Yesterday we looked at the Father's words to Jesus at his baptism. Remember, this is the beginning of his ministry and the confirmation of his identity as the Messiah. In his human nature (remember Jesus is fully God and fully man) this must have been a powerful moment for him.
Matthew 3:16-17
16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
Mark Driscoll, in his book by the same title as our campaign, writes, "These are perhaps the two most important first things we need to know rightly—who God is and who God says we are." For us to pray like Jesus, then, I think we must know who God is and who God says we are. We must not only know these truths theoretically, but we must trust them and live in light of them as well. These are two different things. We often know things to be true but fail to live as if it were true. I know frozen custard isn't good for me, but I occasionally consume it as if it were.
So, God declares Jesus to be his son. Who does he, then, declare us to be? To answer this we must see what we find in Scripture.
Ephesians 1:3–6
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.
Romans 8:14–17
14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. 15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
Galatians 4:4–7
4 But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. 6 Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.
1 John 3:1
1 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
The NT witness is clear. If God has chosen you, given you his Spirit (who testifies with our spirit to the truth of our identity) and lavished his love on you, then you are indeed an adopted child of God. (If you don't know what I'm talking about with this, spend some time praying, asking God to confirm whether or not you are his child. Read the context around those passages I've mentioned above and really wrestle with this, if you are not sure. Don't just assume you're in.) So, although we are not the children of God in the same sense that Jesus is the Son of God (ie. divine essence and the Messiah) we are in some sense God's children. Before we begin to explore how to pray, I believe many of us need to hear him speaking our identity to us through his Word.
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Reflection
If your faith and trust is in Jesus for your salvation, you're chosen by God, you have the Spirit of God, then you are a child of God. As the Romans 8 text above says, what's the difference between being a slave of God and a child of God? If you have trouble believing this and viewing yourself this way, come up with ways to regularly remind yourself of this truth. Write it down somewhere. Read it every morning. I don't know what will work for you but do what you need to do to remember this truth and begin viewing yourself not as you see yourself, but as God sees you.