Abba! Father!

Theme

As we pray this week, we are preparing our hearts to love our Father by embracing our identity as children of God.

Scriptures

Matthew 6:9-13: “This, then, is how you should pray: 

“‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,your kingdom come, your will be done,    on earth as it is in heaven.Give us today our daily bread.And forgive us our debts,    as we also have forgiven our debtors.And lead us not into temptation,    but deliver us from the evil one.’

Galatians 4:4-7: But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.

Reflect

J. I. Packer once wrote, “What is a Christian? The question can be answered in many ways, but the richest answer I know is that a Christian is one who has God as Father.”

Here’s not wrong. It is an amazing reality that God has taken sinful, rebellious humans and showered us with such love and acceptance that He made us His children.

When Jesus taught us to pray, He started by teaching us to come to God as our Father. Not as our Lord, not as our Master, but our Father.

The Spirit Himself testifies in us that God is our Father because of the work of Jesus. Because of Jesus, we also are children of God, and can come to God as our Father.

Pray

Everyday this week pray through the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13). 

Next, spend some time meditating on Galatians 4:4-7.

Next, write down three words or phrases that come to mind about the Father.

Next, write down three words or phases that come to mind about you being a child of God.

At the end of the week, take all of those words that you have written over the week, and put them together in an offering of praise to God.