The Prayer of Connection

Series: “Connecting with God” - Part 2

"The Prayer of Connection"

Pastor Jerry

Matthew 6:9-13

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One of the reason’s that I cherish the opportunity of going to Annual Conference is because it allows me to experience and to see the Church of the Brethren on a global stage. God is doing some mighty things in our Church of the Brethren. However, at Annual Conference we also hear about challenges and global issues that our church and our brothers and sisters face in the world. The number one struggle is hunger and lack of access to clean water. A second struggle is poverty. Third is health care. A fourth is religious conflict, war and mass shootings. There are many more struggles that we and our brothers and sisters in the world face. But at Annual Conference, as a global church we study the Bible together to find how can we best address these problems. One such passage in the Bible, in 2 Chronicles 15, which talks about a struggle God’s people were going through. It says, “During those dark times it was not even safe to travel….  Problems troubled the nation on every hand.”  That sounds like today! Yes! We have problems troubling the world on every hand. But even in the darkest of times, God always gives a voice of hope.  In this particular time, in 2 Chronicles he brought along a preacher named Azariah.  Azariah had these words of hope to say to the nation. He said this: “Listen all you people. The Lord will stay with you as long as you stay with him. And if you seek him you will find him… For a long time Israel has been without the true God and without God’s law. But in their distress they turned to the Lord and they sought him and he was found by them.”  That phrase is our hope. “In their distress they turned to the Lord…and he was found...” That is my prayer. That in my distress I will turn to the Lord, in your distress you will turn to the Lord. That’s my prayer for our church, our country, our world, that during tough times we will turn to the Lord. For the next several weeks we’re going to look at the different phrases in the Lord’s Prayer which are answers to the greatest stresses in your life. If you understand the Lord’s Prayer and you don’t just pray it; you live it – it will change your life. The first phrase in the Lord’s Prayer is this: “Our Father who art in heaven hallowed be your name.”  It’s actually the Prayer of Connection. How do you get connected to God? I want us to just look at the first two words in the phrase: “Our Father.”  You see, until Jesus came to earth –to let us know what God’s like – nobody really knew that God was our Father. In the Old Testament Bible, people thought of God as – Creator, Almighty One, Deliverer (and such). But they didn’t think of God as Father. Then Jesus comes along and says this is how you connect to God: call God, Father. Jesus uses the expression over a hundred fifty times referring to God. Jesus is saying this: God is a person, not a power.  God is a personal God. And he created you with the ability to have a relationship with him. He is a Father, not a force. We can have a relationship with God as Father. There’s only one problem. It’s a big problem. For many people the word “father” is a negative term. For many people the word “father” brings up all kinds of bad memories and hurts. A lot of people who say, “Our Father… in heaven:” if God’s like my father, no thanks God. The truth is human fathers can be abusive; they can be angry and self-centered, vicious and violent. So a lot of times we carry baggage with that word, Father. The reason why many people never connect with God is because they unconsciously think God is like their earthly father. We transfer all those mixed up hurts and emotions onto God. Dr. Paul ­­Vitz a professor and psychologist at New York University wrote a book called The Faith of the Fatherless. In it he did a study of all of the famous atheists throughout history, the only thing that he could find that they had in common is they all hated their dads. They did not have a natural connection to their father. So, What is God really like?  What kind of father is God? The Bible says that there are four characteristics of the father-hood of God.

1. God is a Caring Father.

He is a caring, loving, compassionate father. God loves you more than you will ever know. He loves you more than you will ever understand or comprehend. God is love and he made you so he could love you. He is loving toward you in everything. 1 Peter says, “Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you!” God is a caring father. One day when Jesus and the disciples were out on the lake in a boat and a storm comes up. Suddenly, water’s coming into the boat and they think they’re going to drown. They frantically wake up Jesus and ask him one of the most important questions in life: “Lord, don’t you care?”  You and I ask that question a thousand different ways of God all the time. “God, don’t you care?  The answer is yes, God cares. In everything! Yes, God cares. In fact, he cares more than you care. He wants to help more than you want help.  If you feel distant from God and you feel God is a million miles away, it’s because you don’t understand how much God cares for you, and what kind of Father God is. God is not only a caring Father…He is…

2. He is a Consistent Father.

That’s really important, especially when everything’s changing around us. God will never let you down. James 1:17 says this “Every good and perfect gift is from the Father...who does not change...”  That means everything in your life that’s good, God gave it to you. He does not change, He is a consistent Father. We know that the world is changing. There’s only one thing that won’t change –God!  He’s steady! There’s a third thing about God…

3. He is a Close Father.

He’s not distant. He’s right here with you every moment. Here’s what the Bible says, Acts 17:27 “God did this so that people would reach out for him and find him since he is not far from each one of us.” God is with you right now. It might feel like he’s a million miles away sometimes. I’ve felt that. But your feelings and reality don’t always match. And the truth is God is right here right now. He’s a close Father. The first word that many babies learn is the word “DaDa.” Abba is the word in Aramaic that Jesus used when he says we are to call God our Father. It mean’s Daddy. Papa. Abba. That’s how personal God wants you to be with him. “To call Him Daddy! Abba! Father!”

4. He is a Competent Father.

That’s really important when you’re facing big problems. God can handle any problem you give him. There is nothing too big for God. Luke 1:37 “For nothing is impossible with God.” The Bible says this “God is able to do far more than we would ever dare to ask or even dream of, infinitely beyond our highest prayers and desires and thoughts and hopes.” So let me ask you very pointedly. What have you been doubting that God can handle in your life?  God can do anything. He is a competent Father. Is God everybody’s Father?  No! God created everybody. God loves everybody. But he is not everybody’s Father. You’ve got to choose to make him your Father. God wants everybody in his family. But you’re not in his family until you choose to be. That’s why God sent Jesus Christ. God is holy and we’re sinful. Sin separated us from God. We need a bridge to get us back connected to God. Jesus said, My cross is the bridge, to bring you back to God.  How do you connect to God again? How do you make God your Father?  “We are children of God through faith in Jesus Christ.” We need Jesus! It is only through faith. Its through Jesus! The only way you become connected to God, to become a part of his family, for him to become your Father, is through faith in his Son, Jesus.