ABBA, FATHER

“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.’ For His Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children.” (Romans 8:15-16 NLT)

The ability of love to speak to the deepest places of our hearts never goes away. Have you ever noticed how people in love sometimes speak to each other in baby talk? It is immensely intimate and private – and it’s off-putting to a third party. If you do it, I wouldn’t want to hear it. But we do it because it is the tenderest language we know.

Jesus’ prayer life demonstrated this intimacy, because He called God “Abba,” an Aramaic word much like “Dada” or “Momma.” (Jesus spoke in Aramaic, and some portions of the New Testament are written in Aramaic rather than Greek.)  “Abba” was a Jewish child’s first word, because it was so easy to say. Somehow when Jesus was with God, the tender love that an adult offers to a child to give strength is what He received from His Father. It rewired His nervous system.

It does not stop there, for Jesus told His followers that they could have this same experience. This is why Paul wrote that by the Spirit we too can say, “Abba, Father.” This is what happens when we are praying…

God’s Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who He is, and we know who we are: Father and children. (Romans 8:16 The Message)

-- John Ortberg in “The Me I Want to Be”

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