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For many of us, prayer is a struggle. There are plenty of reasons for this: we aren’t sure prayer works; we don’t know how to reconcile prayer with God’s sovereignty; we’ve had unanswered prayers in the past. But one of the most common obstacles goes deeper than all that: many of our prayer struggles arise from a fundamentally wrong view of God. We see God as reluctant and distant. Sure, he listens to us, but it’s not his favourite thing to do—and honestly, it requires a lot of patience on his part.
I believe one word can begin to uncomplicate what we’ve made so complicated. One word can change everything.
That one word? Father.
When Jesus taught his disciples to pray, he told them to begin by saying, “Our Father” (Matthew 6:9). Imagine: we can approach the God of the universe as a beloved child and say to him, “Dad, I’ve got a need, and I need your help”—and the God of heaven who made every star and who sustains every atom not only stands ready to help, but delights to listen. Why? Because if we are in Christ, God is our Father.
I’m not sure you actually believe that. Or that you actually act like you believe it.
I know I often don’t. I start my prayers with “Heavenly Father,” but I find it much harder to pause there long enough to realize the glory of what I’ve just said. Of all the titles that our sovereign, heavenly, holy God could command us to call him, it is not “Almighty One” or “Lord Conqueror” or “Exalted King.” He says, “Call me Daddy.”
Every other religion finds this bizarre, even disrespectful or irreverent. But that’s kinda the point. It is so intimate it does seem irreverent. And it would be, had God not offered this relationship to us himself. We would never have the confidence to pray like this had Christ not opened the way for us by paying our sin debt and giving to us his righteousness.
Thank God, he has opened the way for us. Not only that, but he’s made us family—with all the privileges that implies.
"Your main driver in prayer is not to inform God about needs in your life he’s forgotten, or to curry favour with him, but to spend time with him."
Young kids are not shy about speaking with their parents. When my kids were little, if they wanted to talk to me, they would barge right on in, no matter what I was doing or who I was with. They always assumed that I had time for them.
I remember years ago, when one of my daughters was 3, we were doing an open-air baptism service. There were about 65 people lined up and another 200 watching. It was mid-July in North Carolina, so it was baking hot. Then my daughter burst through the crowd like they weren’t there, skipped the line, and ran up to me. She didn’t hesitate. She didn’t hang back. She didn’t ask herself if maybe I was busy or pause to wonder what all those people were doing there. She had drawn a picture in her Sunday School class, and she wanted to show it to me. So she did. She assumed I’d want to see it.
And she was right.
My daughter did not feel she needed to impress me before she could approach me. She knew she could approach me because I loved her. So she came to talk to me in a way that for anyone else would have been rude.
There’s a lot more to the life of prayer than simply seeing God as Father. But the life of prayer begins there. Don’t rush past this: through faith in Jesus you have a place in God’s family. Recognizing and revelling in the Fatherhood of God is the engine of the Christian life.
If you are in Christ, God is your Father. He already knows you, loves you, and is aware of what you need. Your main driver in prayer is not to inform God about needs in your life he’s forgotten, or to curry favour with him, but to spend time with him.
Embracing the Fatherhood of God imparts to you a confidence that enables you to pray through any temptation and trial. You don’t need to come to God in fear, or uncertainty, or touting your goodness, or twisting his arm.
You need to come to him and simply say, “Father…”
In Just Ask, J.D. Greear shows us how prayer was a non-negotiable daily staple in Jesus’ life, more essential to him than eating or sleeping, and therefore why we need to pray as well. He shows us how we can enjoy the same source of power as our Lord and the early church when we learn to "just ask" and depend on our heavenly Father as they did.
J.D. Greear is the pastor at The Summit Church and served as the 62nd president of the Southern Baptist Convention. He is married to Veronica and they have four children. J.D. is the author of several books including Searching for Christmas, Gospel, and Above All.
