https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=+Matthew+6%3A5-13&version=NIV (Matthew 6:5-13) When I was boy growing up in Belmond, Iowa, one of my best friends was Billy Walrod. Our yards connected to an alleyway, and in the summer time we’d run barefoot every day, swim in the pool, play ball, and ride his go kart. We had a blast! One morning Billy was sleeping in and I was impatient, so I picked up some pebbles and began throwing them at his bedroom window. Billy didn’t wake up, but his mother came out the door. That is when the trouble started. A man named R. S. Thomas once said, “Prayers are like gravel flung at the sky’s window hoping to attract the loved one’s attention.” Is that how you think about prayer? Like we are flinging some words up, hoping someone is listening? Do you remember the Gospel song, ♬”It’s me, it’s me, O Lord, standing in the need of prayer. Not my mother, not my brother, but it’s me, O Lord, standing in the need of prayer.”♪ Each of us needs prayer. We need to connect from our heart to God’s heart in a relationship and believe we are loved, our lives matter, and we have a purpose. But we don’t always know how to pray. We don’t know what words to say. We don’t know who God is in order to talk with Him. No wonder the disciples came to Jesus and said, “Lord, teach us to pray.” And Jesus did just that. Our Father . . . Jesus gives us a beautiful acknowledgment that God is not only the source of all life, the designer of the beauty in this world, and the designer of our physical bodies, but He is also our Father. Galatians 4 tells us that we have the spirit of adoption as His children. So we can call Him “Abba” – daddy – a term of endearment, affection, and intimacy of relationship. Scripture tells us in John chapter 1, “As many as receive Him (Jesus), to them God gives the power (the authority) to become the children of God who were born not of the will of blood or of man but the will of God.” Just think of it – you and I, by faith, are children of God! Jesus says we can call God, our Father. Notice also, Jesus uses the plural pronoun our. Whatever church family you belong to, the family of God is much bigger than your individual congregation. Denominations of every church body in America? Yes! On Easter Sunday morning at the resurrection celebration, as Christians all over the world celebrate and worship God in the name of Jesus, we are all the family of God. We all call God, our Father. Whatever your vision of God’s family, it’s simply not big enough. My grandmother used to say in Norwegian, “God has many strange children,” and then she would turn to me and say, “You are a funny boy!” God has many children in the family and we need to be welcoming of all of them. So when we pray, we pray “Our Father.” This means that, in relation to our Father, our spiritual status might be in one of three categories: • We are prodigals, far from God and running from Him. • We are more like the older brother – doing things out of religious duty instead of love. We do things out of obligation, not out of gratitude. • We are fully aware of how blessed we are, privileged to trust the God of all things as our dear Father. We live in a sense of loyalty and joy because we know we are His children through Jesus Christ. Who art in heaven . . . God is both our heavenly and our holy Father. He is heavenly not so much by location, for God is everywhere present, but because He is above us. He is distinguished from our earthly father. When dads and grandpas put on their “Best Dad Ever” shirt on Father’s Day, no matter how good they are, they are not perfect. God is our heavenly Father. He is perfect. His love for us is unconditional, and He is not limited in His reach to come to where we are, provide for us, and care for us. Oftentimes I visit with those who had a difficult childhood due to having an unhealthy father. Perhaps their father abandoned them totally. It is good,...