People of all faiths pray. Some pray to gods, some to ancestors, some to nature, and some to the universe, but all speak out words, all utter desires, all hope to be heard. But Christians pray differently and Christians pray confidently, for we pray to a Father. We alone “have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!” (Romans 8:15). Jesus taught us to begin our prayers with the precious words “Our Father.”
This changes everything about the way we pray, for we are not appealing to an impersonal universe or a powerless rock. We are not appealing to an ancestor who has already lived and died and returned to the dust. We are not appealing to a deity who is cold and indifferent to us. We are not appealing to a god who has no interest and no time. Rather, we are spending quality time with a Father—a gracious Father who “in love… predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace” (Ephesians 1:4-6).
As H.B. Charles reminds us, “Prayer is not a scheduled appointment with a busy executive. It is quality time with a loving Father.”
