From another room, I confidently and calmly called out for help: “Daddy!” My sister and I were stuck and we needed help. We had decided to fix a broken lamp by ourselves. Although we were of a responsible age, we did not have experience working with the type of heavy-duty glue we had decided to use. Within moments of beginning, both my sister and I found our hands glued to different parts of the lamp. We were stuck; we needed help. Yet, we were confident that our dad would help us. And he did!
Now as an adult, I marvel at my dad’s patient care toward me. He has always been ready and willing to help. He loves to teach me, and he has pulled me out of trouble and hard situations.
Our heavenly Father is like that, too. He has great care for our lives. He is ready and able to provide all that we need in life. When we were born again of God’s spirit, we gained access to our heavenly Father. By way of that gift of holy spirit, He is reachable and easy to access; therefore, we can go to Him with boldness and confidence.
The moment we confessed with our mouths Jesus as lord and believed in our hearts that God raised him from the dead, we were saved (Romans 10:9), born again, and access to God became available through the accomplished works of Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 2:18:
For through him [Jesus Christ] we both [Judean and Gentile] have access by one Spirit unto the Father.
We use the access God granted to us when we give Him our cares and concerns. No concerns are too small or too big for God. Our heavenly Father created the heavens and the earth. He spoke and there was light. He is all-powerful, all-knowing, and everywhere present. He cares for us so intimately that even the hairs of our head are numbered (Matthew 10:30). The next time a challenge arises, remember that God is your heavenly Father and you have access to Him.
As born-again believers, God gave us the gift of holy spirit, making Him constantly reachable and easy to access. God is such a loving heavenly Father that He supplied our need to communicate with Him. Because God gave us the gift of holy spirit, we can pray to Him not only with our understanding but also in the spirit.
I Corinthians 14:15:
What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also.
To pray with our understanding is to communicate to God in our own vocabulary. To pray in the spirit is to speak in tongues. Speaking in tongues is one of nine manifestations of the gift of holy spirit, and it has many benefits and purposes. Here are a few: to pray perfectly (Romans 8:26,27), to edify you (I Corinthians 14:4; Jude 20), to magnify God (Acts 10:46), to open your heart to the Father (Romans 8:14,15), and to give thanks well (I Corinthians 14:17).
God as our Father gave us the gift of holy spirit so that we can reach Him. As children of God, we have access to Him by praying with our understanding and praying in the spirit.
God is not only the Creator of the heavens and the earth; He is not only the Almighty God—He is our heavenly Father. Many of us know that we can seek out God in times of great challenge or deep sorrow. Yet we can also seek Him in the routine matters of life as well. Whether the need is great or small, to God it is all the same. We can go to Him with boldness and confidence.
Just as I could ask my dad for help at any time no matter the circumstances, we have free access to our heavenly Father. This Father-child relationship is tender and intimate. We see this relationship in Mark 14 when Jesus called his Father “Abba.”
Mark 14:36:
And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt.
“Abba” is a transliteration of the Aramaic word aba, which expresses the most intimate fellowship available between a father and his son. In English we could translate aba as “Daddy” or “Papa.” This word is carried over into two Church Epistles, underscoring the born-again believers’ intimate relationship with God as their Father.
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.
Galatians 4:6:
And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
We can approach our heavenly Father with confidence, knowing that He hears us. II Thessalonians 2:16 and 17 say, “…and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, Comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work.”
The more we know about our heavenly Father, the more confident and bold we will be to go to Him. When we go to God, we can have boldness and confidence, remembering that He is our Father, He loves us, and He has given us comfort and hope.
As born-again believers, we truly have the greatest Dad of all times—God, our heavenly Father. The moment we were born again, we gained access to Him as our heavenly Father. By the gift of holy spirit, He became reachable and easy to access. He is our heavenly Father, and we go to Him with boldness and confidence. Let us fully live with God as our Father as we enjoy the access we have to Him as children of God.