Prayer Part I : “Our Father”
When we pray, many of of us subconsciously approach God as either an orphan, a slave or a child.
Someone with an orphan spirit believes in God. They know they have a father somewhere out there, but like an orphan, they don’t really have a relationship with Him, and they subconsciously don’t believe that He wants one with them. When they pray, they “throw” their prayers out there like mailing a letter to the sky, hoping that someone will hear, but with very low confidence they will ever get a response.
Someone with a “slave” spirit prays for affirmation. They believe they have to “earn” God’s favor, and often believe that they have to pray harder and longer to get the results they want. Their relationship with God is very focused on results and based in fear. They want to make sure they keep him happy by doing good things, and if something bad happens, they believe they must have done something to make him upset with them.
But when a child prays, they pray with joy and confidence before their father. They sit on the lap of their father, and ask with authority, fully at peace in the belief that the Father has heard and will respond. They come to their Father primarily for relationship, and trust that He knows and will provide for all their needs!
So, how do we learn to pray as children of God, and why is this so important?
Imagine this with me. The disciples had been with Jesus for months, and could tell that he prayed differently than anyone they had ever seen before. He was often sneaking away to be with God and would spend hours praying- sometimes through the night! And when he prayed, things happened! So I can imagine that after months of watching Jesus pray, one of the disciples finally got up the guts to go up and ask Him, “Lord, can you teach us to pray?”
And then Jesus responded, “When you pray, pray like this- “Our Father…”
Mic Drop.
Now to us, those words are so common. But at that time- this was revolutionary!
Before Jesus came, the idea of God as a Father was known, but not commonly talked about. It was not normal to refer to God as a Father- He was holy, and His name alone could not be said out of fear it may be disgraced. In fact, God is only referred to as a Father 15 times in the entire Old Testament. However, Jesus came to teach us a new way. Jesus referred to God as “Father” over 100 times in the book of John alone!
Thjs is the key to praying like Jesus - Praying to your Father. And the crazy thing is- we could not pray rightly to God as our Father before Jesus sent His Spirit, the Spirit of the Son, into our hearts.
Galatians 4:4-7 says, “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.”
In some ways, this is what Jesus’ ministry on earth set out to do- to show us the way to become children of God. This is why it is so powerful when we pray in the name of Jesus- because this is what allows us to now pray the same way that Jesus prayed- to pray as a child of God. In fact, I love the language of Galatians four when it talks about who through Jesus we have now been adopted into Gods family. We are no longer orphans or slaves, but sons.
Prayer is to a Father, as a Son, by the Spirit.
The first thing that happened in Jesus’ ministry was when a voice spoke over him “This is my son, in whom I am well pleased” Jesus had done nothing significant in ministry yet to earn this statement, which makes this so profound. It was his confidence in this truth that became the foundation of everything he did. And the same affection that the father looked at Jesus with, is now completely poured out on you because if you have accepted Him into your heart, Jesus is in you.
Adam Cox said, “Everything changes in prayer when you know who you come to and who you are when you come. We are not beggars, we are not orphans, we are not forsaken, forgotten, overlooked or despised. “ Praying as a child changes everything! John 14:18 says, “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” God does not just listen to our prayers out of obligation- he loves when you come to him. He is always listening, always attentive, and always eager to hear what you have to say.
Matthew 13:43 says, “Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. “ Read that again! Our prayers will only change when we choose to believe this: We are sons and daughters, living in the kingdom of a Father. When we pray, we can walk right into the throne room, knowing that we have the full attention of our father and that He longs to do what we ask. He never forgets a prayer we pray. He does everything that He possibly can to answer our prayers, and only doesn’t answer our prayers when He knows that He has something better in store. As sons, we have full access to the kingdom, and full access to the father.
Imagine a police officer. If you went into his office, you would most likely be slightly intimidated and afraid. You would trust that he would do what is right, and petition him for things, but you would not go in to just spend time with him. But now imagine if that police officer was your dad. This changes everything! You could run into that police officer’s office any time, jump on his lap, and ask him for whatever you want.
To close, Luke 15 tells us the story of the prodigal son. In this story, a son demands that his father give him his inheritance before he even passed away. Then, the son goes out and squanders everything his father gave him. Finally, he finds himself living in poverty, eating with the pigs, and in humility, he goes back to his father’s house to beg for a job. He thinks “I know I won’t be accepted back into my father’s house, but maybe he will just let me live with the servants”. But as he walks down the road to return, his father sees him from afar and comes running to him. Once he sees his son, he grabs him, throws his robe around him, puts a ring on his finger, kisses him and tells his servants to go and kill the prize calf for a feast because “his son that was lost has now come home”.
Can you imagine how your prayer life would change if you pictured God running towards you every time you went to pray?
The second brother in the story had a similar challenge. When he saw the father’s acceptance of the first son back into his home, he became jealous and told his father that he had worked for him his whole life and never done anything wrong, and wondered why his father had never thrown a feast for him. To this, his father looked at him with love in his eyes and said, “My son, my son! Everything I have is yours!”
Do not be like the brother that ran away because he didn’t understand how much his father loved him, and do not be like the brother that constantly tried to earn his fathers affection. Instead, next time you pray, close your eyes and imagine God, your father, running to you with arms wide open, crying out “My child, my child, everything I have is yours!”- Luke 15:31
