The Father’s Promises to His Children

 

The Father’s Family exists to share with all humanity the incredible Promises of the Father to his children. The Father has promised to protect and provide for us through every trial and tribulation and to fill us with every grace and blessing – if we are willing to trust him. If we take him at his Word, he will keep his Word.

 

Followed by the introduction below, we take you straight to the Promises

 

 

Introduction

 

“Our Father knows what you need before you ask him. This is how you are to pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread; and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors; and do not subject us to the final test, but deliver us from the evil one.” (Matthew 6:8-13)

 

Jesus’ revelation that God is Abba, a father at the most intimate level, is accompanied by his proclamation that we are to address him as our Father. A father who protects and provides for us.

 

This proclamation is most famously embodied in the “Our Father” prayer.

 

The “Our Father” is the most important prayer of all because it is the Lord’s prayer, the prayer that God incarnate has asked of us.  Unlike all the prayers of the past which were formal prayers of the community addressed to God under one of his titles – but never by name except on the Day of Atonement – this is a personal prayer where the individual addresses the Father by name. It is one-on-one. It is from a child to its Father.

 

The most immediate practical application of the prayer is the command to entrust all our desires and needs to our Father. We are never to worry about anything. Jesus specifies this right at the start of the Our Father prayer: “Our Father knows what you need before you ask him.”

 

The Lord’s Prayer in the Gospel of Luke is followed by the “ask and you will receive” commands culminating in this most memorable promise: “How much more will the Father in heaven give the holy Spirit to those who ask him?” (Luke 11:13)

 

The Our Father’s state of surrender and total trust is detailed in Psalms 91 and 23 and consummated in the teaching of Jesus.

 

Our Father invites us into the safety of his Heart – GodSpace – while leading us through the Valley of the Shadow. Every care, every worry, all our needs and aspirations must be handed to him. He refuses us nothing if we truly surrender to him.

 

THE PROMISES

 

“There is Nothing I Shall Lack”

 

Divine Plan

“For I know well the plans I have in mind for you … plans for your welfare and not for woe, so as to give you a future of hope. When you call me, and come and pray to me, I will listen to you.” (Jeremiah 29:11-12)

 

Deliverance

“Many are the troubles of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him from them all. He watches over all his bones; not one of them shall be broken.” (Psalm 34:21)

 

“God is our refuge and our strength, an ever-present help in distress. Thus we do not fear.” (Psalm 46:2-3)

 

 “In their distress they cried to the LORD, who saved them in their peril; He brought them forth from darkness and the shadow of death and broke their chains asunder.” (Psalm 107:13-14)

 

Fear Nothing/Do Not Worry

“I command you: be firm and steadfast! Do not fear nor be dismayed, for the LORD, your God, is with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9)

 

 “Do not fear: I am with you; do not be anxious: I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my victorious right hand.” (Isaiah 41:10)

 

“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name: you are mine.” (Isaiah 43:1)

 

The Battle is not Ours but God’s

“For it is the LORD, your God, who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies and give you victory.” (Deuteronomy 20:4)

 

“Do not fear or be dismayed … for the battle is not yours but God’s.’” (II Chronicles 20:15)

 

“All this multitude, too, shall learn that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves. For the battle belongs to the LORD, who shall deliver [the adversary] into our hands.” (1 Samuel 17:47)

 

“The horse is equipped for the day of battle, but victory is the LORD’s.” (Proverbs 21:31)

 

“What then shall we say to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31)

 

In God I Trust

“My foes turn back when I call on you. This I know: God is on my side. I praise the word of God, I praise the word of the LORD. In God I trust, I do not fear.” (Psalm 56:10-12)

 

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, on your own intelligence do not rely; In all your ways be mindful of him, and he will make straight your paths.” (Proverbs 3:5-6)

 

Ask and Receive

“When you call me, and come and pray to me, I will listen to you.” (Jeremiah 29:12)

“Before they call, I will answer; while they are yet speaking, I will hear.” (Isaiah 65:24)

 “When you began your petition, an answer was given which I have come to announce, because you are beloved.” (Daniel 9:23)

 

“Jesus told his disciples a parable about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary. He said, ‘There was a judge in a certain town who neither feared God nor respected any human being. And a widow in that town used to come to him and say, 'Render a just decision for me against my adversary.' For a long time the judge was unwilling, but eventually he thought, 'While it is true that I neither fear God nor respect any human being, because this widow keeps bothering me I shall deliver a just decision for her lest she finally come and strike me.’  The Lord said, ‘Pay attention to what the dishonest judge says. Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night? Will he be slow to answer them?  I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily.’” (Luke 18:1-8)

 

“Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Suppose one of you has a friend to whom he goes at midnight and says, 'Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, for a friend of mine has arrived at my house from a journey and I have nothing to offer him,' and he says in reply from within, 'Do not bother me; the door has already been locked and my children and I are already in bed. I cannot get up to give you anything.' I tell you, if he does not get up to give him the loaves because of their friendship, he will get up to give him whatever he needs because of his persistence.

“‘And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. What father among you would hand his son a snake when he asks for a fish? Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg? If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?’” (Luke 11:5-13)

 

“Amen, I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matthew 17: 20)

 

“All that you ask for in prayer, believe that you will receive it and it shall be yours.” (Mark 11: 24)

 

“If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you.” (John 15:7)

 

“He who did not spare his own Son but handed him over for us all, how will he not also give us everything else along with him?” (Romans 8:32)

 

“My God will fully supply whatever you need, in accord with his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19)

 

Do Not Doubt

“Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught Peter, and said to him, ‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt?’ After they got into the boat, the wind died down.” (Matthew 14: 31-2)

 

“But he should ask in faith, not doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed about by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord, since he is a man of two minds, unstable in all his ways.” (James 1:6-8)

 

A Peace of HIS Mind

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you.” (John 14:27)

 

“The God of peace be with all of you.” (Romans 15:33)

 

“The God of peace will quickly crush Satan under your feet.” (Romans 16:20)

 

Guard Your Heart

“Cast your care upon the LORD, who will give you support. He will never allow the righteous to stumble.” (Psalm 55:23)

 

“Cast all your worries upon him because he cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:7)

 

“With all vigilance guard your heart, for in it are the sources of life.” (Proverbs 4:23)

 

“Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7).

 

The Father offers us a “deal”: if we do what he asks of us, then he promises to watch our back!

 

And this is what we have to do. This is all we have to do:

Trust the Father totally to provide us with everything we need and never fear anything or be worried.

 

Here is the payback:

He will take care of all our needs.

 

We just entrust all our needs, worries, problems, crises, challenges, obstacles to the Father and it becomes his responsibility to resolve them all.

 

In the measure we trust, in that measure we receive.  And it is not a matter of trusting blindly but trusting with our eyes wide open: trusting in the sense of acting by divine directive at every instant.

 

This is the simple but extraordinary message running through all the books of the Bible. Is it doable? Does it work? The heroes and heroines of the Bible bear witness to its transcendent power. Millions of the followers of Jesus through the centuries and in the present day testify to its truth.

 

Every time we pray for something, we must remember that God is omnipotent, all-powerful, almighty. Hence we are told that “nothing will be impossible for God.” (Luke 1:37) and “for God all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:26). But we can unlock and unleash his Power on our behalf only if we trust so completely in him that we will not let our fear and worry block the pipeline that transports it.

 

The twenty third Psalm lays out the Father’s Promise:

“The LORD is my shepherd; there is nothing I lack. In green pastures he makes me lie down; to still waters he leads me; he restores my soul. He guides me along right paths for the sake of his name. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff comfort me. You set a table before me in front of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Indeed, goodness and mercy will pursue me all the days of my life; I will dwell in the house of the LORD for endless days.”

His protection and provision, his Power and Providence “will pursue me all the days of my life.”

 

Jesus confirms and amplifies the Promise in his Sermon on the Mount:

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat (or drink), or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds in the sky; they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are not you more important than they?  Can any of you by worrying add a single moment to your life-span?  Why are you anxious about clothes? Learn from the way the wild flowers grow. They do not work or spin.  But I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was clothed like one of them.  If God so clothes the grass of the field, which grows today and is thrown into the oven tomorrow, will he not much more provide for you, O you of little faith?  So do not worry and say, 'What are we to eat?' or 'What are we to drink?' or 'What are we to wear?'  All these things the pagans seek. Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.  But seek first the kingdom (of God) and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides. Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself. Sufficient for a day is its own evil.” (Matthew 6:25-34)

Jesus says, “Do not worry” three times – just in case we do not get the message!

 

But why does the Father need us to trust him before acting?

 

First, the entire divine plan of creation is built on love and love cannot exist without freedom.  God has instituted a framework of freedom and will work through it. He cannot coerce us into loving him because this would not be love: if we see him in all his glory, we cannot but adore him.  But that would not be love. To love him, we have to meet him heart to heart: we have to respond to his still small voice: we have to give ourselves to him as he gives himself to us.  His revelation makes it clear that God cannot help us until we trust in him.  Jesus “was not able to perform any mighty deed there… He was amazed at their lack of faith” (Mark 6:5-6) “He did not work many mighty deeds there because of their lack of faith” (Matthew 13:58)

 

Secondly, we are made for Heaven.  But to enter Heaven, we have to become heavenly.  We have to change and be changed – radically. We have to become new persons, our hearts transformed. A central element of our transformation is changing our entire way of seeing things:  we should rely only on divine Providence and fear nothing.  We have to be like little children, said Jesus.  We have to trust our Heavenly Father who will give us our daily bread.

 

There is a third touching answer.  The Father has feelings because the Father is Heart.  A father is hurt when his child does not trust him to provide for her.  Likewise, our heavenly Father is hurt when we entertain the slightest doubt about his ability to take care of us. An accurate measure of our love for God is the degree of our trust in his Providence.  To the extent to which we cast our cares on him asking him to resolve them, to that extent we truly believe he loves us.  Not to trust him is to doubt his love.  It also means that our love for him is limited since we will not take him at his Word. The Father wants to take us to Heaven. But he can only do this if we trust him to provide for us on the way and protect us from all obstacles.

 

The Promised Land

 

“This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17)

“’This is my Son, my beloved, with whom I am well pleased.’ We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven while we were with him on the holy mountain.” (2 Peter 1:17-18)

“Abba, Father, all things are possible to you.” (Mark 14:36)

“For those who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received a spirit of adoption, through which we cry, “Abba, Father!” (Romans 8:14-15)

“God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him. … There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear.” (1 John 4:16,18)

As proof that you are children, God sent the spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying out, ‘Abba, Father!’  So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God.” (Galatians 4:6-7).

 

We are heirs. Our inheritance is the Promised Land. The Promised Land is the Kingdom of our Father. We have only to take possession of our inheritance. The sole obstacle is our own falling “back into fear.” But the Holy Spirit overcomes fear by “proving” that we are indeed “children” and therefore heirs as our hearts cry out ‘Abba, Father!’ And the Father’s “perfect love” for us continually “drives out fear.”

 

Through it all, we simply have to trust totally and be patient. “After patient waiting, Abraham obtained the promise.” (Hebrews 6:15) We in turn are called to be “imitators of those who, through faith and patience, are inheriting the promises.” (Hebrews 6:12)

 

In our journey of faith, we must move from simply seeing God as our Almighty Creator and Protector to recognizing him as our beloved Father. The Yahweh who draws his people to the physical Promised Land is now seen to be our immeasurably intimate Abba. He rushes out to us his wayward children and draws us into his Paternal Heart through the Spirit of his Son. “God sent the spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying out, ‘Abba, Father!’”

 

Entering the Promised Land means unconditionally accepting the Promises of God and thereby sharing in the Power of God. “He has bestowed on us the precious and very great promises, so that through them you may come to share in the divine nature.” (2 Peter 1:4).

 

These are “the precious and very great promises:”

forgiveness,

redemption,

mercy,

eternal ecstasy,

glory,

protection,

provision,

peace that surpasses all understanding,

love beyond all telling,

life in all its fullness,

joy than no one can take from us.

 

We have only to surrender to our Father. We have only to trust in Jesus. We have only to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

 

This revelation of our dearest Abba transforms the entire prior understanding of religion and God. It was what we might call a “paradigm-shift.” Accordingly, beginning with the “Our Father” taught by Jesus, the first Christians addressed and experienced God as “Abba.” For the first time it was possible to have a relationship with God.  It was indeed a personal relationship with Our Father. And it is our relationship status that determines our eternal destiny. “Unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:3)

 

Further, only in seeing God as our loving Father and experiencing his love can we trust totally without fear of any kind. “There is no fear in love.” Our whole life has to be centered on becoming aware of the infinite love of our Father and surrendering our needs, our worries, our hopes to him. Once we live and move and have our being in the infinite love of our Abba, “there is nothing I shall fear.” 

 

There is nothing more to fear, nothing to worry about, nothing that is out of reach. I am in my Father’s House. I am a temple of the Holy Spirit. I live no longer “I’ for “Christ lives in me.” (Galatians 2:20). And, “whoever is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.” (I Corinthians 6:17). I am “no longer a slave but a child” of God and because I am his child I am also “an heir.” (Galatians 4: 7).