For Tom, Michelle & Tommy J. – Pt. III

Dear Tom & Michelle & Tommy J.,

Matthew 6:9-13

9After this manner ought you to pray:

Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

10Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

11Give us this day our daily bread.

12And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

13And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

When we pray to God as “Our Father” we should realize what a privilege that is. In the Old Testament in your Bible God was very seldom addressed as a Father. However in the New Testament God takes upon Himself more frequently the title of “Father,” and Jesus Himself teaches us to address God as “Father.”

This addressing God as “Father” reminds us that God has adopted us and put us in His family and made us His children. So every time we pray Tommy J., we are reminded that God is to us a Father. As a Father we can be confident that God will always love us, provide for us, protect and defend us, discipline us, guide us, and give us all things necessary for life and for death. When we address God as “Father” we are reminded that God has taken responsibility for us and that we need not fear the devil or any mortal being. God as our “Father” is for us and so nobody of any consequence can be against us. Since God is “Our Father,” who of any import can be against us? Realizing and embracing that God is our “Father” because of Jesus dying for us, makes us a very brave, bold, and confident people.

One more truth that addressing God as “Our Father” reminds us of Tommy J., is that God is not a far away or distant God. God is as near to us as our earthly Fathers. Our relationship with God, because God is our Father can be intimate and tender. Our God is not a God far away but a God near to us.

Tomorrow Tommy J., we will look at why Jesus taught the disciples to recognize that God is in Heaven. Today we have learned of some of the benefits there is in having God as “Our Father.” We have learned of some of the character that creates in us when we know God is “Our Father.”

Let us close with a prayer,

“Our Father, we thank you that you are not a far away God who takes no interest in us but rather you are to us a Father. We thank you that because you are “Our Father,” we no longer need to have any fear except the fear of disobeying you. Father, we thank you that you are for us in all trials and rejoicings. Teach us to trust you and your ways with us knowing that a Father always does what is best for his children. Thank you again for Jesus who is our Elder Brother and whose death for us turned away your displeasure with us so that we might be able to call you “Father.”

In Jesus name we pray,

AMEN.

Author: jetbrane

I am a Pastor of a small Church in Mid-Michigan who delights in my family, my congregation and my calling. I am postmillennial in my eschatology. Paedo-Calvinist Covenantal in my Christianity Reformed in my Soteriology Presuppositional in my apologetics Familialist in my family theology Agrarian in my regional community social order belief Christianity creates culture and so Christendom in my national social order belief Mythic-Poetic / Grammatical Historical in my Hermeneutic Pre-modern, Medieval, & Feudal before Enlightenment, modernity, & postmodern Reconstructionist / Theonomic in my Worldview One part paleo-conservative / one part micro Libertarian in my politics Systematic and Biblical theology need one another but Systematics has pride of place Some of my favorite authors, Augustine, Turretin, Calvin, Tolkien, Chesterton, Nock, Tozer, Dabney, Bavinck, Wodehouse, Rushdoony, Bahnsen, Schaeffer, C. Van Til, H. Van Til, G. H. Clark, C. Dawson, H. Berman, R. Nash, C. G. Singer, R. Kipling, G. North, J. Edwards, S. Foote, F. Hayek, O. Guiness, J. Witte, M. Rothbard, Clyde Wilson, Mencken, Lasch, Postman, Gatto, T. Boston, Thomas Brooks, Terry Brooks, C. Hodge, J. Calhoun, Llyod-Jones, T. Sowell, A. McClaren, M. Muggeridge, C. F. H. Henry, F. Swarz, M. Henry, G. Marten, P. Schaff, T. S. Elliott, K. Van Hoozer, K. Gentry, etc. My passion is to write in such a way that the Lord Christ might be pleased. It is my hope that people will be challenged to reconsider what are considered the givens of the current culture. Your biggest help to me dear reader will be to often remind me that God is Sovereign and that all that is, is because it pleases him. View all posts by jetbrane