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Friend, Avinu: our Father we approach in reverance!

Matthew 6:9 In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.

Yeshua (Jesus) does not begin prayer with a request. He begins with relationship.

After warning His disciples against praying for performance and reminding them the Father already knows their need before they ask, He teaches them how to pray: "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name." This is the foundation of the Lord's prayer. Before bread, before forgiveness, before deliverance, before any burden is named, the disciple is taught to lift his eyes and remember who God is.

Our Father. In Hebrew thought, fatherhood is not sentimental. A father is source, covering, authority, provision, instruction, identity, and inheritance. To call God Avinu (אָבִינוּ) — "our Father" — is to come before Him not as an orphan begging outside the gate, but as a son or daughter welcomed into the house. Prayer begins with belonging.

If God is only distant power, prayer becomes fear. If He is only judge, prayer becomes accusation or defense. If He is only a source of blessing, prayer becomes transaction. Yeshua teaches us to begin with Father, because the Kingdom is not built on striving servants trying to earn attention — it is built on beloved children learning to trust the heart of the King.

Yet He does not say only "Father." He says, "Our Father in heaven." The Father who is near, but is also enthroned. He is tender, but not common. Intimate, but not small. Personal, but not powerless. Heaven is His throne, and earth is His footstool — above every kingdom, every fear, every circumstance that tries to define our lives. So the Lord's prayer begins with this holy revelation: God is Father, and God is King. Close enough to hear the whisper, and yet He rules the universe.

Then Yeshua teaches us to pray, "Hallowed be Your name." To hallow means to treat as holy, set apart, worthy of reverence — kadosh (קָדוֹשׁ), utterly unlike all that is common. The name of God is not merely a label. In Scripture, His name represents His character, His reputation, His nature, His revealed glory. So when we pray, "Hallowed be Your name," we are saying, "Father, let Your name be treated as holy in me, through me, around me, and in the earth."

This is not just worship language. It is surrender language. Before we ask God to change our circumstances, we ask Him to sanctify our perspective. This is why the order matters. Yeshua does not teach us to begin with "Give us," but with "Hallowed be Your name." The Lord's prayer is not first about getting heaven to serve our agenda — it is our lives coming into alignment with the Father's name, reign, and will.

This is ashrei (אַשְׁרֵי) — the blessed life rightly aligned with God. Blessed is the one whose prayer begins not with panic, but with Father. Blessed is the one whose requests are held inside a holy reverence — who does not use God's name to advance his own agenda, but offers his life so God's name may be honored.

The world begins with need. The Kingdom begins with the Father. The world says, "My problem is first." Yeshua teaches us to pray, "Our Father is first, and His name is holy."

Friend, so before you rush into the list, pause. Before you name the need, remember the Father. Before you carry the burden, behold the King. Say Avinu (אָבִינוּ), and remember whose child you are. Say kadosh (קָדוֹשׁ), and remember whose name you carry. You are not coming to a distant ruler who must be convinced to care; you are coming to your Father, who knows you, sees you, and welcomes you near. Prayer begins here — not with performance, not with panic, not with many empty words, but with the child standing before the throne, saying, "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name."

Your family in the Lord with much agape love,

George & Baht Rivka (Baltimore, MD)

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Editor's Note: Come with us this October as we lead an unforgettable tour across Israel! Walk through the land of the Bible, experience its history and prophetic significance, and see Scripture come alive. Space is limited, so be sure to sign up before the trip fills up!