Devotion: God our Father

"And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!"" Galatians 4:6

I was studying this passage in a Bible study this past week, which led into a conversation about how we address God. Abba is the Aramaic word for "dad" or "father." So we wrestled with whether we felt comfortable approaching God in prayer with such a deeply relational and intimate title like "Dad." Normally in my prayers, I will use "God," maybe "Heavenly Father," but never really something so personal as "dad."

Paul's letter to the Galatians, however, shows us that is exactly the type of relationship we have been given to the God of the universe. We are children of God, and because of the Spirit at work in our lives, we are able to cry out to God as "dad! father!"

I left that Bible study and spent the next day using "dad" instead of God whenever I prayed. Truth be told, it was awkward. It did not seem formal enough. It seemed silly at first. But strangely--or perhaps not so strangely--my soul was awakened in those prayers. I felt a closeness to God that I hadn't experienced in a while. Praying to God as "dad," allowed me to see and experience God in a new way. It brought comfort to me, to know that is the intimate connection God desires with us.

Try praying to God as "dad." How does it feel? Does it draw you closer to Him? Does it feel too personnel of connection with the God of the universe?