Prayer to the Father
Prayer begins not with striving, but with knowing whose hand we hold.
Devotional Credit: Immeasurably More by Ray Stedman
Photo Credit: Unsplash
Ray Stedman brings us to the opening word of the Lord’s Prayer—Father—a single, intimate word that reframes the entire experience of prayer. This isn’t a cold title or a distant formality; it’s a relational name that reveals the heart of the One we approach. Stedman reminds us that when Jesus instructed His disciples to pray, He didn't direct them to a cosmic force, a heavenly bureaucrat, or a divine financier. He pointed them to a Father—a person of love, attentiveness, and strength.
Prayer, then, is not about groveling for handouts or issuing reports of guilt. Nor is it a pitch for funding our own plans. Prayer is childlike communion with a Father who loves us, who hears us, and who always responds with a heart predisposed toward us. And yet, even in our intimacy, there is reverence—not casual flippancy, not empty sentimentality, but awe wrapped in trust.
True prayer begins not with eloquence or need but with believing God is who He says He is—our Father. This belief is not merely intellectual acknowledgment; it is a surrender of the will, a whole-person trust. And just as it would be strange and even insulting for a child to greet his earthly father with titles of grandeur and dread, it is foreign to God’s heart when we pray as if He were anything but our loving, available, and present Father.
✍🏼 Personalized Journal Entry – Voice of the Holy Spirit Through Scripture
I have not called you to approach Me in fear, nor have I asked you to rehearse your failures as an entrance fee. I have made a way for you to come boldly, because I am not just God—I am your Father.
When you come to Me, come as one who belongs. I delight to hear your voice. I formed your frame, I numbered your days, and I see you through the righteousness of My Son. I have placed My Spirit within you, by whom you cry out, Abba—Father—not in dread, but in deep recognition of who I am to you.
You do not speak into the void. You speak into My heart. I am not removed or watching from afar. I am with you and in you, attentive to your every whisper, aware of your every thought before it forms on your tongue. My ear is never turned away from the cries of My children.
When you begin to pray, know that I am already listening. You are not reciting a ritual—you are engaging in relationship. I do not need flattery, formality, or fanfare. I long for you to come as you are, trusting that I love you as I am.
I have not given you a spirit of fear but of adoption, and by that Spirit, your prayers rise not as beggars’ pleas but as the confidence of sons and daughters. You need not strive for My attention—I am already turned toward you.
Scriptures referenced: Luke 11:2; Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:6; Hebrews 4:16; Psalm 139:1–4; 1 John 5:14
🧸 Real-Life Analogy
It’s like a child coming home from school and bursting through the door with excitement, calling out “Dad!” There’s no formality, no hesitation—just trust that he’ll be heard. The child doesn’t prepare a speech or worry about being received. He simply knows whose house he’s in and whose heart is for him.
🙏🏼 Prayer of Confidence
Father, I rest in the reality that I am Yours. I do not need to earn Your ear or work my way into Your affection. In Christ, I am already beloved, already welcomed. Thank You that I can come to You with the simple confidence of a child, knowing You are near, attentive, and always loving. I rejoice that prayer is not a performance but a relationship—secure, unshakable, and rooted in Your Father-heart.