Jesus begins the Lord’s Prayer with “OUR FATHER”’. This sums up our relationship with everyone on earth and in Heaven. The Son of the MOST HIGH GOD tells us in just two words that the Creator of the Universe is our Parent and we are HIS children. If there is anything you should deem as unchangeable, this is it. This phrase blasts away the theology where FATHER is a loveless tyrant just waiting for you to screw up so that HE can evoke some severe punishment on you. In its purest form, the parent Loves the child unconditionally and Our Heavenly Father is the purest of the pure.
We should Love others as FATHER Loves us. If you only focus on receiving Love from FATHER then you are self-centered and immature. Those may seem like harsh words but it is time to ascend higher and no longer be content in a lower state of being. As a prelude to the great Love chapter, Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians chapter 4:
14 I do not write these things to shame you, but as my beloved children I warn you.
15 For though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.
16 Therefore I urge you, imitate me.
Paul urges the Corinthians to move to a greater maturity so they can minister Love to others, not just be recipients. A true FATHER will Love HIS children, train them up to become like HIM so that they can further the inheritance of THE FATHER. This theme is true throughout Scripture and it remains true today. Fathers want the best for their children, not just the “good” or “better”. Fathers don’t expect perfection but instead they want their children to strive for excellence. Fathers don’t want their children to be sick or diseased so they provide the means for full and complete health. Jesus was the prime example of FATHER’S Divine Intent.
In Matthew chapter 6, Jesus compares our relationship with two other kingdom seen on earth. First the animal kingdom:
25 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?
Now the plant kingdom:
28 “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?”
I know that science would tell us that we are part of the animal kingdom, I disagree. My ancestor was not a monkey or an ape. I did not evolve as Darwinists would have us believe. Jesus differentiated us from those two kingdoms in His Sermon on the Mount. Jesus Who only spoke the words of FATHER made it quite clear that FATHER will provide for us. Jesus linked provision to faith and thus we must grow in faith, trust, and reliance on FATHER to move into HIS provision. HE is Our Provider.
Who of us can add an inch to our height? High heels don’t count. We cannot change the physical on our own but FATHER can and will. HE will hear our heartfelt prayers and respond in Love. However HE does expect us to grow and set aside childish doctrines. We are to confront those obstacles set before us and grow along the way. The test of maturity is whether we become more interested in others’ wellbeing rather than always focusing our our own needs.
Jesus told us in Matthew chapter 6:
6 “But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.
7 And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.
8 Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.”
If FATHER knows what we need before we ask, why doesn’t HE just provide the need without our asking? HE expects us to grow up and accept responsibility. What we ask for and how we ask reveal our level of maturity. FATHER has an infinite supply of resources and is willing to provide anything we ask according to HIS Will and your need. HE will do if for you just as HE does it for me. After all, HE is OUR FATHER!