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The mission of the church is contained in that word [Father];
the failure of the church is highlighted by that word.
—N.T. Wright
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How Jesus Teaches Us to Pray to God as Father
I had lunch recently with a friend who’s gone through the motions of prayer for most of his life. But now in his 50s, he longs for a closeness with God and is asking deeper questions about what it means to pray.
What he’s found through this journey is that he struggles to see (or pray to) God as father. And I know he’s not the only one.
Jesus knew what he was doing, though, when he taught us to begin prayer with the word Father. In the original Greek “Father” comes first—even before the word “our.” The whole prayer, in a sense, is built on that one word.
Why Our Experience of Fatherhood Shapes How We See God
The challenge is most of us didn’t first learn the word “father” from Jesus’ picture of God. We learned it from our own dads. And whatever we carry from that dynamic—any distance, fear, pain, disappointment, absence—gets projected onto God before we’ve ever opened a Bible.
Jesus knew calling God “Father” would be a challenge for us. In fact, during his famous sermon on the mount, Jesus called all of us earthly fathers “evil” compared to the Father in heaven. When I was a young dad, I was a bit offended by those words—c’mon, Jesus, I’m not really an evil father!—so I dug into the text.
What I found is that the description “evil” isn’t just a condemnation of any one dad. It’s a leveling, if you will. None of our fathers, however good, could show us the true nature of God. They were signposts at best, but never the destination.
Let Jesus Redraw Your Picture of the Father
When Jesus tells us to pray “Father,” He’s not handing us a safe, familiar word. He’s inviting us to surrender that sacred relationship: both what it is and what it isn’t. Every wound, every absence, every distorted picture we picked up along the way, he’s asking us to hand it to him, and let Jesus, the only One who has ever perfectly known the Father, redraw the picture.
Respond
My friend, God isn’t the composite of every father figure who let you down, and He’s also not a reflection of your own mistakes as a father. He’s the One Jesus came to reveal. So this week, don’t just pray to God. Pray “Father”—and let that word do its healing and holy work.
Closing Prayer
Father,
I bring You every distorted picture
I’ve carried of what that word means.
Where earthly fathers fail, You do not.
Teach me to see You through Jesus,
not through my own history or lack.
Replace what I inherited with what You’ve revealed.
I surrender the word, and I receive You.
Amen.
Praying with you,
Addison Bevere
P.S. If this prayer guide struck a nerve and you’d like to go deeper, I’d suggest reading chapter 4—“What We Call God”—from Words with God. The book’s available through Amazon, the Messenger Store, or wherever books are sold.
