Young Adults' Group

“Our Father In Heaven”

by Pastor Mark
March 10, 2016

Looking forward to an exciting camp

It is only a few more days before Family Camp 2016 begins. We look ahead to another great time of studying the Lord’s Word together and to learn about developing our prayer life.

Being away from work and the hustle and bustle of life, we will have time to be alone with the Lord in prayer. There will also be many opportunities for us to be with our brethren from Bethany. Let us look forward to another exciting Family Camp. 

Relating to God as Father

As we prepare ourselves, one thing that we learned from Sunday School was how we should relate to God as Father. Pastor taught from the Lord’s Prayer that the first thing that we need to do is learn to relate to God as Father. (Matt 6:9)

Learning how to pray is important. But without a close relationship with our Father, the practice of prayer would not be as meaningful. In fact, our prayer efforts may end up being hypocritical and ritualistic.

Our challenge is to develop a close and living relationship with our heavenly Father. It means getting to know our Father far more deeply and personally. We should draw closer to Him and to interact with Him more significantly. Let us look forward to being in prayer with our heavenly Father at this camp.

The privilege of being sons

To those of us who believe in the Lord Jesus, we have been given the privilege of being called His sons. (John 1:12) Through Christ’s death, we become sons of glory. (Heb 2:10)

It is our privilege to relate to our heavenly Father as we have been granted full access to Him. But more often than not, we take this privilege for granted. If fact, we neglect this relationship with our Father as we don’t take time to be with Him each day. We are really not the kind of sons that we ought to be, yet the privilege continues to be extended to us. Let us seek to appreciate this privilege and endeavor to seek a far closer relationship our heavenly Father.

An escalation of relationship

Pastor spoke of how we can see an escalation of relationship with God as Father. When Jesus taught His prayer, the Greek word for Father is “pater’. It is a common term used for all fathers. But the Apostle Paul used a different word to describe how the Holy Spirit can help us in escalating our relationship. Paul used the word “Abba”. He wrote, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” (Rom 8:15-16) The word “Abba” means “daddy”…a tender and precious term that is used. We are meant to have a close and wonderful relationship with our Father as “Daddy”.

And it is not just about saying the word “Abba”. It is an actual escalation of the kind of relationship that we have with God…one in which grows from relating to Him as “pater” to “Abba”. This was something that struck me and something that I hope to see escalate. Let us be challenged to develop a deeper relationship with our heavenly Father in prayer at the Family Camp.

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