children of God” (John 1:12). Paul states this as the purpose of the incarnation: “God sent forth his Son … so that we might receive adoption as sons” (Galatians 4:4, 5). Prayer to God as Father is for Christians only. This resolves a puzzle. Elsewhere Jesus stressed that his disciples should pray in his name and through him—that is, looking to him as our way of access to the Father (see John 14:6, 13; 15:16; 16:23–26). Why is there none of this in the model prayer? In fact, the point is present
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