Calling God “Father” is very familiar to most of us, maybe too much so–to the point of taking it for granted. But to Jesus’ audience it would have been stunning. Throughout the Old Testament and in all historic Jewish practice of prayer, God was addressed with worshipful reverence–Lord Most High, for example. He was never referred to as “Father.” Then Jesus says to “pray to your Father,” which might have been passable as a theological concept–He was the Father of Israel after all. Except Jesus goes a step further by explicitly teaching us call him Father, a term of closeness and affection and love rather than just reverence and worshipful awe. This is how Jesus always addressed God in prayer, which makes sense–he is the Son of God, after all. But what gives us the right to call God Father? What is Jesus inviting us into?
This is a whole gospel invitation. We can call God Father because of the saving work of Jesus. Romans 8:15-16 tells us that “we have received the Spirit of adoption as sons” of God. Jesus–by his life, death, and resurrection–has brought us into the family of God as children, with all the affection and rights and access to God as our loving Father. So every time we address God as “Father” we are acknowledging the saving work of Jesus and our dependance on Him. When we call God “Father” we are declaring that we are in Christ, that we come to the Father only through Him. We are loved and welcomed as children of God because of Jesus.
And take note that he is our Father. In Christ all who believe are one family with one Father. This prayer Jesus gave us is a shared and corporate reality. Jesus already addressed private prayer, but now he is speaking to all who believe as one saved and adopted family. We pray this with every other believer in the world, and we must be careful not to pray “our Father” while considering another believer less a part of the family of God.
And what kind of Father are we coming to in prayer? Again, verse 6 gave us a hint when it said that “your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” He is a personal Father with a heart to give the best to his children. He is available and generous. He receives us willingly and lovingly. He guards and encompasses us with his goodness. The very idea of fatherhood came from God. He isn’t imitating human fathers, he invented fatherhood. So he is the perfect father–perfectly loving, totally fair, always present, unfailingly wise, a giver of joy, a strong protector, the one who meets needs. We can always depend on him, always talk to him, always count on Him. We know that he will always do what is best for us. And he will love us unconditionally. This is the kind of Father we come to in prayer.
But our Father is not merely loving and personal. If he was, the kinds of prayers we bring would be limited. We could not count on Him in the truly troubling, the cosmically confusing, the globally disturbing, the unceasingly painful matters. But we have a personal, loving Father in heaven. This doesn’t mean he is distant. It means he is over all–he is in the heavens and the earth, governing all. Our Father is the king of the universe, the ruler of history. To quote that great old Hymn, “Crown Him With many Crowns”, our Father is “the potentate of time.” He is both the intimate and the most infinite, perfectly good and all powerful, with you right now and governing every moment for all time. So our most private and personal fears are safe in his hands and heart and our crushing global fears and societal anxieties will be resolved by Him in truth and justice. He is that kind of Father, unlike any other. So we come to him in prayer, asking for one thing first and above all.
This is an excerpt from a sermon I preached on June 8, 2025 at Immanuel Nashville. You can watch the whole thing below.
