Before I forget, I want to share a word about prayer.
In the absence of preparing a message for last Sunday’s worship at MPBC I found myself digging in for one of the greatest opportunities in ministry – to lead families and other believers in a time of sole-searching prayer. We prayed for families, like mine, who have uncertain outcomes and are trying to cope with concerns that have entered the lives of the people we love. We find that our hearts, then, become centered on the well-being of the people we love when they are facing difficulties.
We will do anything for our daughters and sons; for our sisters and brothers; for our grandchildren (even surrogate grandchildren), parents and so on. We press forward in every personal effort to find answers or people who can lead us to them – just to give them the gift of peace and assurance.
So it is with our Heavenly Father. He wants us to have a rich and satisfying life (John 10:10 NLT). His desire is for us to let go of those things that are beyond our understanding and control and trust Him with them. So, while we are suffering and feeling anxious about these earthy uncertainties of this life we need a place to go and someone to talk to; we need counsel! Why don’t we pray? I mean, really pray!
Maybe we just need to understand our relationship with God in a simpler way.
In our study on August 19th (each Wednesday at 7 p.m.) some word pictures surfaced about who we are and how we can be confident in His love toward us. First, there is the whole concept of Abba-Father that Jesus used (Mark 14:36) when talking to His Father, God. Abba-Father is the same pronoun the Apostle Paul used in Romans 8:14-17 and Galatians 4:5-7 when revealing our connection with our Father in Heaven. This term has a submissive overtone to it, like a small child who reveres his/her parents in a trusting, loving relationship. Someone has used the intimate term, “Daddy”, in the place of Abba Father. We can understand that kind of relationship in a tangible way. That’s who our Heavenly Father is to us – our Dad! The One who wants us to experience all the rich and satisfying things of our life – given from His perfect imagination to what really matters in our lives, to be with us when we don’t understand what’s happening and to hold us tight when our lives are falling apart! We are his children! We have the right to claim God as our Father (John 1:12)!
Next, the Biblical term adoption anchors our legal rights as those born outside of Abraham’s descendants to be equal heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven with Jesus, the first born among many (Romans 8:29)! We were grafted (Romans 11:16-18) onto God’s family tree when we believed/trusted in Jesus Christ. So, we can claim our rightful inheritance in His promised Kingdom. My wife and I have adopted five children and on each legal agreement we are made aware that our adopted children equally bear the right to call us their parents as do our four birth children. There are no differences according to the law! Each of our children can expect to be treated the same and have the same privileges (if there are any) and inheritance . They have that right!
The Psalmist says, “If we delight ourselves in the Lord, He will give us the desires of our heart” (Psalm 37:4).
Do you know who you are? You are a child of the King! The Creator of the Universe is your Dad! Long for His input in your life! Trust that He has the best possible plan for a rich and satisfying life for you! The destruction of this worldly environment can sure drag us down, but the life that is pleasing to the Lord is one that is focused on His care – even if we suffer!
Release your worries… Release your control… Release and go to your Dad, in prayer! He will take care of the fear, the threats and the pain!
1 Peter 5:6 “Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.”
Prayer is our heart’s voice speaking to our life’s author…
Pastor John
