What you think about the LORD matters, and when Jesus teaches His disciples how to pray He set out to challenge their thoughts about who He is and what He is like.
Notice how He begins His prayer.
“This, then, is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name…’” Matthew 6:9 (NIV)
Maybe I should have asked you to consider how He did NOT begin His prayer (Righteous Judge / Eternal King / Sovereign Lord). While He IS all these…the fact that Jesus teaches His disciples to address God as “Father” means something!
Last night we unpacked that the LORD is personal, loving (even when He corrects us or tells us “no,” powerful, and holy as our Heavenly Father. Is this is an exhaustive list? Nope. Not even close. But Jesus kept it simple, and with a brief message on a basketball playoff night it seemed appropriate to keep it simple for us, too.
A couple takeaways:
1) we are not alone in our prayer (Jesus teaches us to pray “our” Father)
2) our identity changes (we are part of an eternal family)
Questions to ask at the table or when you’re driving in the car:
- When you hear the word “father,” what’s the first word or image that comes to mind?
- If God is Father, what does that say about how He views you?
- Good fathers don’t just say yes to everything. Can you think of a time when something didn’t go your way but later you realized it was good (either in relation to your earthly father or our Heavenly Father)?
- If God really is your Father, what does that change about:
-How you handle anxiety?
-How you handle failure?
-How you see yourself?
-How you pray?
ACTION STEPS:
What’s one word you want to remember about God as Father this week?
When you pray this week…
-Thank God for being Father.
-Acknowledge His love, power and holiness.
-Ask for trust.