Our sermon series on prayer, will not specifically be covering the Lord’s prayer, so I thought it might be an idea to write on each of the petitions of the Lord’s prayer in my weekly Bulletin piece.  In doing so I will be drawing on insights from some of the great Christian thinkers.

                    John Calvin explains that to call God Father is to pray in Jesus name.  “Who would break forth into such rashness as to claim himself the honour of a son of God unless we had been adopted as children of grace in Christ” .

                    Similarly Martin Luther, writes to the effect that we are to say to God, “You have taught us to regard you and call upon you as one Father of us all….although…. you could rightly be a severe judge over us.”  He goes on to say that we should start our prayer by asking God to, “implant in our hearts a comforting trust in your fatherly love.  Calvin agrees with this “…by the sweetness of this name (Father) he frees us from all distrust”

                   By addressing God as father, we are recognising the incredible privilege we have to enter into the very presence of the Lord.  Not in fear; not to some impersonal uncaring being; not worrying about the risk of judgement, but with the confidence of a child running to their loving father’s arms.   To address God as father is to come with complete trust that He has our best interests at heart.  We can only do this because we come in the name of His dear Son Jesus.