How to Talk to Your Heavenly Father,pt2-Matthew 6:11-15

In his excellent little book, LORD, TEACH ME TO PRAY: AN INVITATION TO INTIMATE PRAYER, John MacArthur opens with the following illustration. "I recently looked into the face of my newest grandchild and watched his blue eyes following my lips as I spoke to him. At seven weeks, he could only respond with a soft coo. In a few months, he'll begin to form words, and our relationship will blossom. He'll find me an eager provider of anything he needs. All parents (and grandparents) eagerly await a baby's first words and joyfully nurture the development of vocabulary and speech, because communication is a precious and essential part of every loving relationship. Children soon learn the joy of speaking and how critical it is to having their needs and desires met. It is the same with the children of God, who desire to speak to the Father to express love and dependence. And the Father cherishes such prayers. As Proverbs 15:8 says, 'the prayer of the upright is His delight.' The essence of prayer is talking to God as you would to a beloved parent. It is intimate and loving communication. The Bible encourages us that as children of the heavenly Father we can address Him as 'Abba, Father.' That biblical expression is a tender term of endearment, the equivalent of calling the Eternal God 'Papa,' or 'Daddy.' Such an idea of intimacy with God was foreign to most Jewish people in Jesus' day. They had been taught by all the leading rabbis that God was far off, behind a veil in the holiest place, and thus unapproachable. When God appeared on Mount Sinai, the Israelites witnessed His presence accompanied by a frightening display of thunder, smoke, and lightning, because 'God is a consuming fire' (Heb 12:29), not an intimate 'Papa.' How can anyone have intimate access to the holy God of the universe? Yet that is precisely what we have when we go to God in prayer. And not just access, but unlimited divine resources--more than enough for our needs--freely available from a loving heavenly Father. He longs to have us with Him, telling Him all the issues of our hearts, casting all our cares on Him because He cares for us. This coming Lord's Day we will finish our look at the model prayer that Jesus gives us to follow. It will part 2 of the exposition "How to Talk to Your Heavenly Father" (Matt 6:11-15).