In adult Sunday School last week, we considered the doctrine of adoption, which Gregg Allison defines as “the mighty act of God to take sinful people—enemies who are alienated and separated from him—and incorporate them as beloved children into his family forever.” As our prayer gathering approaches Wednesday (Aug 2, 6:30pm), I have been pondering how our adoption by God should influence our disposition toward prayer. Below are FIVE ways that our prayer life may be affected if we truly grasp the implications of God as our Father.
- We should be quick to praise Him, understanding how delightful it is to Him.
Every year on Father’s Day, my wife and children each take turns telling me why they love me. It is one of the highlights of my year. Some of the things they say have been said to me before by other people, so it isn’t so much what is said that it so meaningful. Rather, the key factor is who is saying it. These are the people who share my name and my blood; they are the ones who know me best and for whom I care the most.
Psalm 22:3 in the ESV reads, “…you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.” This could be translated, “…living in the praises of Israel.” Whether we envision God sitting on or inhabiting the praises of Israel, the idea is that He delights in these praises. All the more then the praises of the true Israel, the church, whom He has purchased by the blood of His Son and brought into His family.
- We should be quick to confess sin, understanding how eager He is to forgive us.
If God’s heart toward us in our sin is that of a Father disciplining us for our good (Heb 12:5-11), what ought we expect from Him in our repentance? The parable of the prodigal son, while first and foremost bringing an indictment against those embittered against the repentant, depicts a loving father so eager to forgive and receive that he runs to his wayward son (Luke 15:11-32).
Psalm 32 tells of the blessedness of the man whose sin is forgiven…the Lord surrounds him with shouts of deliverance! If this is the case, ought not we be quick to confess our sin rather than to shrink away?
- We should be quick to seek His comfort, understanding how eager He is to give it.
Most parents know the feeling of watching their children suffer and desiring to comfort them. Psalm 103:13-14 attributes this impulse to God: As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him. For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.
Similarly, Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. While it may not be His design to immediately remove the circumstances of suffering—as in Paul’s case in 2 Corinthians 1—He is quick to supply all that we need in order to endure. Therefore, we should be quick to seek Him in difficult times precisely because He is our Father.
- We should be quick to lay our needs before Him, understanding how eager He is to meet them.
The classic text on this issue is Matthew 7:9–11: Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
A key phrase in the last sentence is “good things.” He is eager to give good things. In fact, Romans 8:28-30 teaches that God has determined from eternity past to work all things for our good, which is that we would attain Christlikeness. At times we ask for what we believe are good things, but God, knowing better than we do, understands them not to be what is best for us. So as a good Father, He does for us what is actually best.
This means that because He is our good Father, we can be quick to lay our needs before Him, fully expecting Him to do one of two things: (1) meet those needs outright; or (2) do something better.
5. We should be quick to adopt His priorities in our prayer, understanding that His plan glorifies Him and benefits us.
Ephesians 5:1 reads, Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. To imitate God will mean many different things, not the least of which is adopting His priorities—loving what He loves and hating what He hates.
As we grow as imitators of our Father, we’ll find ourselves praying for what matters most to Him—our own spiritual maturity, the unity and growth of the church, the salvation of the lost, and the return of Christ unto our Father’s glory.
A blessed truth of salvation history is that God’s glory always coincides with the highest good of His children. For this reason, the more that we love our Father and pray for what glorifies Him, we’ll also be seeking our own highest good.
In short, we should be quick to pray! The Father is eager to hear from His children. Proverbs 15:8 reads, “The sacrifice of the wicked is detestable to the LORD, but the prayer of the upright is his delight.”
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