As part of the Archbishop of York’s Faith in the North series of events across the Northern Province there will be a Lord’s Prayer Event in Cathedral Isle of Man, Peel on Sunday 6 July commencing at 6:00pm.
The event is open to anyone who wishes to attend.
As we look forward to this event there will be a short weekly reflection offered by different people from across the diocese looking at their own individual take on aspects of the Lord’s Prayer.
The first reflection for this coming week is a slightly longer reflection written by Bishop Tricia Hillas and her husband Andrew which touches on what the prayer means to them in their present circumstances.
It is our delight to be able to open this series of reflections on the Lord’s Prayer, the prayer with which Jesus gifted his followers. A prayer passed on generation by generation; brought to this island by our Christian forebears; offered up across the Island today in so many settings including homes, churches and chapels, up on the hills, alongside ancient keeills, in prison cells and besides hospital beds. It links us, whether we pray it in English or Manx, with others, nearby and right across the world, who pray in numerous other mother tongues.
As many of you will know, we offer this opening reflection amidst a season of profound personal dependency on God’s faithfulness. Just a few weeks ago we learned that Andrew has been diagnosed with cancer and he is currently being connected with palliative care support. These times have a rollercoaster quality to them and equilibrium is hard to find. We know that many of you will have similar experiences and will also be aware of others facing them right now.
In the midst of all this, the ancient and familiar words of the Lord’s Prayer are not simply a formula but a lifeline. In these few brief lines are to be found an enduring source of hope, strength, and peace. It is a prayer for all times and for our time.
In each part of this series different people will reflect on what the Lord’s Prayer means to them. In this opening reflection, we shall give our attention to the opening phrase: ‘Our Father, which art in Heaven’. In doing so we will group our thoughts around what this says about the relational nature of faith, the significance of community-family and the gift of eternal perspective.
RELATIONSHIP
Isn’t it striking that when Jesus taught His disciples to pray, he didn’t begin with commands or confessions but he began by directing our eyes Godward and towards relationship? The prayer begins with the words ‘Our Father’. These two words alone constitute an irrepressible well of truth and hope for a world in need of healing.
In calling God our Father, Jesus reveals the astonishing intimacy and accessibility of God. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob — the holy, transcendent Creator — is also Abba, the loving Father. This signifies a radical adoption into God’s family, an invitation to come near without fear.
‘Our Father’ also reminds us of the nature of the One to whom we pray. Not a distant deity, or a detached force, this is the God who knows our grief, who sits with us in our sorrow, and who — as Jesus showed us — weeps with those who weep. To call God “Father” is to trust in a relationship of love, care, and constancy. Should everything else shift or crumble, this relationship holds firm.
And what of the further implications of this truth for the way we live, as children of a heavenly Father? If God is truly our Father and we are his children, that reveals our calling to live with trust, obedience, and love. It challenges us to live not for our own glory, but for His. It invites us to forgive, because we are forgiven. It leads us to pray, not to impress others, but to open ourselves to the One who already knows, cares and who draws us close.
COMMUNITY-FAMILY
Jesus doesn’t teach us to pray ‘my Father’, rather ‘our Father.’ No one comes to God alone, we have been brought through the praying, speaking and sharing of others, many of whom we may never know. Our Christian faith is not a private escape, instead we are sons and daughters together, bound by grace and baptized into one family through Christ.
For us personally, in this present difficult chapter of our lives, we have felt the embrace of this divine family in very real ways. Understanding, compassion, prayers, cards, messages, meals, and silent companionship have poured in from the people of this diocese, this Island and beyond. We are so grateful. Each act of kindness, each whisper of prayer, has been a reminder that the Body of Christ is real and present and God’s love is made tangible through people of faith and people of goodwill. So, when we pray ‘Our Father’, we affirm that we are never alone — that we belong to one another in Christ. And in belonging to one another, we are strengthened.
Beyond our immediate circle that ‘Our’ in ‘Our Father’ points to the reality that we are united across the ages with those who have come before us and those who are our siblings in faith across the globe. It unites all believers — rich and poor, local and global — as children under one divine Parent. In a world torn by division, ‘Our Father’ pushes against individualism and tribalism. It reminds us that the person who looks, votes, or lives differently from us is still our brother or sister. We do not own God — we share Him. And this changes everything. It challenges the divisions that plague the world. “Our Father” destroys every wall of hostility — between peoples, nations, social classes, and theological and political ideologies. We are one family under heaven’s rule.
PERSPECTIVE
Having reminded ourselves that in this prayer we turn towards our shared Father, we also recall that this Father is not merely earthly but is “in heaven.” So, we come to God’s holiness, power, and eternal majesty. God is not only in close relationship with his creation and us His creatures, but God is sovereign, unshaken by the chaos of the world. He is not limited by time, space, or human frailty His throne is above every kingdom and crisis.
When we pray “Our Father in heaven,” we’re reminded that our prayers rise to a place of perfect wisdom, justice and love. Heaven is not far away, neither is it merely ‘pie in the sky when we die’ but it is the present realm where God’s will is fully done, where His glory is fully seen, and from whence His power flows.
In whatever circumstances we find ourselves, though we may sometimes feel the weight of earthly uncertainty, our Father rules from an unshakable throne and reaches to lift that weight from us. Though we may feel our voices are small, they reach the ear of the One who reigns over the Cosmos. Though much may seem unknown to us, our Father sees the full picture — from heaven’s vantage point.
‘In heaven’ is not merely geography — it is a perspective that shapes how we live on earth. If our Father is in heaven, we can trust Him beyond what we see, we align ourselves with His will and we live and die as citizens of a higher kingdom with values, vision and hope shaped by eternity.
In a world saturated with instability — wars, disasters, political upheaval — this phrase ‘Our Father in heaven’ is profoundly relevant. Earthly powers falter. Human leaders may disappoint. But our Father remains enthroned. To pray is to lift our weary gaze from the chaos of the moment to the clarity of eternity. Heaven is not an abstraction — it is the centre-point of God’s rule, and we are invited to address the One who sits at its heart. This brings deep assurance. Every time we say, “Our Father which art in heaven,” we are reminded that this wonderful, astonishing world is a precious foretaste of the more that is to come; that justice and peace will prevail; that God’s power is greater than our present circumstances.
To pray, as Jesus taught us, beginning with “Our Father in heaven” is then to anchor our souls in both intimacy and awe. It is to remember that we are deeply known and fiercely loved, yet we bow in reverence before One who is far above and beyond our comprehension.
In seasons of sorrow or uncertainty these words give comfort: we are not alone. In times of stability and success, they bring right humility: for He that rules from heaven is in heaven — not us. In moments of fear, they breathe courage: since our Father reigns over each and every circumstance.
In the joys and tumult of our personal lives, in glories of the world and in the fracturing of global relationships between peoples and nations, when we are perplexed and angry at injustice and oppression, into to all this comes a simple ancient prayer which calls us back to our centre. The opening words of which invite us to relationship with our Father, with one another in family and community and to new perspective which is as vast, wide and deep as eternity.
“Our Father, which art in heaven.”
Bishop Tricia and Andrew Hillas
May 2025
Further information and resources on the Lord’s Prayer can be found on the following link: Faith in the North
