A JOURNEY INTO POWERFUL PRAYER
“GETTING COMFORTABLE WITH GOD AS FATHER”
Matt.6:9
“After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father…”

Prayer is the most important thing we do because prayer can do anything God can do! And, what can God do? Anything! Prayer is not a meaningless, habitual task required of us. It is a time when we connect wiTH THE PERSON AND POWER OF GOD. IT IS MY CONJECTURE THAT A "journey into powerful prayer" requires we understand the purpose of AND PARTS IN the Model Prayer. Our Lord gave us this prayer as a model or pattern to teach us the basic principles or ingredients that should be incorporated into every powerful prayer. Notice Jesus does not say, "Pray this prayer," or "Memorize and recite this prayer." He says, "Pray after this manner." Meaning, we are not just to recite a prayer; we are to pray a prayer.
The words we use in our prayers may vary considerably from the Model Prayer, but the principles taught in the prayer MUST be present if we are to pray with power.

To begin with, the first principle of a "journey into powerful prayer" is to get comfortable with God and come to Him as a dear Father, or as "Abba Father." Many people have problems calling God "Father" because for them "father" is NOT a word of affection or intimacy but rather word that stirs up memories of neglect, desertion, or abuse. However, there is an important lesson that Jesus is trying to pour into His newly called disciples about their relationship with God. When Jesus taught them to pray, Our Father, He was revealing the truism that we can be comfortable in God's presence

 THERE ARE AT LEAST 3 THINGS WE MUST UNDERSTAND IF WE ARE TO BE COMFORTABLE WITH GOD AND ADDRESS HIM AS OUR FATHER.

WE CAN TALK TO GOD RELATIONALLY
God is "our Father," which means He is a person with whom we can have a relationship. We can't have a relationship with an inanimate object. We can’t have a relationship with book, even the Bible, or with laws and rituals. We can't have a relationship with a creative force, or an impersonal power; however, we can have a relationship with a person. But what kind of relationship? Jesus tells us when He uses the word "Father." If God is "our Father," then who are we? We are His children! Therefore we are to approach God and speak to Him as "our father."
• PRAYER IS A PRIVILEGE THAT HAS BEEN EXTENDED TO THOSE IN THE FAMILY.

“What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear
what a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer”

 NOT EVERYONE IS IN THE FAMILY! Some may assert, "We are all the children of God because all of us were created by Him. However the “created” of God is not necessarily the “Child” of God! [Note how Jesus described the Pharisees Cr. John 8:44a]
Therefore not everyone can call God "Father"—only those who have become His children by receiving Jesus as Savior and Lord.
 JOHN 14:6 – “Jesus saith unto him, I am THE way, THE truth and THE life, NO MAN cometh unto the Father BUT BY ME”
Therefore, I say again, prayer is a family privilege, through which we talk to our Father. Somebody listening might say, "Pastor J, I don't have good thoughts of my father. He never listened to me or talked to me; he was distant and sometimes mean." Or, you might say, "I was abandoned and abused by my father. So, how can I talk to God as a loving Father, when the word "father" connotes such bad memories for me?" Well, my response is even though you may not have had a caring, compassionate, loving earthly father, you wanted one. We all do! And the good news is, as Christians, we have a perfect One in heaven, and He wants us to talk to Him and have a relationship with Him as our caring and loving Father.
 To Have An Effective Prayer Life You Must Establish A Close Relationship With The Father
WE CAN TALK TO GOD INTAMATELY

Calling God "Father" seems natural to those of us who grew up quoting this Model Prayer, but this must’ve been a bombshell to those persons in Jesus' day. In fact, in the Old Testament, the fatherhood of God was seen ONLY in the terms of a Creative-Father who fathered the NATION OF ISRAEL. In the Old Testament, God is called "Father" fourteen times but it was always in conjunction with Him being the Father of the Nation of Israel. NOT ONE TIME is God referenced as a Father in relationship to an individual or on a personal basis! Also, the veil in the temple was a constant reminder to the Jews that only the High Priest could approach God on a personal basis, and he could only do that once a year on The Day of Atonement (LEV.16).

When people prayed in the Old Testament, even the greatest of saints would call God "Lord God", which is a phrase is used to address God more than 280 times. He is also called God Almighty or the Almighty more than 50 times. He is addressed by several other names, but never as Father on a personal or individual basis.

 THERE WAS NOTHING INTIMATE ABOUT HOW THEY ADDRESSED GOD!

However, when Jesus came on the scene, He spoke to the Father intimately.

 MARK 14:35, 36 – “And He went forward a little and fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from Him. And He said, Abba, Father all thing are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt.”

As Jesus prays and asks God to take away His cup of suffering, please note how He address God, “Abba Father”. Jesus spoke Aramaic, and the Aramaic word for "father," Abba, is best translated "Daddy" or "Poppa." This must have come as quite a surprise to the disciples since Jesus was using a term of affection. I say that because the Jews could not even pronounce the name of God aloud—much less call him "Father" or even more shocking, "Daddy." The Jews disconnected so much from and intimate relationship with God till they called themselves “the children of Abraham”, not of God.
However, Jesus made it possible for us to become the sons and daughters of God and have an intimate relationship with Him.

 ROMANS 8:15 – “For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry Abba, FATHER”

 HEBREWS 4:14-16 - Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

The word Abba comes from the lips of a child, conveying affection. The word Father expresses an intelligent comprehension of the relationship and emphasizes God's position and authority. The two names together give us a holy balance in our view of God. Being able to call God "Father," "Dearest Father," or "Abba, Father," is fundamental in getting comfortable with God and having a "journey into powerful prayer." Talking to God as our Father means we can talk intimately to Him, pouring out our hearts as a child to a loving father. To get comfortable with God, we must understand we can have a family relationship with Him, we can talk intimately to Him, and lastly…

WE CAN TALK TO GOD ACCESSIBLY

 God As Father Means We Have Complete Access To Him

The Priesthood Of All Believers

Priesthood of all believers, cardinal doctrinal principle of the churches of the 16th-century Reformation, both Lutheran and Reformed, and the Protestant Free churches that arose from the Reformation churches. The doctrine asserts that all humans have access to God through Christ, the true high priest, and thus do not need a priestly mediator. This introduced a democratic element in the functioning of the church that meant all Christians were equal.

Ephesians 2:12-14 (TLB) - Remember that in those days you were living utterly apart from Christ; you were enemies of God’s children, and he had promised you no help. You were lost, without God, without hope. But now you belong to Christ Jesus, and though you once were far away from God, now you have been brought very near to him because of what Jesus Christ has done for you with his blood. For Christ himself is our way of peace. He has made peace between us Jews and you Gentiles by making us all one family, breaking down the wall of contempt that used to separate us.

Ephesians 3:12 (TLB) - Now we can come fearlessly right into God’s presence, assured of his glad welcome when we come with Christ and trust in him.

Hebrews 4:14-16 (TLB) - But Jesus the Son of God is our great High Priest who has gone to heaven itself to help us; therefore let us never stop trusting him. This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses since he had the same temptations we do, though he never once gave way to them and sinned. So let us come boldly to the very throne of God and stay there to receive his mercy and to find grace to help us in our times of need.

Hebrews 10:19-22 (TLB) - And so, dear brothers, now we may walk right into the very Holy of Holies, where God is, because of the blood of Jesus. This is the fresh, new, life-giving way that Christ has opened up for us by tearing the curtain—his human body—to let us into the holy presence of God. And since this great High Priest of ours rules over God’s household, let us go right in to God himself, with true hearts fully trusting him to receive us because we have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean and because our bodies have been washed with pure water.