Why I Wrote The Masters Prayer
The Burden Behind the Article
I wrote this article because countless people have been taught to pray with language that limits God, wounds the soul, and distorts Scripture. For many, the only way they have ever been told to speak to God is through exclusively male terms—"Father," "Lord," "He"—as though these were divine requirements rather than cultural inheritances. This has shaped not only prayer, but identity, belonging, and the very imagination of who God is allowed to be.
I wrote this because that teaching is not biblical. And because its consequences will become real.
The Problem I Needed to Name
For generations, Christians have been handed a version of God that is smaller than Scripture reveals—a God whose identity has been filtered through patriarchy rather than through the fullness of the biblical witness. This has led to:
• Misunderstanding God’s nature
• Restricting the language of prayer
• Silencing maternal, feminine, and Wisdom imagery
• Treating male experience as the default image of God
• Teaching believers to take God’s name in vain by misrepresenting God’s identity
I wrote this article because these distortions are not harmless. They have shaped theology, worship, leadership, and the spiritual lives of millions.
The Calling to Correct the Record
My purpose was not to attack tradition, but to return to Scripture itself. The Bible gives us:
• A God who is beyond gender
• A God described with masculine, feminine, and non gendered metaphors
• A God who invites intimacy, not linguistic restriction
• A God who reveals identity through relationship, not anatomy
I wrote this article to help readers see that Jesus’ use of “Father” in “Our Father who art in heaven” is relational, not biological; metaphorical, not mandatory. The word translated as Father does not mean “male parent.” In Hebrew (ʼav), Aramaic (abba), and Greek (patēr), the term means Source, Origin, Life Giver, Protector, Sustainer, Guide, and Covenant Partner. It names the One from whom life flows, the One who forms identity, the One who holds us in belonging. Jesus was not restricting us to a single divine title; he was inviting us into the intimacy he himself shared with God.
The Pastoral Reason
I wrote this because I have watched people feel alienated from God simply because the only language they were given for God did not fit their experience, their wounds, or their understanding. Many have walked away from prayer entirely because the words they were told to use felt dishonest or harmful.
I wanted to say clearly: You are not required to pray to a male God. You are not required to use male language. You are not required to pretend God fits inside the limits of patriarchy.
You are free—biblically free—to speak to God in ways that are true, faithful, and healing.
The Theological Reason
I wrote this because misusing God’s name is not a small matter. When Christians insist that God must be addressed as male, they are not defending orthodoxy—they are contradicting Scripture. They are attaching God’s name to something God never said, never required, and never revealed.
Recovering the fullness of divine imagery is not innovation. It is repentance. It is fidelity to the text. It is honoring the God who refuses to be reduced to human categories.
The Hope Behind the Work
Ultimately, I wrote The Master’s Prayer to open a door—to invite readers into:
• A wider imagination of God
• A deeper honesty in prayer
• A more faithful reading of Scripture
• A healing from patriarchal distortions
• A renewed relationship with the One who is beyond all human limitation
My hope is that this article helps people pray again—not out of obligation, but out of freedom. Not with fear, but with trust. Not with inherited restrictions, with the full vocabulary Scripture gives us.
I wrote this because God is bigger than the language we have been given. And it is time to tell the truth about that.
By Brian Faulk
The Master’s Prayer
(Job 33:12 “God is greater than man.”)
The Bible never commands us to pray to a Father or to address God as Father. But perhaps you are wondering about the phrase “Our Father who art in heaven…” from Jesus’ teaching on prayer — even that is not a requirement, nor is it the only way Scripture teaches us to speak to God.
Now let’s go deeper.
Before we explore the prayer itself, it’s important to remember that the English word “Lord” is not a gendered title for God. It translates several Hebrew and Greek terms that mean:
- YHWH — the divine name
- Adonai — “Master,” “Sovereign,” “One with authority”
- Kyrios — “Ruler,” “Source,” “One who holds all things together”
None of these words imply maleness.
They describe status, authority, relationship, and reverence, not gender.
So when Scripture uses “Lord,” it is pointing to God’s sovereignty, not God’s sex.
But before we move further, we need to name something that has shaped Christian prayer for centuries:
And that is how many Christians take the Lord’s name in vain not by profanity, but through the misrepresentation of God through patriarchal language.
In Scripture, “taking the Lord’s name in vain” (Exod 20:7) means misusing God’s identity — attaching God’s name to something false, harmful, or unworthy of who God actually is.
And few things have distorted God’s identity more than the long standing habit of equating God with maleness.
For generations, Christian tradition has:
- Treated “Father” as God’s literal gender
- Treated “Lord” as a masculine title
- Treated male metaphors as the only “reverent” ones
- Treated feminine or maternal metaphors as improper or dangerous
- Treated male clergy as the only legitimate image bearers who can speak for God
None of this comes from Scripture.
All of it comes from patriarchy.
When Christians insist that God must be addressed as “He,” “Him,” “Father,” or “Lord” in a male sense — when they forbid maternal language, Wisdom/Sophia language, or non gendered language — they are not defending biblical truth.
They are defending a cultural system.
And that system has taught millions to use God’s name in a way that contradicts God’s own self revelation.
To call God only “Father,” as though God were male, is to take God’s name in vain.
To use “Lord” as though it were a masculine title is to take God’s name in vain.
To erase the feminine, maternal, and Wisdom imagery God gives us is to take God’s name in vain.
It is a misuse of God’s identity.
It is a distortion of God’s character.
It is a violation of the commandment.
The tragedy is that Christians have done this not out of rebellion, but out of inheritance — repeating what they were taught without realizing that the teaching itself was a misrepresentation.
Recovering the fullness of God’s imagery is not “progressive.”
It is repentance.
It is returning to the God of Scripture rather than the god of patriarchy.
It is honoring the divine name rather than misusing it.
1. Does the Bible say we have to pray to a Father?
Absolutely not.
There is no verse in the Hebrew Bible or the New Testament that commands:
- “You must call God Father.”
- “You must pray to the Father.”
- “You must address God with male language.”
Instead, Scripture gives many ways to address God:
- YHWH (the divine name)
- Holy One
- Creator
- Rock
- Redeemer
- Shepherd
- Wisdom/Sophia (especially in Proverbs, Sirach, Wisdom of Solomon)
- Mother (Isaiah 42, 49, 66; Deut 32; Hosea 11)
- Spirit (Ruach — grammatically feminine in Hebrew)
Jesus models “Father” as one relational metaphor, but He never says, “This is the only way you may pray.”
2. What about “Our Father who art in heaven…”?
This line appears in:
- Matthew 6:9
- Luke 11:2 (shorter version)
But notice what Jesus actually says:
“Pray in this way…”
not
“Pray these exact words forever.”
He is giving a pattern, not a formula.
The pattern is:
- Begin with intimacy
- Acknowledge God’s holiness
- Desire God’s reign
- Ask for provision
- Ask for forgiveness
- Ask for deliverance
None of that requires the word Father.
3. Why did Jesus use “Father” in that moment?
Because in His context:
- “Father” meant source, origin, identity, protector, provider, covenant partner
- It did not mean male biology
- It did not exclude maternal imagery
- It did not define God’s gender
In Aramaic, Jesus likely said Abba, which means:
- “Source of my life”
- “One I trust”
- “Beloved Parent”
It is relational, not anatomical.
4. Does the Bible allow maternal language for God?
Not only does it allow it — it uses it boldly.
Examples:
- God as a mother in labor (Isa 42:14)
- God as a nursing mother (Isa 49:15)
- God as a mother comforting her child (Isa 66:13)
- God as a mother eagle (Deut 32:11–12)
- God as a mother bear (Hosea 13:8)
- God as a midwife (Ps 22:9–10)
- God as Wisdom/Sophia, explicitly feminine (Prov 8–9; Sirach 24; Wisdom 7–10)
Scripture itself gives you permission — even encouragement — to pray with maternal, feminine, and non gendered metaphors.
5. So how should we understand “Our Father who art in heaven”?
Here is the most faithful, scholarly way to express it:
Jesus is not prescribing a gender for God.
He is inviting us into a relationship of trust, intimacy, and belonging.
“Father” is a metaphor — not a mandate.
You can also pray:
- Our Mother
- Our Parent
- Holy One
- Beloved Source
- Wisdom who births and sustains us
- Spirit who surrounds us
All of these are biblically grounded.
By Brian Faulk
The Burden Behind the Article
I wrote this article because countless people have been taught to pray with language that limits God, wounds the soul, and distorts Scripture. For many, the only way they have ever been told to speak to God is through exclusively male terms—"Father," "Lord," "He"—as though these were divine requirements rather than cultural inheritances. This has shaped not only prayer, but identity, belonging, and the very imagination of who God is allowed to be.
I wrote this because that teaching is not biblical. And because its consequences will become real.
The Problem I Needed to Name
For generations, Christians have been handed a version of God that is smaller than Scripture reveals—a God whose identity has been filtered through patriarchy rather than through the fullness of the biblical witness. This has led to:
• Misunderstanding God’s nature
• Restricting the language of prayer
• Silencing maternal, feminine, and Wisdom imagery
• Treating male experience as the default image of God
• Teaching believers to take God’s name in vain by misrepresenting God’s identity
I wrote this article because these distortions are not harmless. They have shaped theology, worship, leadership, and the spiritual lives of millions.
The Calling to Correct the Record
My purpose was not to attack tradition, but to return to Scripture itself. The Bible gives us:
• A God who is beyond gender
• A God described with masculine, feminine, and non gendered metaphors
• A God who invites intimacy, not linguistic restriction
• A God who reveals identity through relationship, not anatomy
I wrote this article to help readers see that Jesus’ use of “Father” in “Our Father who art in heaven” is relational, not biological; metaphorical, not mandatory. The word translated as Father does not mean “male parent.” In Hebrew (ʼav), Aramaic (abba), and Greek (patēr), the term means Source, Origin, Life Giver, Protector, Sustainer, Guide, and Covenant Partner. It names the One from whom life flows, the One who forms identity, the One who holds us in belonging. Jesus was not restricting us to a single divine title; he was inviting us into the intimacy he himself shared with God.
The Pastoral Reason
I wrote this because I have watched people feel alienated from God simply because the only language they were given for God did not fit their experience, their wounds, or their understanding. Many have walked away from prayer entirely because the words they were told to use felt dishonest or harmful.
I wanted to say clearly: You are not required to pray to a male God. You are not required to use male language. You are not required to pretend God fits inside the limits of patriarchy.
You are free—biblically free—to speak to God in ways that are true, faithful, and healing.
The Theological Reason
I wrote this because misusing God’s name is not a small matter. When Christians insist that God must be addressed as male, they are not defending orthodoxy—they are contradicting Scripture. They are attaching God’s name to something God never said, never required, and never revealed.
Recovering the fullness of divine imagery is not innovation. It is repentance. It is fidelity to the text. It is honoring the God who refuses to be reduced to human categories.
The Hope Behind the Work
Ultimately, I wrote The Master’s Prayer to open a door—to invite readers into:
• A wider imagination of God
• A deeper honesty in prayer
• A more faithful reading of Scripture
• A healing from patriarchal distortions
• A renewed relationship with the One who is beyond all human limitation
My hope is that this article helps people pray again—not out of obligation, but out of freedom. Not with fear, but with trust. Not with inherited restrictions, with the full vocabulary Scripture gives us.
I wrote this because God is bigger than the language we have been given. And it is time to tell the truth about that.
By Brian Faulk
The Master’s Prayer
(Job 33:12 “God is greater than man.”)
The Bible never commands us to pray to a Father or to address God as Father. But perhaps you are wondering about the phrase “Our Father who art in heaven…” from Jesus’ teaching on prayer — even that is not a requirement, nor is it the only way Scripture teaches us to speak to God.
Now let’s go deeper.
Before we explore the prayer itself, it’s important to remember that the English word “Lord” is not a gendered title for God. It translates several Hebrew and Greek terms that mean:
- YHWH — the divine name
- Adonai — “Master,” “Sovereign,” “One with authority”
- Kyrios — “Ruler,” “Source,” “One who holds all things together”
None of these words imply maleness.
They describe status, authority, relationship, and reverence, not gender.
So when Scripture uses “Lord,” it is pointing to God’s sovereignty, not God’s sex.
But before we move further, we need to name something that has shaped Christian prayer for centuries:
And that is how many Christians take the Lord’s name in vain not by profanity, but through the misrepresentation of God through patriarchal language.
In Scripture, “taking the Lord’s name in vain” (Exod 20:7) means misusing God’s identity — attaching God’s name to something false, harmful, or unworthy of who God actually is.
And few things have distorted God’s identity more than the long standing habit of equating God with maleness.
For generations, Christian tradition has:
- Treated “Father” as God’s literal gender
- Treated “Lord” as a masculine title
- Treated male metaphors as the only “reverent” ones
- Treated feminine or maternal metaphors as improper or dangerous
- Treated male clergy as the only legitimate image bearers who can speak for God
None of this comes from Scripture.
All of it comes from patriarchy.
When Christians insist that God must be addressed as “He,” “Him,” “Father,” or “Lord” in a male sense — when they forbid maternal language, Wisdom/Sophia language, or non gendered language — they are not defending biblical truth.
They are defending a cultural system.
And that system has taught millions to use God’s name in a way that contradicts God’s own self revelation.
To call God only “Father,” as though God were male, is to take God’s name in vain.
To use “Lord” as though it were a masculine title is to take God’s name in vain.
To erase the feminine, maternal, and Wisdom imagery God gives us is to take God’s name in vain.
It is a misuse of God’s identity.
It is a distortion of God’s character.
It is a violation of the commandment.
The tragedy is that Christians have done this not out of rebellion, but out of inheritance — repeating what they were taught without realizing that the teaching itself was a misrepresentation.
Recovering the fullness of God’s imagery is not “progressive.”
It is repentance.
It is returning to the God of Scripture rather than the god of patriarchy.
It is honoring the divine name rather than misusing it.
1. Does the Bible say we have to pray to a Father?
Absolutely not.
There is no verse in the Hebrew Bible or the New Testament that commands:
- “You must call God Father.”
- “You must pray to the Father.”
- “You must address God with male language.”
Instead, Scripture gives many ways to address God:
- YHWH (the divine name)
- Holy One
- Creator
- Rock
- Redeemer
- Shepherd
- Wisdom/Sophia (especially in Proverbs, Sirach, Wisdom of Solomon)
- Mother (Isaiah 42, 49, 66; Deut 32; Hosea 11)
- Spirit (Ruach — grammatically feminine in Hebrew)
Jesus models “Father” as one relational metaphor, but He never says, “This is the only way you may pray.”
2. What about “Our Father who art in heaven…”?
This line appears in:
- Matthew 6:9
- Luke 11:2 (shorter version)
But notice what Jesus actually says:
“Pray in this way…”
not
“Pray these exact words forever.”
He is giving a pattern, not a formula.
The pattern is:
- Begin with intimacy
- Acknowledge God’s holiness
- Desire God’s reign
- Ask for provision
- Ask for forgiveness
- Ask for deliverance
None of that requires the word Father.
3. Why did Jesus use “Father” in that moment?
Because in His context:
- “Father” meant source, origin, identity, protector, provider, covenant partner
- It did not mean male biology
- It did not exclude maternal imagery
- It did not define God’s gender
In Aramaic, Jesus likely said Abba, which means:
- “Source of my life”
- “One I trust”
- “Beloved Parent”
It is relational, not anatomical.
4. Does the Bible allow maternal language for God?
Not only does it allow it — it uses it boldly.
Examples:
- God as a mother in labor (Isa 42:14)
- God as a nursing mother (Isa 49:15)
- God as a mother comforting her child (Isa 66:13)
- God as a mother eagle (Deut 32:11–12)
- God as a mother bear (Hosea 13:8)
- God as a midwife (Ps 22:9–10)
- God as Wisdom/Sophia, explicitly feminine (Prov 8–9; Sirach 24; Wisdom 7–10)
Scripture itself gives you permission — even encouragement — to pray with maternal, feminine, and non gendered metaphors.
5. So how should we understand “Our Father who art in heaven”?
Here is the most faithful, scholarly way to express it:
Jesus is not prescribing a gender for God.
He is inviting us into a relationship of trust, intimacy, and belonging.
“Father” is a metaphor — not a mandate.
You can also pray:
- Our Mother
- Our Parent
- Holy One
- Beloved Source
- Wisdom who births and sustains us
- Spirit who surrounds us
All of these are biblically grounded.
By Brian Faulk
