Access to God the Father, Part 2 | How to Pray Well

Luke 11:2

 We are in a study of Luke chapter 11, verses 2 to 4, Jesus teaching his disciples to pray. He said to them in Luke 11:2 to 4, “When you pray, say, ‘Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come,” and then this, “Give us each day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.”

How do we know that God is our father, that we are his children, that we can come boldly to the throne of Grace as his children, to petition his help in our times of need? Let me give you several things, just quickly. Several things, first and most fundamentally, we know that we’ve been granted the right to call God father, because we have repented and believed the gospel, because we’ve repented and believed the gospel.

The word repentance, metanoia, that word noia, part of that word refers to the nous, to the mind. Biblically, the mind is not just the intellect, not just the understanding, but it’s the faculty of moral perception, moral reasoning. It’s the total orientation of our inner being, that’s the nous. So, therefore, biblical repentance, being a metanoia, being a change of mind, that signifies by necessity a change in behavior, as well. When our total inner orientation changes, which is what has happened in the new birth, it involves the intellect, it involves the moral reasoning, it involves therefore the will, the thinking, the desiring, the decision-making, and the behavior then, too.

It works its way from the inside all the way to the outside. We believe what the Bible says about who God is and who we are in relation to God because of this. We believe what the Bible says about Christ, about his human nature, his divine nature, those two natures joined together in one person. We believe that, because God has done this: We repented and believed the gospel, we believe that Jesus died for our sins according to the Scripture, that he was buried, that he was raised from the dead the third day according to the Scriptures.” We believe that he appeared to many; we have their testimony written in Scripture and we believe it.

We believe in who he is, what he has said, what he has done, and, and what all of that means. We have a growing understanding of that. That is what our sanctification results in, our discipleship results in. So if you have repented and believed, and if you have kept on believing, listen, do not take that lightly. Don’t take that for granted. Don’t see that as some small thing that anybody can do. As Jesus told Peter, “Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is heaven.” 

That’s the dividing line, that’s the difference between us and the world, that’s why they don’t believe, and we do, because God has shown us grace. Don’t be arrogant; be humble. The gospel is an objective reality, and that, beloved, that objective really of the gospel that is the only sufficient basis for your assurance. Don’t try to find assurance in any other thing, but in the written Word of God that tells you of his gospel, tells you what Christ did, his atoning work on the cross, his burial, his resurrection, his ascension into heaven, his intercession for you; find assurance there, in black and white, not in your changing feelings. But there are some other reasons that strengthen and support our subjective sense of assurance, as well.

Second, we know that we’ve been granted the right to call God father, because we possess a new nature. Anybody who is in Christ knows that they have a new nature, that they’re not the same that they used to be. The reality of a new nature is this child-like disposition of love and trust for God. That’s what we saw in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.” New creature. And you know that. All of you can testify to this, you know that almost immediately as a regenerated newborn. You sense that new nature right away, because you’ve become aware of this warfare that exists between the flesh and the spirit, between the old man and the new man.

You, you sense this, this tug-of-war that’s going on between what you used to want and what you now want, what you used to despise and now what you love. There’s this sin principle in your members warring against the principle of righteousness in your mind. Paul tells us about that in several places. He even testifies about his own experience of that in Romans chapter 7.

But this one is particularly precious. Go over to Romans chapter 8. Let’s, let’s take a look at verse 7, there, where Paul, he’s been talking about this antithesis that we’ve just mentioned, this hostility between the old way of the flesh and the new way of the Spirit. By God’s grace we possess a new nature “the righteous requirement of the law is fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit…. For,” verse 6, “to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.” And we all know that. So take a look at verse 7, Romans chapter 8, “For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.” You know what that’s talking about? Inability.

In sin, as fallen creatures, we have no, no ability whatsoever, we’re like that corpse, dead in our trespasses and sins. So the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God. There’s enmity between the mindset of the flesh and God. It doesn’t submit to God’s law, because why? It cannot do so. But, verse 8, praise be to God! “You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.” 

Listen, we desire to submit to God’s law, and we want to please God, because we have a new nature. It’s a nature that is shared by all of God’s children. We’re all alike in this. God’s Spirit dwells in us, new life has taken root, which grows up in likeness to God. So we know we have the right to call God father because we’ve repented and believed the gospel, and that is not natural to the fallen mind. We know that we have this assurance because we sense this new nature in us, one that weeps over sin, rejoices over righteousness.

There’s a new-found joy, so, third, we know we’ve been granted the right to call God, father because we have the Spirit of adoption, we have the spirit of adoption. You’re still in Romans 8, hopefully, so verse 14, skip down to verse 14, “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back again into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.” 

Listen, this new nature of ours, as children before a father, our heavenly father, it’s deeply affectionate toward God our father. And that’s evidence of the new birth; we warm to God. We draw near. We love his Word. We long to be his obedient, pleasing children. Again, “If anyone’s in Christ, he is a new creation.” All of that old enmity, all that disinterest, all that cold indifference toward God and his Word has passed away, and “behold, all things have become new.” And we draw near because we love to draw near, new loves, new affections, new longings, new desires. 

Fourthly, we know we’ve been granted the right to call God father, because we bear the father’s image. We bare his image and that image is clearest, as you know, without any flaw whatsoever in the person of Jesus Christ, because “he is the image of the invisible God.” He’s the firstborn, the pre-eminent one, “over all creation.” Christ “is the radiance of the glory of God,” Hebrews 1:3, “and the exact imprint of his nature.” 

The image of God in Christ was not in the resplendent, overpowering glory of the Shekinah cloud, but rather in things that we and his disciples perceived through believing observation, through spiritual illumination, like, things like divine virtue, things like godly character, things like impeccable truth-telling, truthful teaching, things that they could perceive and witness and observe like holiness and goodness and compassion and love. “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father full of grace and truth. No one has ever seen God at any time; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.”

It’s our birthright to be like him, Romans 8:29, “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son.” So by the grace of regeneration, we have “put on the new self,” Colossians 3:10, “which is being renewed in the knowledge after the image of its creator.” And so “just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, so also we shall bear the image of the man of heaven.” You can see, can’t you, as we see kids grow up in our midst, the resemblance of a son or daughter to their father or their mother, whether for good or bad, right?

Sometimes, well, that’s a little Travis, that’s not a compliment. But certain expressions, mannerisms, even someone’s gait, stance, how they walk, how they move about, inclinations, dispositions, you can see the imprint of the father in the son or the daughter, the imprint of the mother in the son or the daughter. Likewise, we see the imprint of the father’s image in all who are his children in Christ. You want to see what, where we come from? Look at those things and then draw a connection to Scripture and see how God reveals himself. 

So we know we have the right to call God father, because, number one, we’ve repented and believed the gospel. It’s not small thing. Number two, because we have a new nature, a new nature with new dispositions. Number three because we have the Spirit of adoption. Number four because we bear the father’s image, and then the more we grow and grow and grow, the more we resemble him, because we are being conformed to Christ. Fifth, we know we’ve been granted the right to call God father, because we love our father, and we love all of his children. Now we’ve talked a lot about love for God, love for neighbor, the first and second great commandments, but this is not just love for God and love for neighbor, this is love for our father, who is God, and love for our brothers and sisters, who are our very near neighbors.

There is a heightened joy in this kind of love, because it is an elevated level of love of family affection. Once Jesus was speaking to the people, his mom, his brothers were outside of the crowd, and they wanted to see him, they’re asking to speak to him. Remember, remember what he said to all those who were in the room? He said, “‘Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?’ And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers.’” He’s not diminishing the importance of family bonds, but he does acknowledge that those are bonds merely of flesh and blood.

There is something deeper than the organic, biological connection that we share with our physical family members, even our own parents, whom we love dearly and want to honor them, love them. We share an even deeper bond of union, of love, of fellowship with God our father, with Christ our Savior, our federal head, and our elder brother, and therefore, we share the very deepest bond of unity with one another. It’s a union of spiritual life that is shared with our fellow brothers in Christ, because it draws the line vertically from God in Christ to all of us.

We love, then, to spend our time in prayer, communing with the father, and we love to fellowship with Christ, God’s beloved son, in the ordinance of the Lord’s Table. We love to fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ as well. So what does this mean for us, then, as we come to God in prayer? That we have the right to be called children of God, that we sense the assurance that comes from the gospel itself, and then by all these other subjective senses that we grow in? Listen, if we have been born from above and possess a new nature, then, listen, we are in the family. We belong to him.

Let’s talk about number three, the privilege of access to the father, the privilege of access to the father. John encourages us, calling us to reflect on the kind of love the father has given to us, namely, that we should be called the children of God, that God should be called our father, that we should be able to approach him. John, the beloved disciple, seemed to rejoice in those themes so much, didn’t he?

We now belong to a heavenly family. We’re members of this heavenly fraternity from which we can never lose our membership. We can never be removed. We can never be disinherited, disfellowshipped, from which we’ll never be parted or separated. Why? Because we belong. We’re joined in the deepest bond possible, which is a spiritual union held together by the power of an omnipotent God. We’ll never be separated from the love of our father. Our father loves us, he teaches us, he has compassion for us, he bids us to come and partake of the privileges of this new family of his. 

And so let’s close by talking about several categories of privileges of having God as our father. And again, keep in mind this is all connected to the Lord’s Prayer, so this is all an encouragement for us to come and pray and partake of this communion in prayer. So first of all, number one, we have the privilege of his lovingkindness; we have the privilege of God’s lovingkindness for us. When we’re his children, his affections are set toward us, immutably so, unchangingly, in a far greater way than the best of any human father on earth.

“The steadfast love of Yahweh never ceases,” Lamentations 3:22, “his mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness.” His affections for his beloved children, they remain fixed, immutable, never to change because God doesn’t change. So even though our worship, it is, it’s mixed with sin, even though our praises are hindered by the vile sin of self-glory, even though our humblest petitions are tainted with pride, our prayers in faith are mingled with doubt, God takes and amplifies even the smallest traces of his graces in us, so that in Christ all of our weak and feeble and meagerness in our hearts of child-like love, he takes, and perfects, and he accepts.

He doesn’t compromise himself. He takes what is of him in us and he amplifies it. Again, as Thomas Watson has said, “If God be our father, we may go with cheerfulness to the throne of grace. Were a man to petition his enemy, there were little hope. But when a child petitions his father, he may hope with confidence to succeed. The word ‘father’ works upon God. It,” touches, “toucheth his very bowels. What can a father deny in his child? The son asks for bread will he give him a stone? This may embolden us to go to God for the pardon of sin and further degrees of sanctity.” I hope it does for you. We have a privilege of his lovingkindness, and the more our hearts are assured of his lovingkindness, the quicker we draw near, don’t we? 

And when we do, we find a second privilege waiting for us. We have the privilege of his infinite provision, the privilege of his infinite provision, number two. As we’ve said before in this study, our prayer is like a key. It opens to us the treasure room of heaven, this infinite bounty of an eternal God, who is forever blessed.

He knows what we need before we even ask of him. He provides for us according to his good pleasure. He’s pleased to give to us. Charles Spurgeon put it this way, he said, “Am I his child? Then he will feed me. My bread shall be given me. My water shall be sure. He that feeds the ravens will never let his children starve. Does my Father deck the lily, and shall I go naked? Does he feed the fowls of heaven that sow not, neither do they reap, and shall I feel necessity? God forbid! My Father knoweth what things I have need of before I ask him, and he will give me all that I want.” 

Then, thirdly, there are those out there who would prey upon God’s children, who would treat them as sheep for the slaughter, and they should be warned because, number three, we have also the privilege from God of his strong protection. Number three, we have the privilege of God’s strong protection. “Our adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” His schemes against us are to shoot darts of fire at us, because he wants to wound us, and he wants to scorch us, he wants to light us on fire. How wicked is that?

When any sin overcomes the resistance of a saint, when a, when a saint succumbs to some temptation, when he stumbles and falls, the enemy pounces upon that fallen soldier, and he casts up that shame before God as an unrelenting accuser of the brethren. But God our father, he “is our refuge and strength,” he’s “a very present help in trouble,” and therefore we will not fear. God sent Jesus to be our champion, to deal the final, decisive blow against Satan, and all of his wiles, all of his demonic horde. He has broken, Jesus has broken forever the chief weapon that Satan has wielded against us, the penalty of sin, which is eternal death. He snapped that weapon in half. Jesus has broken the shackles that held us, the, the power of sin which is temptation, and the falling into sin. We’re broken from that power. We don’t need to sin anymore. Isn’t that a good word?

Jesus will one day deliver us from the very presence of sin. We’re going to see our dread enemy fall into the lake of fire along with all that defiles, all that tempts, all that offends God. Listen, in these dark and faithless days, with so much that tempts and distracts and defiles the saints, with so much that treats God’s dear children as prey, as mere sheep for the slaughter.

Isaiah 59:15, says “in a day, when truth is lacking, and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey.” You ever feel that? That by departing from evil, you’ve become prey for the predators? By holding fast to truth and righteousness, you’ve become somehow weakened in a wicked culture? That’s what Isaiah’s talking about. If you feel that, rest assured, beloved, because your father is not going to stand for it. He hasn’t stood for it.

Isaiah continues, Isaiah 59, “The Lord saw this, and it displeased him that there was no justice. He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no one to intercede; then his own arm brought him salvation, his righteousness upheld him. He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on his head; he put on garments of vengeance for clothing, and wrapped himself in zeal as a cloak. According to their deeds, so will he repay, wrath to his adversaries, repayment to his enemies; to the coastlands he will render repayment. And so they shall fear the name of the Lord from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun; for he will come like a rushing stream, which the wind of the Lord drives. ‘And a Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who turn from transgression,’ declares the Lord, declares Yahweh.”

“If God is for us, who can be against us?” Amen. You want to stand up against him? As children accepted in the beloved, we have the privilege of his lovingkindness, his infinite provision, his strong protection, and finally, fourth, last point, we have the privilege of his loving discipline, we have the privilege of his loving discipline. Mark down Hebrews 12 for later, the privilege of loving discipline, Hebrews 12.

God is always at work, teaching us, training us, correcting us, disciplining us for our good. He fixes our minds on the truth. He anchors our hearts in deep, settled conviction in the truth. And then he teaches us to apply, how, what he has taught. He teaches us to work that out in the many and varied contexts of life’s situations and circumstances that come up. Everything we got through is training. Everything that we got through is teaching, correcting, helping us to understand, helping us to grow.

God is at work not only to teach us, working his truth into our hearts from the outside in, from his revealed Word into us, but he also works within us. He makes us willing receivers of what he teaches. Again, I like the way Thomas Watson puts it, he says, “God teaches not only our ear but our heart. He not only informs our mind but inclines our will.” Oh, how much we need our will inclined, don’t we? Paul said, Philippians 2:13, “God works in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” 

Like a loving father, teaching his child to ride the bicycle without the training wheels for the first time, God pushes us out there to practice what we’ve learned. Like a loving father, he’s there to pick us up when we fall over and skin our knees, cleans off our tear-smudged cheeks, puts us back in the saddle, and gives us another push. “God disciplines us for our good that we may share in his holiness.” Therefore, beloved, take heart. Know that you’re God’s children and “lift up your drooping hands and strengthen your weakened knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed.”

When you draw near to God in prayer, be mindful of who it is you are speaking to, but know that you are to come near and call him father. That is the lens through which you see him. That is the, the conduit through which all your petitions flow, to the heart of a loving father. Let’s pray.

Father, it is a joy to call you father. Having gone through this study in a number of weeks to clarify your greatness and your majesty on the one hand, but also your imminent nearness to us, kindness to us in Christ. He is your beloved on, and you’re treating us like you treat him. You’re giving us the affection that is really due to him. We just rejoice to be called your children. Please encourage us as we continue to study this prayer that Jesus taught us to pray. Please help us to always be mindful of who we are in Christ, that this makes the difference in everything. We love you. We thank you in Christ’s name. Amen.