Our Father 4: Compassion and community

The creator is not just an impersonal deity, “the god.” He is God, but he is a personal being and his role as Father in the relationship indicates that he has a stake in our lives: our pain is his pain; our success is his success. (Success is to be, or become, like God's unique son, Yeshua, and to fulfill his purpose for your life.)

The title for God used in a prayer typically highlights the particular attribute of his which is most relevant for that prayer. “Father,” as a title, brings to mind God’s compassion [1]. In Psalm 103:13, “As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him.” Note the intimacy in the relationship, yet the objects of the LORD’s compassion are especially those who fear him.

The address (“Our Father”) also shows that the relationship is not individual but communal, even when the prayer is said alone, "in secret.” The relationship is one-to-many: one Father, many children. Being children, we are to live as a family—a community set apart (sanctified/made holy) for our Father God. Psalm 133:1 says, “Look, how good and pleasant it is when brethren dwell in unity!”

[1] Eby, Aaron. First Steps in Messianic Jewish Prayer. Marshfield, Missouri: First Fruits of Zion, 2014:107.