[Jesus speaking]
This, then, is how you should pray: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,”

Jesus gave us this prayer as a pattern prayer, a manner to model prayer after. He said previously that we were not supposed to babble and repeat prayers endlessly, as if the more we say, the more power our prayers have. And he also said that we should not pray for show, but be sincere in our prayer. Now he gives us an incredible gift — a great pattern to use for prayer each day.

I use the Lord’s Prayer for my pattern to start my day before writing my devotionals. This first part gives us three focal points to meditate on. First, the fact that God is our Father. Good fathers protect, provide, instruct, discipline, encourage, love, demonstrate fortitude and resilience, and act as a leader of the family and a model for how to make good decisions in tough times. When I think of all the promises in God’s Word pertaining to these few characteristics of God as my Father, it is a vast number.

What does it mean that God is my good Father? It means he cares about the big and the small things, he delights in me, and he wants to lead me and let me grow into maturity to make good life decisions.

Second, he lives in heaven. He doesn’t just live in heaven, he reigns there. And he doesn’t only reign there, he prepares homes for all of his children there. Heaven is our ultimate hope and heritage. It is our eternal destination.

And third, his name is hallowed, or highly honored and respected. Like a warrior who has proven to be worth 50 men, or an athlete who has broken records across many events, or a virtuoso who enters a room playing the violin. Much more than all of these combined, is how God’s name is revered and honored. Why is he so honored? It is because of who he is and what he has done and will do. I like to thank him for the incredible ways he has acted in my life and in my world!

Let us reflect on these great attributes of God as we go through the day. And let us be encouraged by the incredible power, majesty, and relatability of our God.

Lord, thank you for giving us this pattern prayer, where the first part starts off with focusing on who you are. Thank you for showing me how important it is that before we get into all the things that we want or need, or help that we could ask for, to focus on you first. When we focus on you first, everything else comes into the right perspective. Help me to keep the right perspective as I go through my days!