Matthew 6:9
Pray then like this:
“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.”
Jesus teaches us to call God “Father” when we pray. This is 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 dependence 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.
I originally wrote this post for my church, Immanuel Nashville, in our Daily Pulse email. If you want encouragement from God’s word delivered Monday thru Friday to your inbox, I encourage you to subscribe.
