WHO ART IN HEAVEN

“Our Father who art in heaven.”

Jesus does not teach us to pray this way in order to differentiate between our earthly fathers and our heavenly Father. He is reminding us about the character of God, our Father. Our Father is in heaven. We are on earth. That is how completely other God is from us. He is holy. We are not.

Our Father is absolutely separate from sin and evil while we are immersed in them. He is eternal while we live in time. He is life and we are bound to bodies of death. Our Father is surrounded by holy angels while our community is made up of our fellow fallen creatures. In heaven, our Father sees all things, the beginning from the end. We have no idea what the next moment holds for us.

Our Father in heaven is perfect Lover of our souls. He is Giver of peace and contentment. He is unchanging, the rock of our hope from which our anchor will never slip. Our Father is in heaven from where his protection of our lives and souls is both certain and sure. From heaven he never loses sight of us. From heaven he never fails to hear our petitions. His will is never frustrated and he always accomplishes that which he intends. Our Father is in heaven.

What comfort and assurance is afforded us in this brief clause! God is in heaven and as long as he is in heaven, all is well with my soul and my prayers!