August 27, 2023

After giving a half-hearted attempt here and here at a few quick spiritual Sunday snips over the past few weeks, I've decided to return to writing more “meaningful” articles on all things spiritual. I'm going to kick off today with some thoughts I've recently been having about prayer: namely because my prayers have become much more deep and passionate of late after beginning to truly think of God as a loving heavenly father.

See, I don't know about you, but for some reason, I have a pre-programmed tendency to think of God as some kind of wrathful ruler in the sky who has laid down a strict set of commandments that I sure-as-heck-better-follow, because if I don't, I'm going to be chock-full of regret and overflowing with self-blame and shame. In other words, it's almost as though my desire to live with the love of Jesus somehow also involves me making futile attempts not to make the big guy in the sky mad, because – you know – I don't want to be struck by lightning, get a flat tire in a blizzard, have my house burn down, lose my job, or receive some kind of other supernatural punishment from God because I've pissed Him off yet again.

Oddly enough, when I pray, I often begin my prayer by reciting the classic words, “Our Father, who art in Heaven…” but then seldom do I actually proceed to speak to God the way I would actually speak to an actual father. You know: like a young boy coming up to his pops, wrapping his little arms around that big, thick neck, pulling himself into his father's chest and snuggling there against the warm, strong pounding of his dad's heart as he settles into the strength, protection, confidence and wisdom provided by the proximity and presence of a being so much stronger than him, yet so tender and so caring.

Instead, sometimes my prayers seem like I'm projecting words towards some distant and strict commander from afar, almost as though I'm mumbling out to the eye of Sauron from Tolkien's Lord of the Rings or something like that.

How about you? Do you ever find yourself thinking of God more like a cruel commander or strict schoolmaster rather than as a loving, heavenly Father who created you in His image, knows every hair of your head, and wrote a great story for your life before you were ever even conceived?

If so, I am now encouraging you, the next time you come before God, to come before Him as a loving, heavenly Father welcoming you into his embrace, very much how the prodigal son's father in the Biblical parable welcomed his long lost son into his arms with unconditional love and everlasting forgiveness.

For your inspiration, here are twenty-three encouraging verses about God being our Father:

Matthew 6:9-10, NIV Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

2 Corinthians 6:18, NLT And I will be your Father, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.

Matthew 23:9, ESV And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven.

John 1:12, ESV But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,

Romans 8:14, NLT For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.

Romans 8:15, NLT So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.”

Romans 8:16, NLT For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children.

1 John 3:1, ESV See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

1 John 3:2, ESV Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.

Ephesians 4:6, ESV One God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

Galatians 3:26, NIV So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, (We are united in Christ! We are joint heirs with Christ!)

Luke 6:35-36, ESV But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

Matthew 5:16, NASB Your light must shine before people in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

Isaiah 63:16, ESV For you are our Father, though Abraham does not know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us; you, O LORD, are our Father, our Redeemer from of old is your name.

1 Corinthians 8:6, ESV Yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom all things are and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things are and through whom we exist.

Isaiah 64:8, NLT And yet, O LORD, you are our Father. We are the clay, and you are the potter. We all are formed by your hand.

Ephesians 4:4-6, ESV There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.

Luke 12:32, ESV Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

Psalm 89:26, NKJV He shall cry to Me, “You are my Father, My God, and the rock of my salvation.”

2 Corinthians 6:16, NIV I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people. (God is our father, and God is with us always! The Lord your God is with you!)

2 Corinthians 6:18, NIV I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.

Ephesians 5:1, TLB Follow God’s example in everything you do just as a much loved child imitates his father.

Luke 6:36, NIV Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

So what does it look like exactly to speak to God as a Father?

Here is what has helped me…

…first, speak from your heart, not from your head, and be passionate about what you say to God.

Rather than, “God help me at work today.”, say, “God, *sigh*, I'm so tired. I'm so beat down. I'm so weary. I need your help and your hands to get me through this day. Please give me strength. Please lift me up. Please carry me today.”

Rather than, “God, please forgive me.”, say, “God, I need your help. I can't do this without you. I've fallen down once again. Please forgive me for *XYZ*. Please hold me in Your loving embrace and protect me from this temptation I can't seem to get away from on my own. Please smile on me and let me feel the warmth of Your presence again. You know I love You so much more than this sin. Please help me to show it.”

Rather than: “God bless this food.”, say, “God, thank you so much for giving me this plate of green beans and steak bites and mashed potatoes and for keeping me so fed and nourished.”

In other words, pour out your heart to God the same way you might have poured out your heart to your earthly father when you were six years old and just wanted to be in the presence of your father to talk, or to find comfort, or to say you were sorry.

Second, imagine yourself placing your head on God's shoulder, or in his lap, or on his knee. Change your body posture if it helps (I prefer a kneeling position). Sense, feel and picture God's presence – there as your Father – and picture Him ready to take You into His powerful arms to embrace you, forgive you, protect you and love you. Feel His warmth, His peace, His largeness and His love.

Finally, resist the urge to feel like you can't pray or talk to or come before God because you've done something bad, yet again. God doesn't turn a cold shoulder to you and banish you from His Kingdom forever because you messed up. Would you kick your own child out of the house, or disown them, or hate them, or quit talking to them if they, say, stole a cookie and lied about it? No? What about if they took the family car for a joyride at midnight? No? What about if they called you up late on a Saturday night because they were in jail after getting drunk and getting into a fight at a bar? No?

And don't you think God's love is a hundred, a thousand, and beyond a million times greater than any earthly parent's love for their own child, so much that God actually gave up His own son, Jesus, to be tortured and die for you? Sure, God can get mad at you, just like any father could get mad at their child. But it doesn't mean He has suddenly disowned you. As Jesus himself said, we are to forgive, “…I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy-seven times.” (Matthew 18:21-22). Don't you think God will forgive you seventy-seven times, and a whole lot more?

Think also once again of the parable of the prodigal son:

“The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

“But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.”

Now don't get me wrong here, I am not, as the apostle Paul alludes to in Romans, endorsing that you just continue sinning because you know God will always be there to forgive you, no matter what. That's a flagrant abuse of His grace. Paul replies to that notion with a resounding “God forbid” (Romans 6:2). To tell God you're sorry for what you did and then to go on to continue in the same sin over and over and over again shows that you really don't value the sacrifice of Jesus and that you probably didn't really mean it when you asked for forgiveness.

It might also mean that after asking God for forgiveness, you need to drastically change your habits, or your routine, or your environment. Maybe you need to take a route home that bypasses the nightclub, stripclub or bar, or you need to throw out the porn mags and install blocking software on your browser, or you need to tie a yellow band around your wrist to remind you not to lie, or you need to get a necklace with a cross on it to constantly remind yourself that you value the sacrifice of Jesus a thousand times more than any temptation or sin or attachment or addiction. Also, remember, if you really, truly are sorry and repentant, God has promised to help you overcome the sin you asked Him to help you with, or you asked Him to forgive you for (1 John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” and 1 Corinthians 10:13: “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.”) You just have to mean it when you ask for forgiveness.

Finally, just because you have decided to think of God as an ever-forgiving, loving heavenly Father, do not forget that He is also King of the Universe. This means that when you come before God to pray, you are entering into a very holy and reverent place, namely, the throneroom of God.

“At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carlian. A rainbow, resembling an emerald, encircled the throne.
(Revelations 4:2-3 NIV)

After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God.
(Revelations 7:9-11 NIV)”

In the Old Testament of the Bible, only the priests had such a high privilege. But now, because of the sacrifice of Jesus, anyone can come before God, even if they haven't sacrificed some giant bull or cleansed themselves with some Mediterranean hyssop-esque herb (“Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body” (Hebrews 10:19-20 NIV).)

Just imagine if you were to waltz into the Oval Office in the White House in a pair of ripped-up denim jean overalls having not showered in three days.

Or imagine you were a knight entering the throneroom of a great King, just after you'd quaffed about four too many giant mugs of mead at a dinner feast and were stumbling about slurring your words and tripping over your own sword.

This would be disrespectful, wouldn't it? 

In the same way, unless you're asking for repentance for the sorry state you happen to be in, don't come casually before the throneroom of God while high on weed, or three glasses of wine in and collapsed in bed half aware of your mumblings. I only say this because I've noticed a tendency for some people to treat prayer as a kind of pagan plant-medicine ceremony, and I don't think it's right or necessary to need some form of inebriation, drunkenness or the induction of any other psychedelic or entheogenic state to be able to “get spiritual bro”.

In addition, when you pray, begin by acknowledging that you are aware of the extreme privilege of entering God's throneroom, meaning something like this:

“Dear God, I enter into your throneroom now so humbled and grateful to be in your powerful presence…”

or

“My Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing me to come before you once again and to enter into your holy place to bring my prayers to you…”

You get the idea. God is your Father, but not your casual “bud”. You still need to treat and speak to Him like a King, and approach Him with reverence and worship, from the beginning of your prayer!

So in summary…

…pray to God as your heavenly Father, not as a distant dictator in the sky.

Pour your heart out passionately to Him.

While praying, visualize and feel His presence and warm embrace.

Don't ever feel like you're officially banished from talking to Him or that He doesn't ever want to see you again.

How about you? Do you pray to God as a father, or do you struggle like I did with sometimes feeling like you're talking to a brick wall, or a far-off, really stern ruler who seems to be mad at you a lot? Leave your questions, comments and feedback below. I read them all.