A Daddy's Love

Day 23
Pray that your husband will be a good father—disciplining his children wisely and loving them
unconditionally. If he is not a father, pray that he will find a young man to mentor in the things
of the Lord. (Eph. 6:4; Col. 3:21; 2 Tim. 2:1-2)

Our pastor has often stated that a person sometimes will see God much in the way they view their own father.

This can prove to be a problem for people who did not know their own father or who were abused or neglected by their father, who had a harsh father, or on the other hand, a very timid, weak father. These people may think that God is a cruel Judge because their father never gave them the benefit of the doubt or that God can not be pleased because their own father never gave them his approval. They may see God as distant and uninterested in them personally because their own father was absent or disassociated. They must come to realize that God is nothing like their earthly fathers and must get to know God for Who He is.

For my own children, I pray that they will feel safe, secure, accepted, and unconditionally loved by their earthly father so that they may magnify that love and apply it to their view of their Heavenly Father. For my daughter especially, I hope she will realize that she is "Daddy's Girl", that he thinks she is beautiful and smart and talented no matter how she measures up to anything in this cruel world - and then to realize she is precious in the sight of her Heavenly Father as well, that He made her "fearfully and wonderfully" (Psalm 139:14), and He can take perfect care of her.

I have heard it said that the word "Abba" that Jesus cried out in His agonizing prayer in Gethsemane ("Remove this cup from me...but not my will but thine be done." Mark 14:36) means something like the essence of the word DADDY. This same tender God who heard Jesus' plea desires a relationship with us that in our darkest moments we can cry out to Him with the confidence of a child who trusts his daddy.

Romans 8:15b, "...but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father."