Lord, I seek your guidance during this time of uncertainty. Calm the fears that we may feel. Protect us from this devasting virus. Teach us to pray Abba Father. Teach us to seek you. Teach us to change our new norm into something that would bring you to others…
As I sit in my robe in my living room, I am watching my worship service. My husband is on coffee duty, service for one. Yes, it is strange. It is strange for the worship team and the pastors. It is strange for the church members. Somewhat disjointed and a little comforting. Comforting in that I know I am not alone in the feeling of strange, I am not alone in where I am worshipping, and I am not alone in my worshipping time.
It occurred to me last night I that needed to pray. (This is not out of the ordinary, I pray often.) I needed to not only just pray but I needed to pray on Facebook. Not something I normally do, but I went with it. So, this morning as I am getting ready to worship, I felt the need to write my prayer out again. And as I am writing it, I was led to write a blog out of it. Why? I believe that God is telling us we need to pray and show others how to pray.
Why did I use “teach us to pray Abba Father”? Mark 14:36, Romans 8:15 and Galatians 4:6 are the scriptures where we find “Abba Father”. Mark 14:35 says “And he said, ‘Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.’” You see the use here as a term Christ uses as a term of relational affection. Abba means Daddy in Hebrews, term of affection used by children to their Fathers. Father is formal, Daddy is intimate, personal and relational.
In Romans 8:15, we find why I asked Him to teach us to pray Abba Father. “For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba Father!’” We received an invitation to become a member of God’s family when we accepted Christ as our Savior. We have been adopted into the family of God. As we read scripture and pray, get to know God intimately and personally. We develop a relationship that allows us to cry “Abba Father!” Romans 8:15 is the reason I have a tattoo on my arm, it is three Hebrew letters meaning “Abba Father.”
Galatians 4:6 reiterates Romans 8:15 and takes it one sept farther. “And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba Father!’ So, you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.” I love this verse! Because we were adopted, God gave us the Spirit in our hearts. Because we were adopted, we became family, no longer outside the family of God but an heir of God. This gives us the ability to cry to our Father, “Abba” or “Daddy”. Oh, what peace this verse gives me!
Now when you do not have the words to pray, think “Abba Father”. Your heavenly Father knows what you need before you do. The Holy Spirit intercedes for us, Romans 8:26-27 “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.”
Sometimes we just need those two words, “Abba Father” and the Spirit does the rest.
Instead of worrying or giving into the fear that seems to be gripping you right now, cry out to Abba Father. Pray for peace, for the calming of your soul, for the healing of your heart and rest in the knowledge that God will fight for you, you just need to be still (Exodus 14:14).
