Our Father

What if two simple words could reorient everything about the way we approach God? That is exactly what we explore as we open a new series on prayer, beginning with the first two words Jesus gave his followers when they asked him how to pray: 'Our Father.' These are not throwaway words meant to warm us up before we get to the real content. They are the foundation. When we say 'Our Father,' we are declaring something profound about who we are and who God is. We are not accidents. We are not the product of random chance. We are image bearers, created by a God who is our ultimate source. And through faith in Christ, something even more staggering becomes true: we are adopted into his family. Romans 8 reminds us that we have not received a spirit of slavery leading back to fear, but a spirit of adoption by which we cry out to God as Father. Every time we open our prayers with those two words, we are proclaiming our identity, our belonging, and our access to the God of the universe. This is where Jesus tells us to start, and there is deep wisdom in that. The invitation this week is simple but rich: sit with those two words, let them settle into your bones, and let them remind you of everything that is true about your relationship with the Father.