“Did you brush your teeth Dad?” my daughter asks me as I’m praying with her at bedtime last night. “Why, does my breath smell?” I respond cautiously. Then her clincher answer: “You always smell. Its a dad thing dad,” she giggles…

“Its a dad thing” – “Our Father,  who is in heaven…” – Why did God have to be “father,” when fathers smell, and sometimes probably stink in the way they act? Many people struggle to relate to God as father because of the warped father image they experienced from their earthly fathers. (Praise the Lord for the positive father figures some have had – we need more of those, and its one of my passions to champion that cause in our generation.)  Yet Jesus taught us to pray to: “Our Father” because thats what our hearts are really looking for: Father.   Our hearts cry is “Abba Father,” and its fulfilled when we have a revelation of what “in the name of Jesus” means, and when the Holy Spirit witnesses with our spirits that we are “children of God.” The message on Sunday will help you understand and live “the Dad thing…”, and set you on a new prayer adventure with Your Father in heaven.

By the way: Please don’t tell my kids about what I share on these Blogs – its our little secret OK…

Try this for homework: Pray the Lords Prayer from Matthew 6, from The Message Translation:

Our Father in heaven,
   Reveal who you are.
   Set the world right;
   Do what’s best— as above, so below.
   Keep us alive with three square meals.
   Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others.
   Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil.
   You’re in charge!
   You can do anything you want!
   You’re ablaze in beauty!
      Yes. Yes. Yes.