by God the Father is still incredibly, miraculously awesome. But we aren’t Jesus. We aren’t God.
Now that we’ve seen that difference and understand more about “our Father”, there’s still one more piece to the phrase. Since Jesus said, “Our Father in Heaven” – what does it mean and why did He put it that way?
Our Father (who art) in Heaven
Some of us who are “wise” enough – or is it really just “old” enough – to remember “Our Father who art in Heaven”, might wonder what happened to the “who art”? For that matter, why was it there in the first place?
Well, I decided to check it out. I wanted to know if we’re missing anything by not having “who art” or “who is” in our translations anymore. If you don’t happen to know what I’m talking about, let’s go to an old and as literal as possible translation.
‘Our Father who art in the heavens!
Young, R. (1997). Young’s Literal Translation (Mt 6:9). Logos Bible Software.
Doesn’t that make you wonder – how did we get seven words down to four – and what’s missing?
I decided to try to find out. I chose Gemini, but with an eye to where it went to find an answer. Since it went to Bible Hub and Bible Gateway, both excellent sources, two quick exchanges gave me what I was looking for. It fits in exactly with what we just looked at with “Our Father”.
❓ What is in the Greek that has the 1984 NIV with “Our Father in heaven,” but Young’s literal translation with “‘Our Father who art in the heavens! ” Is it just grammar differences when Young’s was translated? I don’t see anything that accounts for adding “who art/who is” in the Greek I have for that verse.
🤖♊ Yes — that “who art / who is” is coming from the Greek article-plus-participle construction, not from an extra Greek word for “art.” In Matthew 6:9 the Greek is Παˊτερἡμῶνὁἐντοῖςοὐρανοῖς, literally something like “our Father, the one in the heavens,” and translators supply “who is/art” to make natural English.
So Young’s Literal is being very literal in structure, while NIV is smoothing the phrase into normal English by turning that same construction into “Our Father in heaven”. Greek often omits a form of “to be” that English needs to complete the sentence, so the translator is not adding new meaning so much as making the phrase readable.
In other words, the difference is mostly grammar and translation style, not a different underlying text. Young’s “who art in the heavens” reflects the Greek article ὁ plus the prepositional phrase ἐντοῖςοὐρανοῖς, while NIV compresses that into a fluent English location phrase.
That sounded like what we just went through above – but I wanted to be certain, so I asked it to confirm what I thought it was pointing out.
❓ That actually lines up with something I’m writing about even for “our Father” – where Jesus repeats Father and God, even with the same Greek word at least – when He appears to Mary Magdelane after the resurrection – and He clearly speaks of His Father and His God – as opposed to the disciples God and Father. IE – pointing out a difference and making sure because of the language that people knew exactly “which” Father and God was being mentioned.
🤖♊ Yes — that is exactly the kind of distinction the Greek can support, even when the English has to smooth it out. In John 20:17, Jesus says, “my Father and your Father, and my God and your God,” and the Greek repeats the same relational terms so the contrast is explicit.
That does not mean the Greek uses two different words for “Father” or “God” there; it means the repeated wording marks relationship and distinction. Jesus is not merely saying “Father” in a generic sense, but identifying His own relation to the Father and then separately the disciples’ relation to the Father.
That fits your point well: in Matthew 6:9, “Our Father in heaven” can be expanded in Greek-style English as “our Father, the one in the heavens,” while in John 20:17 Jesus is intentionally distinguishing “my Father” from “your Father” and “my God” from “your God”. The repetition helps make sure readers hear the difference in scope, not just the same title applied identically.
So yes, this is more than just translation style; it is a deliberate textual distinction that the Greek makes very clear.
That confirmed the idea that it was, again, about relationships.
✍️ My first thought after reading that wasn’t about what it said. Rather, it was about something else that we don’t do today. Back then, most people couldn’t read. And there wasn’t that much to be read. Everything had to be manually copied! And so, things were read by someone – and heard by most people. The spoken language had to be clear. There were no capital letters or anything like that.
Ultimately, what we lost is a large measure of accessibility with the modern translations. The reply tends to indicate this was necessary when translating to English. But really, it’s not. After all, it did say my approximation of an extended, close to literal translation – could be done. So, the loss of accessibility is pretty much a matter of choice. Seemingly more driven to satisfy our short attention spans and desire to put in as little effort as possible to read something.
In any case, we now know that “in Heaven” is an identifier – a tool to be sure there’s no mistake about which f-a-t-h-e-r Jesus was talking about. Of course, it was especially important back then, because it was very much a new concept for people in those days.
Conclusion: Who is “Our Father in Heaven”?
Quite simply, our Father in Heaven is Jesus’ Father in Heaven. The difference, which is not obvious in our English translations is the relationship we have with Father God as compared to Jesus’ relationship with His Father.
In other words, it’s the same person of the Trinity. But the relationships are quite different. After all, Jesus is God – we aren’t. There’s so much behind the meaning of the Greek words – and we just don’t get it with a 4-word English translation.
I pray this helps to have a better understanding. To appreciate the difference that goes way beyond Jesus being, in our terms, the Son of God while we are adopted children of God. And finally, that we realize how incredible the promises are to us, even as adopted children. It’s all so much more than we would think of in terms of being adopted here in this life on this planet.
What’s next with The Lord’s Prayer?
We’ve now looked at:
- How not to pray
- How to pray
- Something about the relationship we have with The Father, as adopted children.
The next segment will be “Hallowed be your name”, where we find out whether our current understanding of what “hallowed” means lines up with what it meant back when Jesus gave it to us as part of the model prayer.
Footnotes:
- 1Poole, M. (1853). Annotations upon the Holy Bible (Vol. 3, p. 27). Robert Carter and Brothers.
- 2Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). In Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition., Vol. 1, p. 139). United Bible Societies.
- 3Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). In Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition., Vol. 1, p. 139). United Bible Societies.
- 4Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). In Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition., Vol. 1, p. 139). United Bible Societies.
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