When Jesus teaches his disciples how to pray in Luke 11, he starts out by saying "Our father." This was the Lord's prayer he spoke. When Jesus prayed in public, he didn't recite the Lord's prayer, but He did address the Lord as Father. And I like how He uses the term “Our father”. We know that God is His father, but here he includes us, saying hey, we're brothers, He's our Father. And this was new information. Before Christ when men and women of the Lord prayed, they didn't address God as "Father." Abraham, or Moses, or Jacob, or Joshua, or Nehemiah, and so on. They prayed lots of times, but never saying “Father.” So when Jesus uses the term father, it is new information. This was Jesus making a point to make a huge change in approaching God. We should really meditate on this.
A father is not some far away God that is unapproachable, but instead, we can ask our father to do things that we would not just ask anyone. It's a much closer relationship, it's family, and He's totally approachable. And whether you had the worst dad in the world or the best, Father God is infinitely more loving than an earthly dad, He is perfect, and He has wonderful gifts in mind for you. Jesus points this out when He says “what father, even though he is evil, gives his child a bad gift when he asks? How much more then will Father God give us good gifts.” Yeah, your daddy has got you. So approach God Jesus style, as “Father”. Or like Jesus said in the Garden of Gethsamane, “Abba Father”. I think when we say it out loud it does something on the inside of us.
The Living Word Bible Church - Jason Anderson
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