January 6, 2022
The Father Loves Through Us
Lord’s Prayer Focus: The Father’s Character
Jesus taught us that prayer begins with understanding the God we are praying to. The Lord’s Prayer begins: “Our Father in heaven, holy is your name…” (Matthew 6:9). Jesus said that when we pray we are praying to our Father, which means we can have the same level of intimacy with God that Jesus had while He walked around on the planet. But in this prayer, Jesus also reminded us that our Father is in heaven. Jesus taught us that He is near us (our Father) and He is far away (in heaven). He desires to live in relationship with us (our Father) but in the relationship we need to show Him honor because He is holy (in heaven). Let’s learn more about this Father we are praying to and depending on, and how his nature and character invites us to be a part of what He’s doing in the world.
1 John 4:7–17 (ESV) — 7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. 13 By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world.
The love of God is a part of His nature that He has shared with those in Christ. The default nature we were born with was not love, but hatred. Our bent from birth was to injure, take advantage of, seek revenge or to get something in return. When we’re born again in Christ, we receive a new nature. The love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Spirit. We now have a capacity and ability that we didn’t have before - to love as God loves. As His love flows through us to others, we represent God to the world. This is His design and plan, that each of us demonstrate the love of God in Christ, that the world may know Him.
Consider:
Consider how God wants to love your neighbors, coworkers, family, and friends through your motives, words, and deeds this week.
Prayer Points:
Ask the Spirit of Christ to remove anything in your life that is clogging the love of God from flowing freely and generously through you to those around you.
Lord’s Prayer Focus: The Father’s Character
Jesus taught us that prayer begins with understanding the God we are praying to. The Lord’s Prayer begins: “Our Father in heaven, holy is your name…” (Matthew 6:9). Jesus said that when we pray we are praying to our Father, which means we can have the same level of intimacy with God that Jesus had while He walked around on the planet. But in this prayer, Jesus also reminded us that our Father is in heaven. Jesus taught us that He is near us (our Father) and He is far away (in heaven). He desires to live in relationship with us (our Father) but in the relationship we need to show Him honor because He is holy (in heaven). Let’s learn more about this Father we are praying to and depending on, and how his nature and character invites us to be a part of what He’s doing in the world.
1 John 4:7–17 (ESV) — 7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. 13 By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world.
The love of God is a part of His nature that He has shared with those in Christ. The default nature we were born with was not love, but hatred. Our bent from birth was to injure, take advantage of, seek revenge or to get something in return. When we’re born again in Christ, we receive a new nature. The love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Spirit. We now have a capacity and ability that we didn’t have before - to love as God loves. As His love flows through us to others, we represent God to the world. This is His design and plan, that each of us demonstrate the love of God in Christ, that the world may know Him.
Consider:
Consider how God wants to love your neighbors, coworkers, family, and friends through your motives, words, and deeds this week.
Prayer Points:
Ask the Spirit of Christ to remove anything in your life that is clogging the love of God from flowing freely and generously through you to those around you.
Posted in 2022 Prayer and Fasting