Praying “In the Heavens…”

We read the news and feel a shudder deep inside. A text message turns our world upside down. Global crises, personal disappointments, and the confusion about where any of this is headed make it feel like life is unraveling, like we’re hurtling headlong toward apocalyptic doom, not a new creation.

When that sense of unraveling takes over, it awakens all our worst instincts: fear, anxiety, control, fight-or-flight, and self-preservation. In those moments, we wonder, Is anyone really in control? Consider this for a moment, though: What if that very sense of overwhelm could serve as a signal? What if it’s not evidence that God is absent—but an invitation to elevate our perspective?

When the Bible says God is “enthroned in the heavens” (Psalm 123:1), it’s declaring that he reigns from the highest place imaginable—above all powers, all authorities, all realms. When Jesus began the prayer with “Our Father in the heavens,” he was reminding his listeners that the one who loved them was also the one who reigns above it all, and in a polytheistic world, that was a bold and exclusive claim.

Saying “Our Father in the heavens” helps us shift our focus—not just to who God is, but to where God is. Not geographically, but cosmically. He is enthroned in heaven: above the chaos, beyond the noise. He sees what we can’t. He rules with wisdom and perspective we don’t have. And he holds together what feels like it’s falling apart.

As God himself declared, "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts" (Isaiah 55:9). So when life feels unstable, “Our Father in the heavens” becomes a kind of spiritual overview, an invitation to reorient our hearts by lifting our eyes to the one who stretched out the galaxies and still knows us by name.

Our Father in the heavens sees the intricate details of our lives, and that makes all the difference in seasons of uncertainty.

Reflection Question: When life feels like it’s unraveling, what would it look like for you to lift your eyes and trust that your Father in the heavens sees the bigger picture and holds every detail of your life in his care?