Who's Your Daddy? pt 2 of 2 (or A Life of Prayer pt 6 )

Yesterday I was talking about recognizing Yehoveh as your Father and I began to think about that time with Jesus’ disciples asked Him to teach them how to pray. He looks at them and says, “Your Father knows what you need before you ask, so pray something like this: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, may your name be honored . . .” (Matthew 6:8-9) [Other translations render that, "Hallowed be your name . . ."] Then He went on to give them what we call the “Lord’s Prayer.”

The Lord was telling His disciples to first establish their relationship with “God” as their Heavenly Father. What that means for us is that we need to begin our prayers by acknowledging Him as ourHeavenly Father. If you want your life to work, begin each day by saying, “Father, thank you for this day.”

The foundation of your relationship with your “God,” is that you are His son or daughter. That means you are dependent on Him for everything, and because He is your Father, you can trust Him to provide for you and protect you. After all, isn’t that what a good father does?

Some will tell you that that too many have a very distorted image of Yehoveh as a father because they had (or have) a bad or nonexistent relationship with their earthly dad. That may be true, but if we fix our attention on the Scriptures and not on what we have experienced from men, we can overcome our past experiences.

Your Lord is not distant or abusive. He loves you and wants you the love Him. He is never too busy for you. He will always take care of you. He will never abandon you. He will not leave you or forsake you. He knows what you need, even before you ask. He gives good things to His children who love Him, seek after Him, and ask things of Him.

Being a child of Yehoveh means knowing you are part of a large family and you have a place with Him and that family for eternity. In the meantime, because you are His sons and daughters, He will guide you, provide for you, protect you, and give you an important position in the family business.

So if you felt unloved, abused, distant from, or abandoned by your earthly dad, don’t try to project those feelings on your Heavenly Father. There is no comparison between the two. Begin to ask the Lord to heal the hurts from your past. As Ed Cole used to say, “He can take the dung from your past to create fertilizer for your future.” Allow your Heavenly Father, through His Transcendent Glory, transform your bad and hurtful memories, into avenues for you to bring healing to someone else’s life!

Nickolas