Our Father…! (Part 1) (Matthew 6:5-10)

[Stephan Choe]

February 17, 2026

Key verses 9-10: “This, then, is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.’”

In a sense, prayer is like an entrance into the life of faith. Whoever begins to believe in God and Jesus Christ begins with a life of prayer.

Generally, there is no rule about how or what we should pray for, because prayer is a conversation between God and us. Therefore, we can pray however we want. Nevertheless, Jesus gave us a model prayer. With this prayer, Jesus explains what we should pray for.

I want to explain this model prayer. This prayer consists of two parts. The first part consists of concerns regarding our relationship with God. The second part consists of concerns regarding our needs.

Today I will explain the first part of the Lord's Prayer, and next Sunday I will explain the second part. First, I would like to explain Jesus' introductory words to the Lord's Prayer. Then I will explain the first part of the Lord's Prayer.

1. Introduction to the Lord's Prayer (5-8)

Jesus first teaches us what we should avoid.

He says: “When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you” (5-6).

Jesus is saying here that we should not pray with the intention of being praised by others for our piety. Such people cannot receive a blessing from God because they pray to be praised by others. Such a prayer is hypocritical.

Jesus continues: “And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think that because of their many words they will be heard. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him” (7-8).

“Babble” here means repeating the same word several times.

Why don’t we need to babble?

Because God wants to fulfill our requests if they are good for us. God already knows what we need before we ask him. He doesn’t want us to repeat our requests unnecessarily out of unbelief. We should have childlike faith in his answering prayers.

Now I would like to discuss the first part of the Lord’s Prayer.

2. The First Part of the Lord’s Prayer (9-10)

First: “Our Father in heaven!”

This is how we address God. Jesus teaches us that we should address God as “our Father!” Who can address God as "our Father"? Certainly someone who is a child of God.

For some Christians, addressing God as Father feels strange. They understand God as the creator or ruler of the world. God is unimaginably great and invisible to them. They feel as if God is infinitely far away. They aren't sure if God knows their needs and would care for them.

But Jesus teaches us that we should address God as "our Father" or "our Dad." Although God, as ruler of the universe, has much to do, he always has time for each of us and is with us. He gladly listens to us and grants our requests. That is truly amazing. We have such a Father. That is why the Bible says:

“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And the reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been revealed; but we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:1-2).

We are children of God. And God loves us very much. He loves us so much that he became human, took all our guilt upon himself, and died on the cross to save us from the power of death and give us eternal life. This Father hears our prayers with great joy.

Therefore, we should pray to God with the awareness that we are speaking to our dear heavenly Father, who loves us very much and is eager to grant our request. We should begin to pray with gratitude for his love and the assurance that his prayers will be answered.

What specifically should we pray for? Jesus teaches us that we should first pray that God's name is hallowed, his kingdom comes, and his will is done.

"Hallowed be your name!"

This means that God is recognized, honored, and praised as God. It expresses the desire that God's name and nature be acknowledged as unique, holy, and venerable—both in prayer and in daily life through respectful conduct.

Recognizing God as God, honoring and praising Him—this is the way to sanctify God. We should pray that God is recognized, honored, and praised as God and Ruler of the world by both believers and unbelievers, indeed by all creatures. In this way, God is to be sanctified by all creation, and those who are not yet believers are to come to faith in God and praise Him.

Why is it important that we first pray that God is recognized, honored, and praised as God?

Because God is the Creator and Ruler of all things and also our personal God. This is a fundamental truth.

That is why David says in Psalm 19:2-5:

“The heavens declare God’s glory, and the expanse of the heavens bears witness to his great works. Day after day they pour forth speech, and night after night they reveal knowledge. They speak without speech, and their voice is silent; yet their message reaches all the earth.”

The Sermon to the Birds by Francis of Assisi is well-known. Francis was a monk around 1300. He said: “My brothers, birds! You must praise your Creator greatly and always love him; he has given you feathers for clothing, wings for flight, and everything you need.”

If birds are to praise and love God, how much more should humans praise and thank God! We should not forget our duty to thank and praise God, for we are the crown of God’s creation. Therefore, in our prayers, we should first and foremost honor and praise God.

Unfortunately, we often forget that God is our Creator and Lord, and we don't thank Him. That's why God says, "The ox knows its owner and the donkey its manger, but my people do not know me or who God is" (Isaiah 1:3).

We should not forget to praise and thank God as our Creator and Lord.

"Hallowed be your name!" – With this prayer, we also mean that God's name is honored and praised through our actions and our words.

Being called Christians means, in a certain sense, that we represent Christ or God. Therefore, when we do evil, we bring God's name into disrepute. We should be aware that we are God's representatives. Therefore, we should ask God to help us to reflect God's holiness and goodness well through our actions and our words. We absolutely need this prayer.

“Hallowed be your name” – this prayer also means that we pray that God’s name may be glorified through all events. Various things happen in the world. There are good things and also seemingly bad things, such as the war in Ukraine. And we often don’t know why God allows bad things to happen. But we should believe in God’s perfect providence and pray to God: “Hallowed be your name.”

After the prayer “Hallowed be your name,” we are now to pray:

“Your kingdom come.”

What does this prayer mean? God’s kingdom means God’s rule. When Jesus began his ministry as Christ, he said, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven (or “the kingdom of God” in Mark 1:15) has come near!” (3:1).

What are we asking God for with this prayer? With this prayer, we are asking for roughly three things:

First, we are asking God that God’s rule may be in us and among us.

We wish that everything would happen according to our wishes. For example, that we would like to achieve our own goals. So, in our hearts, we pray, “Our kingdom come!” This is normal human nature. We just don’t speak it quite so literally.

But we are not masters over God; God is master over us. Our rule is our selfishness. That is a bad rule. But God is the true master, and his rule is good. Therefore, we should pray like this: “Your kingdom come!”

With this prayer, we ask God to establish His rule over us. God's rule should be evident in our hearts and in our relationships with others. When His rule is established, God is glorified, and we are blessed, and other people are blessed as well. That is the kingdom of God.

Therefore, we should always pray: “Your kingdom come!”

“Your kingdom come”—with this prayer, we secondly ask God that the gospel be spread throughout the world so that as many people as possible may accept God's rule.

Wherever the gospel is spread, God's rule will be evident. The gospel will drive out the power of sin and bring people under God's rule. Jesus Christ proclaimed the gospel like this: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe in the gospel!” (Mark 1:15).

We should always pray that God will open people's hearts wide so that they believe in the gospel and gladly accept God's rule. We need to pray for and support all the people around the world who are working to spread the Gospel. God's Kingdom should come to every country in the world, including places like Iran and North Korea.

"Your Kingdom come"—this is how we should pray thirdly that the perfect Kingdom of Heaven may soon come.

We are all on a journey, and our destination is the Kingdom of Heaven. Therefore, we pray to God that He may soon grant us the Kingdom of Heaven.

Revelation 21:3-4 describes the Kingdom of Heaven this way: "Look! God's dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."

In the Kingdom of Heaven, there is no more death or tears. There we will dwell with God. The Kingdom of Heaven is truly beautiful. We should pray with great longing: "Your Kingdom come!"

"Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."

We should pray that God's will may be done, both on earth and in heaven.

Of course, everyone is free to have their own will and live as they wish, for whoever has no will is already dead. However, we should reflect from time to time on what God's will is. For God's will is perfectly good for God, for us, and for all other people. In contrast, our own will is often only good for ourselves, but not for others. Let's take the Winter Olympics in Italy as an example. After the ice hockey game between Germany and the USA, all Germans were sad because the German team had lost to the USA. In contrast, all Americans rejoiced.

But God's will is different. When God's will is done, all people on earth and even all creatures will rejoice. For example, if a person is saved and becomes a Christian, through them their family members, friends, acquaintances, and all other people can rejoice and experience God's blessing. It is God's will that as many people as possible be saved and experience God's blessing.

We should pray that God's will may be done, both here on earth and in heaven.

Let us say the first part of the Lord's Prayer together once more:

"Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." Amen!