“Our Father in heaven . . .”

GOD’S FATHERLY LOVE

God is a loving and compassionate Father who gives life and provides for and protects those who trust Him. Like a caring human father, God wants a close relationship with His children. Addressing God as “Our Father” plunges the person praying into a relationship. A child approaching a loving father knows that the father will give careful attention to the child’s requests and will be lovingly inclined towards the child’s best interests. The child knows the father will answer. This is how Jesus tells us to approach God — as trusting children of a patient, tender father.

“But to all who believed in him [Jesus] and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn — not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.” (John 1:12, 13)

“How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God.”             (1 John 3:1)

“Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”   (Hebrews 4:16)

During Jesus’ time, people understood God to be awesome, majestic, and far away in the unreachable heavens. Though the Old Testament uses the metaphor of fatherhood when talking of God, no one would have dreamed of addressing God as “Father” in prayer. Jesus’ use of the name “Abba” (like our “Daddy”) must have stunned His disciples. In fact, Jesus’ use of the family name was so shocking to the religious leaders of His day that eventually He was accused of blasphemy and crucified for identifying Himself as God’s Son.

Jesus taught His followers that they should address God as “Father,” and that their loving Father would care for all the needs of those who trust in Him (see Matthew 7:7-11). Then, not only did Jesus encourage that relationship of trust, but He willingly died a horrible death to purchase the right of believers in Christ to be called children of God! It’s hard to comprehend that the God who has all the power in the universe will listen to our prayers because of the actions of His Son, Jesus!