1425 God, Father, Abba

Who is this God we pray to, and are we bothering him with our requests? Are we even doing it right? Are our prayers getting through? Does the Creator of the Universe really hear our requests, and if he does, does he really want to? Scripture is filled with instructions on prayer. We are instructed to talk to God, and talk to him about everything, all the time. We’re told to use our normal language and not make it fussy or showy. We’re reassured God hears those prayers and he answers fully and faithfully. James 5:6 says, “The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.” You are that righteous person. Righteous because of one thing … your faith in Jesus. And your earnest prayer, meaning your sincere prayer instead of your check the box prayer, has great power! Your sincere prayer, the one you pray, not out of obligation but out of relationship, produces wonderful results. Results that move mountains. Results that cause walls to crumble. Results that break chains. Results that part seas. Results that make the impossible possible. Girl, you are really missing out if you’re not talking to God and building your relationship with him. I missed out for years!!!! For years I felt like it was some sort of obligation I was guilt tripped into. I would go through the motions and ramble off words I didn’t even mean out of habit. And those were my good days. Most days, I would just forget. I was missing out. Now, I don’t want you to miss out! My life has radically changed because of the power of sincere prayer, and I want to make sure you’re walking in that power too, my sister! But, I still often wonder if I’m bothering God by talking to him about the same people over and over again. I question if he would prefer I ask once, then drop it. I remember when I was a teenager, I was limited to a 15 minute nightly phone call with my boyfriend. When the time was up, my Daddy would come walking down the hallway and say, “Sis, put the rest of it in a letter.” What did Daddy mean? He meant, time was up, end the conversation now! Would God prefer I just wrap up my prayers quickly? You know, like a blanket prayer that covers everything in a few sentences, and be done with it. Is that what God wants? Our answer is found in the first 2 words of Jesus teaching us to pray. Yes, the first 2 words. Jesus says in Matthew 6:9 “This, then, is how you should pray: Our Father …” Is there more? Absolutely. Maybe you can even recite it. But the answer to our question is right here. Does the Creator of the Universe really want to hear our prayer? YES! Are we bothering him? NO! Does he want us to cut it short, wrap it up, and cover it with a blanket? NO! Here’s how we know. Jesus tells us to address God, the Creator of the Universe, the Almighty, the All-Knowing, the One we can never possibly understand, as “Our Father”. That of course is the translation of what Jesus actually said. It is believed Jesus originally spoke this prayer in Aramaic. It began with the word “Abun”. Later translated into Greek as “Abba”. The meaning is Father. Not a distant God. Not a cosmic being who can’t be bothered by our earthly concerns. Not a distant high ruler. Not an angry gray haired man with a big stick. No, our Father. Abun is the Aramaic word a child would use for their Daddy. It represents relationship. It represents respect. It represents love, both loving and being loved. And this is how Jesus himself told us we should pray. When you pray, pray like this, “Our Father.” The one who wants a relationship with me. The one who deserves my respect. The one whom I love and who loves me. That is who we are talking to! And because God actually WANTS to be referred to as our Father, we know for sure he WANTS us to talk to him. We are not a burden. We are not an obligation. We are his prized and precious children! I remember teaching my little boy