“Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask Him! Pray like this: Our Father in heaven…” – Matthew 6:8-9

I vowed never to drink alcohol because of the traumatic experience I had with my father during my childhood.

He had a good job at Kawanda Agricultural Research Institute, but he would squander all his money on alcohol in bars.

Every night, he would return home – sometimes his friends would carry him home totally drunk – then he would unleash hell on our dear mother.

Eventually, mum couldn’t bear it any longer; she left.

She kept on picking us one by one and distributing us to our extended family members to look after us.

I don’t have any memory of my father ever giving me anything, not even a pencil.

The last time I spent a day in the same house with my father was long before I even started school.

The next time I saw him was when he was in the coffin – at his funeral – when I was almost completing secondary education.

Against that background, I really struggled to connect with the idea of God being my Father when I became a Christian.

My mind could never relate with that notion in a positive way until many years later when God graciously gave me a profound revelation of His Fatherhood.

After years of ministry to youth, I know that many people do actually relate with my experience of an ‘absentee’ father.

In our meditation today, our Lord Jesus makes reference to God as ‘Father who knows exactly what we need.’

Jesus’ bold reference to God as “Father” was revolutionary because it changed how people understood God’s essence, humanity’s relationship to Him, and the basis of religious life itself.

It was no longer primarily about fear and rigorous obedience to God’s commands, but rather about His love, intimacy, and grace.

Our Lord Jesus not only referred to God as “Father” Himself but also taught His disciples to do the same.

Whereas the Old Testament occasionally referred to God as ‘Father’ in a corporate sense (e.g., as the Father of Israel), it was not common to address God personally as “Father” in prayer or daily discourse.

See Psalm 68:5, Isaiah 63:16, Jeremiah 31:9 for glimpses of God’s paternal heart.

The general prevailing Jewish understanding of God (a world view that religions such as Islam still espouse) was one of a transcendent, holy, and awe-inspiring being, approached with immense reverence and a degree of distance.

However, Jesus’ use of “Abba” (the Aramaic equivalent of ‘Daddy’) conveyed an unprecedented level of intimacy, trust, and affection.

It was not merely a formal title but a term suggesting a close, loving, and personal relationship – inviting believers in Him to experience God in the same way, given that He was their ‘Big Brother.’

The Pharisees and Jewish leaders viewed Jesus’ claim that God was “My Father” as blasphemous because it implied that Jesus was equal to God (John 5:18).

The established religious hierarchy and their conception of God’s inaccessible holiness were directly called into question by that claim.

Jesus not only referred to God as “Father” himself but also taught His disciples to do the same.

This was a call for all believers to enter into a direct, familial relationship with God, a privilege that moved the focus from a distant, transactional relationship based on laws and rituals to an intimate, grace-filled connection based on love and adoption.

The ‘Parables,’ like the one about the “Prodigal Son,” for instance, vividly depict a Father who actively seeks out, pardons, and is brimming with love and compassion for each of His children—even when they veer off course.

So, if, like me, your experience with your earthly father was painful or lacking, acknowledge it and ask God to heal those wounds and show you what a perfect, caring and compassionate Father truly is.

You’re not an abandoned or neglected child; your Father in heaven knows exactly what you need even before you ask Him!