Prayer’s Address: Seeing God as Father

Gracious cause.
1. What right do we have to address God as father, when we are naturally spiritual children of the devil (John 8:44; I John 3:10).
  1. This right is given by Him who is already “Father” – both within the Trinity and in relationship to His only begotten Son.
  2. The majestic and perfectly Holy Triune God gives this right only to some (John 1:12; Eph. 1:5).
2. How is God’s Fatherhood to us realized? In six steps.
3. He is “OUR Father.”
Fatherhood has wonderful meaning.
1. Three things about the fact of fatherhood.
2. God’s Fatherhood has relationship characteristics. We point out eight of them.
3. That almighty God is our Father has good implications.
  1. We can and must speak to Him directly, without anyone else mediating.
  2. We can trust Him when we do not yet understand Him.
  3. And this means that we may and ought to love Him, for His is not a relationship of fear and bondage, but of love and trust.
That our Father is “in heaven” has implications.
1. “In heaven” indicates our Father’s indescribable and infinite glory and majesty and perfection as a Father, not His location.
2. This means that we must not limit our understanding of our heavenly Father by what we learn from our earthly fathers.
3. This makes us approach the heavenly Father with humility.
4. We may have confidence and assurance that His way is the right way.