Knowing and experiencing God as our Father is foundational to our relationship with Him.
If I were to ask you, "Do you know that God is your Father?" I’m sure you would say yes. It’s clear from Scripture that God is known as "Father," and that we’ve been adopted as His dearly loved children. However, knowing God as a Father—as head knowledge—is completely different from knowing Him as a Father experientially and through revelation. He’s not just a Father out there; He desires to be a Father to us today—on a daily basis, as we follow Jesus and increasingly surrender to Him.
Jesus: The Model Son
Jesus modelled what it looked like to be a son in an intimate and dependent relationship with His Father. Out of the overflow of this relationship, Jesus came to reveal the Father. He told His disciples that He and the Father were one—that if they’d seen Him, they’d also seen the Father. The disciples were later tasked with the same mandate: Go and make disciples of all nations; extend the Kingdom, and as you go, show people what the Father is like. Let your lives point to, imitate, and reveal Him.
The Need for Revelation
We all need to grow in the revelation of the Father, first and foremost, for the sake of our own relationship with Him. We have been adopted by the God of the cosmos, and He loves us with a steadfast, unconditional, and eternal love. This truth is a game-changer.
But we also need to grow in the revelation of the Father for the sake of those we have the privilege of revealing Him to.
So, how do we get to know the Father better—not just as head knowledge, but experientially through revelation? The truth is, getting to know the Father is a lifelong journey—there will always be more for us to discover. But there are certain things we can focus on and be intentional about that will help us see and know Him more clearly. Let me share a few things here.
1. Spend Time with Him
This probably should go without saying, but you can’t really get to know someone if you don’t spend quality time with them. Carve out time to sit with the Father. Set aside distractions and simply be in His presence. The more you spend time with Him, the more you'll experience His heart.
2. Discover the Father Through Scripture
Look at how the Father is depicted throughout the Bible. Spend time meditating on Jesus and how He represents the Father in His words, actions, and interactions with the people around Him. Put yourself in the stories and imagine the Father’s heart toward you. God’s Word is powerful, and if you let it, it will transform you.
3. Ask the Holy Spirit to Show You the Father
Romans 8 tells us that it’s the Holy Spirit who enables us to cry out, “Abba, Father,” and that He is the one who testifies with our spirit that we are children of God. The Holy Spirit is the one who brings revelation to our hearts, so take time to ask Him regularly to fill you afresh and show you the Father.
4. Identify and Remove Wrong Thinking About the Father
We can often hold wrong thinking in our hearts and minds about the Father and not even be aware of it. We may mentally agree with the truth of Scripture, but it doesn’t always change the way we live. Often, this is because of wounds from our childhood where authority figures misrepresented the Father to us.
God created man and woman in His own image—male and female He created them. (As a quick aside, this means that God isn’t just a perfect Father; He fully encompasses and displays all the characteristics of a perfect mother, too.) God’s original plan was that we would look at our parents or other significant authority figures in our lives—made in His image—and get a glimpse of what He’s like.
Sadly, because of sin and brokenness, none of us represent God perfectly. In fact, we often misrepresent Him, and this can result in filters over our hearts and minds that distort the truth. In order to experience healing and grow in revelation of what the Father is really like, we need to:
Recognise the wrong filters that impact how we relate to God as Father.
Ask the Holy Spirit where these filters came from. Who misrepresented the Father to us?
Take time to process pain and forgive the person who misrepresented the Father.
Ask Jesus to show us the truth about what the Father is really like toward us.
Moving Forward: A Call to Action
There’s so much more I could say, but I don’t want to overwhelm you. My heart is to encourage you to take action. I’ll share some resources with you soon that will help guide you through the process of recognising and removing wrong filters, step by step. I’ll also recommend other ways to deepen your revelation of the Father.
For now, I encourage you to take this month to be intentional about focusing on and connecting with the Father. Spend time with Him, talk to Him, read about Him, listen to Him, and ask the Holy Spirit to help you encounter Him. Knowing God as our Father is a foundational and pivotal truth for every believer.
Take this month to receive His extravagant, lavish, transformative love, and enjoy being His dearly loved son or daughter.
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Wendy Mann Equip | www.wendymannequip.com
Building Family, Prioritising God's Presence, Extending God’s Kingdom
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