Jesus introduced God as our loving Father
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| Deutsch: Fresco im Markuskloster in Florenz (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it shall be opened. Or what man is there among you, when his son shall ask him for a loaf, will give him a stone? Or if he shall ask for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him! (Matt. 7:7–11)
Jesus reaffirmed to them what their Scripture taught and what faithful, godly Jews had always believed: God is the Father in heaven to those who trust in Him.
In all His prayers, Jesus used the title Father, except when He was on the cross bearing the sin of the world and was forsaken by God (Matt. 27:46). Though the text of Matthew 6:9 uses the Greek word Patēr, Jesus likely used the Aramaic word Abba since that is the language He and the majority of Palestinian Jews commonly spoke. Since Abba is equivalent to our term “Daddy,” Jesus would have used it to emphasize the personal and intimate relationship God has with His children.
To be able to approach God in prayer as our loving Heavenly Father implies several things:
It Dispels Fear
Missionaries report that, because so many individuals live in fear of their gods, one of the greatest gifts Christianity ever brings to primitive societies is the certainty that God is a loving, caring Father. The invented false gods of false religions are typically characterized as vengeful and jealous, and their worshipers must take desperate measures to appease them. But knowing that the true God is our Father dispels all such fear.
It Encourages Hope
In the midst of a hostile world that’s falling apart, God is our Father, and He’ll take care of our future. If an earthly father will spare no effort to help and protect his children, how much more will our Heavenly Father love, protect, and help us (Matt. 7:11).
It Removes Loneliness
Even if we are rejected and abandoned by family, friends, or even fellow believers, we know that our Heavenly Father will never leave us (Heb. 13:5). To drive away loneliness, God’s presence is all a believer ever needs.
Paul Tournier, a Christian physician, wrote in his Doctor’s Case Book,
There was one patient of mine, the youngest daughter in a large family which the father found it difficult to support. One day she heard her father mutter despairingly, referring to her, “We could well have done without that one.” That is precisely what God can never say. He is a loving Father to every one of His children (cited in William Barclay, The Beatitudes and the Lord’s Prayer for Every Man [New York: Harper & Row, 1963], 172).
It Defeats Selfishness
Not one singular pronoun is used in Jesus’ pattern for prayer, and it begins “our Father” because we all are fellow children with the rest of the household of God. Our prayers should embrace the entire community of the faithful. Remember that Ephesians 6:18 says we are to pray for “all the saints.” We are to pray holding up to God what is best for all, not just for one.
It Provides Resources
God is “our Father, who [is] in heaven.” All the resources of heaven are available to us when we trust God as our heavenly Supplier. He “has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ” (Eph. 1:3). Commentator Arthur Pink writes,
If God is in heaven then prayer needs to be a thing of the heart and not of the lips, for no physical voice on earth can rend the skies, but sighs and groans will reach the ears of God. If we are to pray to God in heaven, then our souls must be detached from all the earth. If we pray to God in heaven, then faith must wing our petitions (An Exposition on the Sermon on the Mount [Grand Rapids: Baker, 1950], 161).
Whatever you seek, whether it’s peace, fellowship, knowledge, victory, or boldness, God has an abundant supply in the heavenlies. We need only ask our Father for it.
It Demands Obedience
If Jesus, as God’s true Son, came down from heaven not to do His own will but His Father’s (John 6:38), how much more are we, as adopted children, to do only His will. Obedience to God is one of the supreme marks of our relationship to Him as children.
Yet in His grace, God loves and cares for His children even when they are disobedient. The story Jesus told in Luke 15 would be better titled the Parable of the Loving Father rather than the Prodigal Son. The father in the story represents our Heavenly Father, who can forgive and rejoice over both a self-righteous son who remains moral and upright and a rebellious son who becomes dissolute, wanders away, but then returns.
When you begin your prayers by calling on “Our Father, who art in heaven,” you indicate your eagerness to go to Him as a child, knowing He loves you. And you’ll find that He is eager to lend His ear, His power, and His eternal blessing to the requests of His children if it serves them best and further reveals His purpose and glory.
