The Key Word In "Our Father" Is Our

Jesus said that when we pray we should start with two very profound words, “Our Father.”

The Old Testament hardly ever calls God “Father” but in Jesus we get something we’d never seen before. Jesus came to show us the Father and he refers to God relationally in this way about 170 times because it’s the relationship we are meant to share in.

How do you relate to God in light of the parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15? Do you view Him as a loving father? Do you have problems seeing Him as the Father that wants you to return? Can you see Him coming to the road everyday and straining to see if you are coming from a long way off? It goes against the grain of everything most were taught about God as a child.

What about God as punisher? I get that! What about God as judge? Gotcha! What about God as a destroyer? I get that as well! What about God as the grand record keeper? Oh that’s an easy one! What about God as strict judge? No doubt about it! What about God as somebody who redeemed me but doesn’t really want to have that kind of relationship? My head says no but my heart says that’s what I really believed.

But what about seeing God as someone who anxiously waits for me to live in right relationship with Him? Well for most of my life that was just too far outside my scope of understanding. In fact for many, upon hearing things like this they are quick to throw up a few verses about the wrath of God. Hold onto those for a moment and just stop and think about God as Father. Think about your relationship with Him? What’s good about it? What needs improved about it? Think about all the claims God makes about being your Father.

If your relationship with your father wasn’t all that good, these thoughts may not be all that comforting. A very real issue is that there have been fathers who have been violent and abusive and domineering. This needs to be admitted rather than diverting quickly it into a conversation about God as Father. However, maybe the issue isn’t about changing the language we use to describe God as Father. Maybe the issue is about changing the lives of our earthly fathers. It seems to me that the problem isn’t so much the way God is Father. The problem is the way I’m a father. As a result I think it’s time for men to become the kind of fathers that God is. If they all were, I’m not sure this problem of seeing God as Father would exist.

The joy of Christianity is that we’ve been made in God’s image. But the danger of Christianity is that we’re constantly tempted to recast God in our own image. This isn’t a new problem. In every generation Christians have been inclined to portray God along the lines of what seems good and right and true in the society. In other words there’s a tendency to articulate the highest ideals of what today we aspire to and project those onto God. But it’s obvious what’s wrong with this approach. It makes God into a product of our creative imaginations. We become the creator and God becomes the creature. God becomes a showcase of our own high ideals.

With that said, I want to ask you to imagine something for a moment. What if God wanted to be all the things that your earthly father lacked? How would that change how you interacted with Him? What if God really was the Dad that was there with a hug for you when things were just falling apart? What if God loved you no matter what? How would that change how you lived? How would that change how you risked in relationships with others? How would that change how you loved people?

May you live in the reality that God is Abba Father to you. May you know His love in a very real and intimate way. May you live in the reality that even when you find yourself in a “far off land” He loves you and longs for your return. May the next time you pray start with “Daddy.”