Abba
Q: What does Abba mean?
According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the Aramaic word Abba means Father. Others may say Abba means “daddy” or “papa”, as a term of endearment for their loving father, while others would rather not reduce the meaning to that (see Logos definition on what does Abba really mean).
However you’d like to interpret it, one thing is for sure, God is our Abba. In fact, Jesus himself referred to God as Abba in the New Testament. For example, prior to Jesus being betrayed, He prayed to God in the garden of Gethsemane.
“And He said, ‘Abba, Father, all things are possible for You. Take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will.’”
- Mark 14: 36 (NKJV)
Q: How do can we get to the point where we can call God Abba without feeling awkward doing so?
Similar to any other relationship we encounter, the more quality time we spend with them, the closer we grow to them. It is the exact same thing with our relationship with Abba. The more time we spend with Him, the more comfortable we will feel with Him and the easier it is for us to recognize His voice when He speaks to us.
As mentioned in several posts, there are many ways to spend time with the Lord. I’ll list the different ways before, however, if you would like more detail about them, please read my Dealing with Grief post.
Accepting Jesus as our Lord and savior
Read the Bible
Worship Him
Prayer
Soaking in His presence
Meditation
This isn’t an exhaustive list, however, as previously mentioned, please go to my previous post to read more about each one.
I pray this encourages all of us, including myself, to spend more time with our Heavenly Father so we can get closer to Him!
Blessings!
“See how very much our Father loves us, for He calls us His children, and that is what we are!”
- 1 John 3: 1 (NLT)
