OUR FATHER IN HEAVEN

Take a few minutes to pause in silence, to breathe deep, and to recenter your thoughts, your focus, and your affections on God. “As I enter now into prayer, I ask, God, that you would free me from the distractions of the day so that I may be deeply present with You.”

OUR FATHER IN HEAVEN… -MATTHEW 6:9A

There’s a famous picture of President John F. Kennedy working in the Oval Office while his son, John-John, is peeking out from underneath the Resolute desk. While powerful people from all over the world could only enter the office with an appointment or an invitation, President Kennedy’s son ALWAYS had access to his father. He could burst into the room at any moment, and JFK would hold out his arms to embrace his son.

SEE WHAT GREAT LOVE THE FATHER HAS LAVISHED ON US, THAT WE SHOULD BE CALLED CHILDREN OF GOD! -1 JOHN 3:1A

We are God’s children! And just like John-John, as God’s children, we have access to God, OUR FATHER, at all times. Prayer is rooted in a relationship with God. And this is why Jesus models a prayer that begins with the acknowledgment that God is our father.

NOW IF WE ARE CHILDREN, THEN WE ARE HEIRS—HEIRS OF GOD AND
CO-HEIRS WITH CHRIST… -ROMANS 8:17A
The word “our” is important. Jesus was saying that God isn’t just HIS father but OUR FATHER. It is both communal (that we are a part of the body of Christ) and positional (that we are in Christ as Christ is in us). What better reminders through which to enter into prayer, but that through Christ, and his work on the cross for us, we are adopted into the family of God?

“ I rejoice today, knowing that I can call God ‘Father’.
I know, then, that I am loved (JOHN 3:16)
I am forgiven (1 JOHN 1:9)
I am a co-heir with Christ (ROMANS 8:17)
I have God’s Spirit living in me (GALATIANS 4:6)
and I am a member of the family of God (EPHESIANS 2:19).”

WHICH OF YOU, IF YOUR SON ASKS FOR BREAD, WILL GIVE HIM A STONE? OR IF HE ASKS FOR A FISH, WILL GIVE HIM A SNAKE? IF YOU, THEN, THOUGH YOU ARE EVIL, KNOW HOW TO GIVE GOOD GIFTS TO YOUR CHILDREN, HOW MUCH MORE WILL YOUR FATHER IN HEAVEN GIVE GOOD GIFTS TO THOSE WHO ASK HIM! -MATTHEW 7:9-11

If you truly believed that God was your father, how would that change the way you prayed? What would you ask him for? Take time today to boldly approach God, your father, who loves you, and ask him to move on your behalf, on the behalf of others, and in our world.