A transformational spiritual exercise to help you sense that God is your gracious Father
I want to share a helpful devotional practice I have been using in recent months. It has been spiritually rich for me, and it transforms my understanding of God and my feelings about him.
Normally I use this devotional practice first thing in the morning. I commonly wake up in the morning with the sense that I am unworthy, and that God does not feel good about me, probably stemming from the notion that I must earn my way with him and deserve his love. A few months ago I began intentionally focusing at these times on God as my gracious Father, and I meditate one by one on the qualities that constitute his gracious fatherhood.
Depending on how much time I have, I might do this for 10 minutes, or for an hour. But there is a sweetness to it always, and by the end of this meditation the negative feelings are gone.
Example
Here is what I typically say:
Gracious Father, your favor toward me is my treasure and delight.
Gracious Father, your benevolence [goodwill] toward me is my treasure and delight.
Gracious Father, your beneficence [good works] in my life is my treasure and delight.
Gracious Father, your generosity toward me is my treasure and delight.
Gracious Father, your love for me is my treasure and delight.
Gracious Father, your kindness toward me is my treasure and delight.
Gracious Father, your gentleness with me is my treasure and delight.
Gracious Father, your goodness toward me is my treasure and delight.
Gracious Father, your listening to my prayers and answering them is my treasure and delight.
Gracious Father, your forgiveness toward me is my treasure and delight.
Gracious Father, your mercy toward me is my treasure and delight.
Gracious Father, your adoption of me as your son is my treasure and delight.
Meditation
With each line I pause and meditate on that reality, letting the words sink in and do their work, giving the Holy Spirit room to reveal the truth of it. He does that time and again. The exercise is repetitive but has never been rote.
At the heart of what it means to know God is to know him as gracious Father. This devotional practice has transformed not just my mornings, but my experiential knowledge of God.