“This, then, is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.’” Matthew 6:9 (NIV)

In the thousands of years covered in the Old Testament, God is called “Father” only seven times. People just didn’t think of God as Father. They thought of him as other things—Creator, Almighty One, etc. But they didn’t think of God as Father. Then Jesus came along and said, “This, then, is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name’” (Matthew 6:9 NIV).

“Call him Father,” Jesus essentially was saying.

Jesus uses the expression “Father” more than 150 times to refer to God. When he does that, he’s exploding all the stereotypes. God is not an angry tyrant. God is not a cosmic cop. He is not the universal killjoy. He is not an impersonal force.

God is a personal God who wants to have a relationship with you.

There’s only one problem. For many people, the word “father” is a negative term that brings up all kinds of bad memories. A lot of people say, “‘Our Father in heaven’? If God’s like my father, then no thanks.”

The truth is, some human fathers can make their families’ homes a hell on earth. While many fathers are loving and kind, others can be fickle, moody, abusive, controlling, and violent. So the words “our Father in heaven” carry a lot baggage for some people.

Many people never connect with God because they unconsciously think God is like their earthly father. If their earthly father is unreasonable, they think God is unreasonable. If their father is unreliable, they think God is unreliable. If they just don’t understand their earthly father, they think they could never understand God either.

We impose all our mixed-up hurts and emotions from our human fathers onto God—so it’s no wonder we have a hard time connecting with him.

Misconceptions keep you disconnected from God. To understand the truth of what God the Father is really like, you need to let go of any misconceptions and myths you have about him.

Discovering the truth about what God is like will set you free to have a loving relationship with him as your Father!