Q. 59. What are we taught in the preface of the Lord’s Prayer, “Our Father, who is in heaven”?

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With and for others. Even when the Lord’s Prayer is said in private, we pray, “Our Father,” since other Christians are always praying, and we ought to be always praying for other Christians. The Church is “a house of prayer” (Matthew 21:13), a worldwide praying community. “Before everything else, our teacher of peace and instructor of unity does not want prayers to be made alone and individually with the result that a person prays only for himself” (Cyprian, On the Lord’s Prayer 8). For a traditional method of corporate prayer, see the Daily Office (p. 235).

Reverence. God is our father in heaven—the almighty King of heaven and earth, worthy of honor and adoration. “A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am a father, where is my honor? And if I am a master, where is my fear? says the Lord of hosts” (Malachi 1:6). See the Notes on Q. 15.

Confidence. God is a loving heavenly father who knows our needs before we pray and enjoys giving good gifts to his children. When God does not give us what we ask for, we can rest in the knowledge of his wise and powerful providence (see Q. 9). Moreover, we can take confidence from the knowledge of Christ’s compassionate high-priestly ministry on our behalf: “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:15–16).

Father. Approaching God the Father as our Father is a privilege of adoption through Jesus Christ, God’s only begotten Son (Q. 52). “Happy are they who recognize God as their Father!” (Tertullian, On Prayer 2).