The Father Lens
We have all lenses - ways that we look at and interpret life, God, relationships and our circumstances. Whether you recognize it our not, as you read Scripture and pray, it’s through a certain set of lenses. For most of us those lenses have been passed down to us by parents, teachers, pastors and our experiences. Typically, when someone else handles my glasses, they end of up with some smudge or even scratches that keep me from seeing clearly. From time to time its’s essential that I clean my lenses or even replace old ones if I want to see clearly.
I love the “Jesus Lens”—reading the Bible with the understanding that Jesus is the ultimate authority on who God is and what He’s like. This isn’t just a good idea; it’s the very approach Jesus and Scripture prescribe.
Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. -Jesus, John 14:9 (NIV)
The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. - Paul, Colossians 1:15 (NIV)
The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being. - Hebrews 1:3 (NIV)
The Father Lens
Another powerful lens Jesus gives us is what I call the Father Lens. This isn’t just a metaphor or a helpful idea—God doesn’t merely act like a father in certain situations. Father is who He is at His core, and it’s how He always relates to us (see Matthew 7:9–11).
I'm convinced this lens is essential for a life of deep faith and unswerving love.
I often see this misunderstood in prayers that sound like we’re begging God to respond—or in worship songs that seem to be trying to convince Him to show up or move. When we believe we have to twist God’s arm to be present, we start sounding more like the prophets of Baal in their showdown with Elijah—striving and pleading as if we need to earn God’s attention (see 1 Kings 18).
But prayer and worship are meant to be something altogether different. These days, I picture prayer as climbing into my Father’s lap—letting Him love on me first, then having a conversation. The truth is, you can’t give what you haven’t first received. And according to 1 John 4:19, “We love because He first loved us.” The starting point is always receiving.
Even the Lord’s Prayer reinforces this. When the disciples asked, “Teach us to pray,” Jesus didn’t start with formulas or performance. He started with relationship: “Our Father…” He wasn’t just modeling a personal prayer life—He was revealing the core relational dynamic for all of us. The way into God’s presence is through the door marked Father.
One of my favorite quotes that captures the heart of this lens comes from Timothy Keller:
“The only person who dares wake a king at 3:00 AM for a glass of water is a child.
We have that kind of access.”
Jesus said it this way in Matthew 7:9-11
"Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”
Persistence or Pleading?
Yes, there’s a place for persistence in prayer. Jesus even taught it—“Ask and keep asking. Knock and keep knocking” (Matthew 7). But that persistence is always from the posture of a child asking a good and present Father—not a beggar trying to manipulate a distant deity.
A good diagnostic question to ask is: What do my prayers sound like? If I’m not honest about my desires, emotions, or pain—if I’m reserved or guarded—or if my tone sounds more like fear and performance than love and trust, then maybe it’s time to adjust my lens. If I’m walking on eggshells around God, that’s not reverence—it’s distance. That’s not the kind of relationship Jesus came to restore.
Check Your Lenses
The truth is, the songs we sing often shape our lenses more than the sermons we hear. That’s why I encourage our worship teams to avoid lyrics that make us sound like orphans begging God to do what He’s already eager to do as a good Father.
So let me ask: How’s your lens?
When you pray, how do you approach God?
Do you find yourself begging and pleading, or loving and receiving?
Is your relationship marked by guilt and obligation, or by joyful connection?
When you think about your life and the choices ahead of you, do you feel pressure to get it all right to please God—or do you trust He’s walking with you, guiding and correcting you along the way?
Sometimes all it takes is cleaning the lens. Other times, it’s time for a new one.
For more on the “Jesus Lens” check out my good friend and partner in ministry, Steve Smother’s book, “Seeing Through a Better Lens” available here on amazon.
For more on the “Father’s Heart” check out “Fathered by God” by John Eldredge or “The Father Heart of God” by Floyd McClung, Jr.
