God as Our Loving Father

The breakdown of the family in western society has left many children growing up without a father. Even among those who grew up with a father, in many cases the relationship lacked closeness. This can create a barrier in our ability to trust God or even to want to talk with him. It’s an area we need to make sure to check with our disciples if we want them to build a healthy long term relationship with God.

Here are some resources that we’ve suggested to disciple makers to study with their disciples.

• Read JI Packer’s chapter in Knowing God called “Sons of God”

• Study and memorize (see www.scripturetyper.com) passages like:

  • Matt 7:7-11

  • Romans 8:15-16

  • Gal 4:6-7

  • 1 John 3:1

  • Ps 27:10

  • Ps 139

• Study through these verses to gain a biblical perspective on God: What is God Like?

• Try to hang around godly, loving fathers and observe their interactions with their kids

• Listen to this excerpt from Scott’s Exodus 20 teaching on honoring your mother and father and try some of the suggestions given there

• Listen to this teaching from Dennis McCallum on Matt 7:9-11

• Work on expressing your feelings to God in prayer. Try a prayer journal. Pretty much any good reading on prayer will help here, including some of my favorites:

  • Hallesby, Prayer

  • Murray, Waiting on God

  • Murray, The Prayer Life

  • Murray, With Christ in the School of Prayer

  • Chuck Smith, Effective Prayer Life

  • Sanders, Prayer Power Unlimited

  • Miller, A Praying Life

• We’ve had some success with books dedicated to this subject

  • Cloud, Changes That Heal – good for working through issues with family and relating to them as an adult

  • Wilson, Into Abba’s Arms – Chris read this many years ago as a young Christian. She remembers that it was helpful but thinks it might be cheesy too.