The Proper Name of the CREATOR

Part 3: The New Testament Use of “Father” in Prayers Directed to the CREATOR

By Ken Burns

In my article titled “The Proper Name of the CREATOR: Part 1, Introduction,” I presented a preliminary discussion of a very important biblical truth; namely, that the proper name of the CREATOR of the heavens and the earth revealed in the Bible is the Hebrew word YHWH, Strong’s numbers 3068 and 3069 (“Yahweh” in English). This Hebrew word occurs more than 6,800 times in the Hebrew text underlying the King James Version of the Bible. (See the Blue Letter Bible, available on the Internet at: http://www.blueletterbible.org/).

In my next article on this topic, titled “The Proper Name of the CREATOR: Part 2, The Proper Name (Not "Names") of the CREATOR,” I pointed out that, even though people often speak about the so-called “names of GOD” in the Bible, in fact not one of the terms “the names of GOD,” “the names of the Lord,” or “the names of the Father” occurs in the Bible at all. Instead, the Bible uses the terms “the name of GOD,” “the name of the Lord,” and (“his” or “my”) “Father’s name” in a number of places.

In this third article, I will discuss the New Testament use of the term “Father” in prayers directed to the CREATOR of the heavens and the earth. To begin, then, we will look at some examples of how the CREATOR was addressed in prayers in the Old Testament.

Deut. 9:26:
I [Moses] prayed therefore unto the LORD [YHWH, Yahweh], and said, O Lord GOD [adonai YHWH, Lord Yahweh], destroy not thy people and thine inheritance, which thou hast redeemed through thy greatness, which thou hast brought forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand.

2 Ki. 6:17:
And Elisha prayed, and said, LORD [YHWH, Yahweh], I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the LORD [YHWH, Yahweh] opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.

2 Ki. 19:15:
And Hezekiah prayed before the LORD [YHWH, Yahweh], and said, O LORD [YHWH, Yahweh] God of Israel, which dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made heaven and earth. (Cp. Isa. 37:15, 16)

2 Ki. 20:2, 3:
Then he [Hezekiah] turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto the LORD [YHWH, Yahweh], saying,
I beseech thee, O LORD [YHWH, Yahweh], remember now how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore. (Cp. Isa. 38:2, 3)

Neh. 1:4, 5:
And it came to pass, when I [Nehemiah] heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven,

And said, I beseech thee, O LORD [YHWH, Yahweh] God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments:

 

Jer. 32:16, 17:
Now when I [Jeremiah] had delivered the evidence of the purchase unto Baruch the son of Neriah, I prayed unto the LORD [YHWH, Yahweh], saying,

Ah Lord GOD [adonai YHWH, Lord Yahweh]! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee:

Jonah 4:2:
And he [Jonah] prayed unto the LORD [YHWH, Yahweh], and said, I pray thee, O LORD [YHWH, Yahweh], was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil.

In most of the 31 occurrences of the English word “prayed” in the Old Testament--from which the examples above were drawn--if the CREATOR is addressed by a specific form of address, that term is (or includes) the personal, proper name of the CREATOR--Yahweh.

Having looked at some Old Testament examples of how the CREATOR was addressed in prayer, we will now turn to prayer in the New Testament. And we will start with how the Son of GOD, Jesus, addressed the CREATOR of the heavens and the earth.

There are a number of places in the Gospels where Jesus used “Father” as a form of address in his prayers to the Creator:

Matt. 11:25, 26:
At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.

Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight.

Matt. 26:39, 42:
And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.

He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done.

Mark 14:36:
And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt.

Luke 10:21:
In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes: even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight.

Luke 22:42:
Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.

Luke 23:34:
Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.

Luke 23:46:
And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.

John 11:41:
Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me.

John 12:27, 28:
Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour.

Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.

 

John 17:1, 5, 11, 21, 24, 25:
These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:

And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.

That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.

Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.

O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me.

Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, there are only two sections of Scripture in which Jesus instructed anyone to pray using the kinship term “Father” as a form of address directed toward the CREATOR. In both cases, the audience was composed of his disciples:

Matt. 6:9:
After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

“Ye” in verse 9 above refers back to Jesus’s disciples who were mentioned as the audience for this teaching in Matt. 5:1, 2. And the words “Hallowed be” are a form of the Greek verb hagiazo (Strong's #37), “to regard and treat as holy,” or “to hold in reverence.” (See the note on "Hallowed be" in Matt. 6:9 in the Jamieson-Fausset-Brown commentary, http://www.instantworship.com/0032/JFB40.htm#Chapter6). In other words, the words “Hallowed be thy name” could also be translated “Let thy name be treated as holy.”

Luke 11:1, 2:
And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.

And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.

The words “Hallowed be” in verse 2 are the same form of the Greek verb hagiazo that we saw in Matt. 6:9 and should again be translated “Let thy name be treated as holy.” Note two important points about Matt. 6:9 and Luke 11:1, 2:

• Jesus taught this method of praying to his disciples-not to the multitudes, and not to Christians (as there were, of course, no Christian believers in existence at that time).
   
• Jesus referred to the CREATOR’s name in both records.

        Of all the occurrences of the term "father" from Acts to Revelation, only two verses contain the kinship term "Father" used as a form of address:

Rom. 8:15:
For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.

Gal. 4:6:
And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.

Robertson's Word Pictures in the New Testament states that the term “Abba” is an Aramaic word meaning “father” (http://www.site-berea.com/B/rwp/n09c4.html). It occurs three times in the Bible, and the third occurrence is in one of Jesus’s recorded prayers to the CREATOR:

Mark 14:36:
And he said, Abba, Father, all things [are] possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt.

There is a major difference between Jesus' prayer in Mark 14:36 and what is recorded in Rom. 8:15 and Gal. 4:6. Namely, that there is an actual prayer which follows "Abba, Father" in Mark 14:36; whereas in Rom. 8:15 and in Gal. 4:6, we see the words "Abba, Father," but there is no prayer recorded following those words.

There are only two occurrences of a form of the English word "pray" (e.g., "prayed") in the Books from Acts to Revelation in which a prayer occurs containing both a form of address and the actual contents of the prayer.

Acts 1:24:
And they prayed, and said, Thou, Lord [kurios, Strong's #2962], which knowest the hearts of all men, shew whether of these two thou hast chosen,

         That he may take part of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place [emphasis added].

Acts 4:24-31:
And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, Lord [despotes, Strong's #1203], thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is: Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things?
he kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ.
For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.
And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word,
By stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus.
And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness [emphasis added]

In both cases, the form of address used in English was "Lord."

To summarize this brief review of the New Testament use of the term “Father” in prayers directed to the CREATOR:

• When a number of prophets (Moses, Elisha, Nehemiah, Jeremiah, and Jonah) and king Hezekiah each prayed to the CREATOR of the heavens and the earth in the examples given above from the Old Testament, the form of address they used was the personal, proper name of the CREATOR; i.e., Yahweh.
   
• There are many biblical examples of Jesus’s using the kinship term “Father” in addressing the CREATOR in prayer.
   
• Jesus taught his disciples (who were not Christian believers at that time) to use the kinship term “Father” in addressing the CREATOR. His instruction was not directed to the multitudes, nor was it directed to everyone in the world who was present or would be born in the future.
   
• There is no section of Scripture from Matthew through Revelation in which a group or any individual other than Jesus began a recorded prayer with the kinship term “Father.” (Neither Rom. 8:15 nor Gal. 4:6 are examples of recorded prayers by an individual or a group. One only needs to compare those two scriptures with the many examples of Jesus’s recorded prayers presented above to see the difference in content.)
   
• No individual or group-either before or after the Day of Pentecost-was ever instructed to pray to the CREATOR using the kinship term “Father” after the time of the records in Matt. 6:9ff. and Luke 11:1ff.
   
• The only two examples of prayers from Acts through Revelation which begin with a form of address followed by the actual content of the prayers use the form of address “Lord” (i.e., Acts 1:24ff. and 4:24ff.).

In closing, I want to be very clear that I am not saying that it is wrong or inappropriate for Christian believers to use the kinship term “Father” as a form of address in prayers to the CREATOR. On the contrary, I know it is acceptable and well-pleasing in GOD’s sight. And I use that form of address myself in my personal prayers. My purpose in this article has been to present how the term “Father” is and is not used in the Word of GOD in prayers directed to the CREATOR.

[Please feel free to share the article above with anyone, as long as you send the material in its entirety, unedited, and include my name and contact email address along with it:

Ken Burns

kenNO-SPAMburns@hawaii.rr.com.

(Just remove the "NO-SPAM", leaving kenburns@ . . ., to send me a message.)

Thanks and GOD bless you. Your comments would be appreciated.]