Fixating on God

Jesus taught His disciples how to communicate with God. In a context where people were taking things designed to draw attention to God and twisting them into ways to get attention for themselves, Jesus' words are a breath of fresh air. He knew how susceptible people are to fixating on anything and everything but God so He gave us a model prayer, a pattern for praying that puts God first. Not a formal, exact prescription, more a description of what we will focus on. A way to talk with God, a way to acknowledge Him, a way to ask.

The prayer begins, in Matthew 6:9, "Our Father in heaven". All those who have been saved by grace through faith in Christ are His children. To address Him as Father is to recognize our relation to Him as one of dependence. The word for Father is "abba", a term used by children for their earthly parents, indicating closeness and intimacy. The disciples of Jesus addressing God as Father shows the unique relationship they have with the unique Son, having come into a relationship with the Father only through the Son (John 14:6).

Matthew 6:9-10 contain the 1st half of the Disciple's Prayer, all focused on God. "Hallowed be Your Name". The idea of hallowing God's name (His name signifying His person) is that God would be sanctified (set apart) as holy among all people. The Greek word for "hallowed" is hagiazo, which means to make holy, consecrate, sanctify. It means we want God as He has revealed Himself, in all His glory, to be acknowledged and treated as holy and pure.

The 2nd petition involves God's kingdom. "Your kingdom come", (the Greek word kingdom is basileia, signifying sovereignty, royal power, reign.) We desire the arrival of God's rule in the lives of people made in His image. We want Him to rule in His church and for others to come to know Him and accept His rule in their lives. It means we acknowledge His position of preeminence.

The 3rd request is "Your will be done". When God's rule is acknowledged people do what pleases God. "Will" (Greek thelema) means wish, desire, intent,purpose. We want what pleases God to be done "on earth as it is in heaven". How is His will done in heaven? Joyfully and immediately! When we desire what brings God pleasure we obey immediately, with reserve, actively participating in His program. We want what He intends to happen to happen, to come into being. It means we say His plan is perfect and we will go along with it.

The first 3 requests in this prayer are fixated on God's person, His rule and His pleasure. They form a pattern, encouraging a mindset that fixates not on temporary things but on the eternal God. It shows an overall worship and dependence on God.

When I respect God's person and name I speak appropriately of Him, I speak truth. "Lord, may Your wonderful identity be considered, viewed, recognized and acknowledged as set apart, utterly different and other, holy, great awesome." When I desire for His rule to be realized n my life and the lives of others in His family I do not build my kingdom, I seek what benefits His rule, I seek His being acknowledged as preeminent over everything else. "Lord, may Your rule, sovereignty, preeminence be agreed with, cooperated with in me,my family, Your church and the world." When I want God's will to be realized I am stating my intentions to obey immediately. I am looking for what pleases Him, seeking it, willing to obey unreservedly. "Lord, may Your pleasure and desires be our highest aim and concern. And may all these things be done immediately by us, unwaveringly, unreservedly, confidently."

This is not a prayer that can be prayed flippantly or mindlessly. This is quite simple a dangerous way of praying. Maybe there should be a warning label: Caution, may cause life-change; may induce obedience; may lead to fixation on God almighty; may lead to fixing your eyes on Jesus and not all the things we so easily fixate on like money, power, my preferences, being right, arguing a point, gaining an advantage. We pray with the knowledge that our desires, actions, aspirations, present and future - are in God's hands and we are looking to Him expectantly and dependently - not individually, but corporately, as a body of believers.

Nowhere in this prayer is the word "I" or "me" found. Did you notice it is "our" Father we are praying to? We are to pray for all our brothers and sisters in Christ. This is not a prayer to merely recite or repeat. We are not to ignore these words, we are to say them meaningfully, weaving in our own thoughts that correspond to the reality and depth of His. Agreeing with, amplifying God's thoughts - which are higher than ours (Is. 55), thereby lifting us to greater heights with God, to a deeper place with Him; closer communion with Him.

What I see here in the Disciple's Prayer is a preoccupation with God. It is not a recipe, or something to simply recite every day (though it is a profitable prayer to pray anytime). It goes beyond that to a godly fixation, a priority on God. Why is this so important? A growing preoccupation with God, an increasing fixation on Him means a lessening preoccupation with earthly things, a de-accelerating of our natural inclination to hyper-prioritize things or ourselves in place of God. This kind of praying helps to straighten those priorities out.