Week 2 — Tuesday: Our Father
Matthew 6:9; Psalm 68:5
Seeing God as a Father was a difficult image in my early Christian walk. My earthly father abandoned me when I was an infant and I never knew him. I could not conceive how to trust in a Heavenly Father when I could not trust the man who gave me life.
Jesus instructs us to begin our prayer with “Our Father” (Matthew 6:9). We can approach His throne unabandoned with the heart of a child towards a loving Heavenly Father, and we are met with grace and loving, accepting arms. My childhood experiences do not need to define me, nor need to shape my view of my Heavenly Father. He wants me to completely trust in Him, trust that He will do a work in my life with His transformative grace. His word tells me He is a “Father to the fatherless” (Psalm 68:5) and I am a daughter of a King!
When I enter my prayers naming Him as Father, I am entering into an intimate dialog. I am putting Him in His rightful place in my heart. God is not an unapproachable God! He wants us to address Him as Father! What an intimate and endearing way to approach the God of Heaven! The love God has for us is the unconditional, intimate, all-encompassing love of a father. In naming who He is, God shows who we are. If God is our Father, then we are His sons and daughters. We are then invited to come to God with child-like trust. All we must do is accept that invitation and trust!
God’s word promises me that He will never leave us (Deuteronomy 31:8). The name of Father encompasses all wisdom and power, love, protection, goodness, and One that supplies all our needs. Just as Jesus knew the intimate relationship with His Heavenly Father, we can also enter that intimate relationship knowing “Our Father in Heaven…”.
—CONTRIBUTED BY LORI BOGER, BVG ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT —
Brandon
September 12, 2023 at 5:25 amGood morning everyone checking this out from the TEXT encouragements!
YOU FOUND IT!!! 🥳
I’ll kick things off. For me, the story of the Prodigal Son, and the extravagant, gracious, unconditional, heartfelt love of the father is one of my favorites for how I view God as Father (Luke 15:11-32 if you’d like to read it).
“20 And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.”-Luke 15:20
Mark Ferguson
September 13, 2023 at 5:20 amThe greatest Bible study I’ve done was to participate in researching and studying Gods Character. Once completed, we all had a much better understanding of who our Heavenly Father Is. I particularly like knowing He is The God Almighty, Creator of the universe and all that’s in it.