Out of the mouth of babes…

Rise and Shine, sweet one!

Guess who?

I will always and forever be your super early morning friend. :)

This morning, as I was praying over my loved ones, I thought of something that I wanted to share with you.

A couple of days ago, I had the sweetest pleasure of babysitting my nieces and nephews.

My niece, Avalee, has a birthday coming up. So, of course, I asked her what she wanted. (She will be 6!)

She did not hesitate to tell me all the things she desired.

Her sweet face lit up like the fourth of July as she was describing in great detail what she wanted for her birthday.

It was so precious, and she also taught me something in that moment of child-like joy.

She didn’t hesitate to tell me what she desired.

She wasn’t thinking to herself, “hmmm, I wonder if I should just tell Aunt Jilly something small and not really tell her what I want.”

She was not calculating the cost before she spilled her heart out.

She was so joyful so hopeful, so expectant that she would get her birthday wishes.

Are you seeing where I’m going here?

Jesus tells us over and over to have faith like a child.

He also tells us that God is our Father.

Let this sink in for a minute…

 So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” Romans 8:15

Jesus was the first One to call God, Abba.

This appalled the “religious” leaders.

Abba was so intimate, so personal, so familiar.

Some scholars consider it to be a colloquial term of familiarity that a young child would have used, similar to how American children use “papa” or “daddy.” Joachim Jeremias, a German Lutheran theologian, held that abba is a “children’s word used in everyday talk” and that it expressed the heart of Jesus’ relationship to God. He writes: “[Jesus] spoke to God as a child to its father: confidently and securely, and yet at the same time reverently and obediently. (logos.com)

Is this how we think of God, Our Father?

I will admit, I have struggled with this at times.

Formality and reverence are what we are often taught in relation to God, our Father.

Jesus shows us something different, though.

An intimate, personal, one on one, relationship with Abba.

Our prayer life can get so muddied with trying to say the “right” words, have the right tone, the right…whatever.

We often don’t come to God as children, we come to Him as trying to be perfect model Christians. Don’t we?

The Pharisees thought the same thing. They thought they needed perfect words and language to approach God.

Goodness, how wrong they were.

And we have been wrong in our approach as well.

We just need to approach God with honesty, truthfulness, and sincerity.

 He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them.  And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.  Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 18:2-4

Child like faith…

Just like my sweet niece, when she confidently spilled her little heart over her birthday desires.

He knows what we are thinking anyway!

Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely. Psalm 139:4

Look no further than the book of Psalms.

King David cried, lamented, begged, screamed, praised, worshipped…

All in one chapter! (Psalm 13 is a good example!)

David was soul baring honest before His Father.

Leaving nothing unsaid. He spilled his heart.

David did not count the cost of his words…He just spoke them to His closest companion…God, His Abba.

When I ask my children what they want, I don’t want them to tell me what they think I want them to have…I want them to tell me what they really desire.

It reveals intimacy and unabashed hope, love, and trust.

I believe God wants the same for us.

He wants for us to see Him as Abba…

Reverent and powerful, yes!

But, also, familiar, patient, kind, loving, and oh so intimate…

When did we lose our child like faith?

I don’t know the answer to that.

However, I do know that He wants our prayers and desires to be honest and truthful.

Do we really think we can hide anything from Him? Ha!

You have searched me, Lord,
    and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise;
    you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down;
    you are familiar with all my ways.

 Before a word is on my tongue
    you, Lord, know it completely.
 You hem me in behind and before,
    and you lay your hand upon me.
 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
    too lofty for me to attain.

 Where can I go from your Spirit?
    Where can I flee from your presence?
 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
    if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

Psalm 139:1-8

Let’s re-wire our adult minds and heart.

He is our Abba…

Go to Him and spill your pretty little heart. He can handle it.

And, He wants to.

heart spilling,

jill