Remembering God is our Dad!

Last Sunday at TBT we heard this heart-rendering sermon from Richard Coekin on the Lord's prayer, all focused in the miracle of the first line in being able to call God 'Our Father', or indeed 'Dad' as he said the contemporary equivalent now is. This should impact so many things in the way we relate to God and get us excited about talking to a caring, loving Dad who delights in hearing us and never fails to take note of anything we say or bring before Him.

Directly after the sermon I felt the guilt at not speaking to God enough about all the daily small worries we let fester in our minds...and rather stupid at worrying too much and not focusing on God when I pray as I should do. It is elating to think that why should we let ourselves get so wound up about so many things when God the awesome creator of the universe is our Dad?! As Richard highlighted, the remedy to our slack prayer lives is not to think about technique but to renew our theology and take on board what it means to be able to follow Jesus' example in praying and be able to call God our Father! Not only does God being in control and being our Dad cast away our worries, but it is the miracle of grace that we can always rejoice in!

Yet me being human and an emotional wreck at the first sign of trouble I let myself get worried again. I woke-up the next morning completely wiped out from another ear infection, (the third time I've caught something within the past 7 weeks) in tears worrying about what people at work were going to think when I phoned up asking for yet more time off. Of course I'd got stressed out allowing myself to build something up to be worse than what it was (a common problem I indulge in!). But worse than that was I'd let my worry take over and lose focus of something I'd heard hours before- that God the all-Sovereign and all powerful creator is my Dad!

The teaching we've had recently at TBT has been very challenging as we've been going through the sermon on the mount and have been confronted by so many things we need to deal with such as anger, lust and our attitude towards others. Sunday's talk hit another nerve when you realise you've been a bit stupid and don't spend enough time with God, even though you know there is nothing like resting in His presence and being surrounded by His love and care. We're such idiots sometimes as we run around getting on with the bustle of our lives completely oblivious to His voice most of the time.

Someone described the teaching at Church recently as like having a corkscrew positioned on their heart. It is discomforting and uncomfortable having our sin revealed to us. We can be absolutely horrified when our thoughts and actions get shown-up for what they are. But then amidst this horror is the amazing message of grace- Yes we are far more sinful than we realised, but amazingly we have a God who loves us far more than we ever dreamed of hoping! We see this love in Jesus dying on the cross for us, redeeming us and adopting us- allowing us to call God our Dad! And daily we feel this love as we experience God changing us and comforting us.

Last Sunday's sermon was a reminder and an inspiration to enjoy praying more and talking to our heavenly Dad who delights in hearing from us and is way bigger than anything we face whilst on earth!

For a revitalised prayer-life I recommend listening to it online at http://www.co-mission.org/tbt/sermons.php (The Lord's Prayer pt 1)