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Matthew 6 v 9 This is how you should pray. “Our Father …”

True prayer is based on a relationship with God. The only basis upon which we can call upon God and expect to be heard is when a connection with God has been restored.

We are not born with an automatic relationship with God. Rather we are born, contrary to popular opinion, as rebels. We have a propensity to roam away from God. That’s how we grow up. But when Jesus came into our world to die on the cross for us, He made it possible for us to be reconciled to God. And the profound thing is that God now becomes our Father.

 

The fatherhood of God for the Christian is a great privilege. God is not everybody’s father, as some would believe. He is indeed everybody’s creator and in a general sense He is the Father of all Creation. But in the relational sense only those who believe in Jesus can call Him father. He is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and by virtue of our relationship with Christ, our Father as well.

 

So Jesus taught us to address Him as “Our Father in Heaven”. Think about how amazing this is. No other religion knows God as Father. Think of the many people you see on T.V. and in the media who follow religious traditions in which millions take part. The fact that various religious rituals are participated in by huge crowds, does not necessarily make them true or valid. Sheer volume is no guarantee of truth. None of them can call God “Father” unless they embrace the Lord Jesus Christ. This is one of the great distinctives of the Christian faith. But we must be able to call Him Father to pray and be heard. So if you have been perplexed by the fact that your prayers seem empty and pointless the first thing to examine is whether God is your Father or not. In other words have you received the Lord Jesus as your Saviour, for He said, “no one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14 v 6) This is a great mystery and even an offense to some. Be it so it is the truth. If Jesus is your Saviour then God is your Father and if He is your Father you may bow the knee to Him and expect to be heard.

 

Prayer Still your call. Will you ask Jesus to become your Saviour now and in that way establish a new wonderful relationship with the only true living God?