Prayer is a vehicle by which we can discover great and awesome truths about our Heavenly Father. Discovering God’s love for yourself is the greatest discovery that you will ever make. It is not good enough for someone to tell you about how wonderful God’s love is. You must come to know it for yourself. Listen to David’s invitation as is recorded in Psalm 34:8. I will note it for you in various translations:
- “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!” (NKJV)
- “Discover for yourself that the Lord is kind. Come to him for protection, and you will be glad.” (CEV)
- “Open your mouth and taste, open your eyes and see—how good God is. Blessed are you who run to him.” (MSG)
- O taste and see that the Lord [our God] is good! Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) is the man who trusts and takes refuge in Him. (AMP)
It’s the expressed desire of our Father’s heart that we get to really know Him for yourself. We get to know God as we read His Word, talk to Him, meditate on His Word, listen to Him, and one important step–put His Word into practice or obey His Word.
Throughout the Bible, God reveals Himself to His people by using different names. For example:
He revealed Himself to Hagar, Sarai’s maid, as The God Who Sees (Genesis 16:13)
He revealed Himself to Abraham as Jehovah-Jireh–The Lord Will Provide (Genesis 22:1-4)
He revealed Himself to Moses as I AM WHO I AM… [I AM] (Exodus 3:1-15)
He revealed Himself as I am the Lord who heals you.” (Exodus 15:26)
GOD AS OUR FATHER
As you search the Scriptures, you will discover that there are many other ways in which God reveals Himself. However, for the purpose of this study I want to invite you to get to know God as your Father in a deeper way.
- “A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows, Is God in His holy habitation.” (Psalm 68:5)
- “…Everlasting Father.” (Isaiah 9:6)
- “Doubtless You are our Father, though Abraham was ignorant of us, and Israel does not acknowledge us. You, O Lord, are our Father; Our Redeemer from Everlasting is Your name.” (Isaiah 63:16)
- “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 1:7)
- “For [the Spirit which] you have now received [is] not a spirit of slavery to put you once more in bondage to fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption [the Spirit producing sonship] in [the bliss of] which we cry, Abba (Father)! Father! (Romans 8:15, AMP)
- “who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father.” (Galatians 1:4)
- But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name” (John 1:12) [Since we are His children, He is our Father]
- Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ (Ephesians 1:3)
- For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named (Ephesians 3:14,15)
I must say that the quality of relationship that we will experience with our Heavenly Father is far superior than the quality of relationship that you experience with your earthly father. God is love! By means of establishing a covenanted relationship with us, as His children, we get to experience the riches of His love.
- “Blessed be the Lord, Who daily loads us with benefits, The God of our salvation! (Psalm 68:19)
- “For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great are His mercy and loving-kindness toward those who reverently and worshipfully fear Him.” (Psalm 103:11, AMP)
- “The Lord appeared from of old to me [Israel], saying, Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn you and continued My faithfulness to you.” (Jeremiah 31:3, AMP)
I encourage you to use the scripture references in today’s study as road signs that will lead you to the heart of God. It’s my prayer for you that “God would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; and that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”
So…, the next time that you take on the posture of prayer, pray from this level of awareness:
- God is your Father!
- God really, really, really loves you!
- God desires to bless you exceedingly abundantly above all that you can ask or think!
- Pray expecting to receive from your Father!
Blessings to you in abundance! May His blessings overtake you!