Our heavenly Daddy?

I know some people will hear this phrase and think I'm being disrespectful to God. Not true. Quite the opposite really. See, Jesus gave us the example in Scripture in calling God the Father by this intimate term "Abba" in Mark 14. This term literally means in our modern English - "Daddy." It's not offensive to call God the Father our heavenly Daddy. In fact, this is really the level of intimacy He wants with us! We're His kids! 

When I was at Bible college, I first heard a guy in group prayer (thanks Keith Wilhelm) start off his prayer with a simple, "Our heavenly Daddy..." It took me off guard, but the more I thought about it, that's how it should be! We could even go simpler with with, "Hey Dad..." in some senses to truly feel that intimate connection, because that's how we would talk to our dads right? How many of us go around talking to our dads like this: Father, how are you doing? Not many. Instead when I talk to my dad I say, "Hey dad!" As a child I said, "Hi daddy!" I wouldn't expect to hear my kids address me so formally as father.

This is the level God the Father wants with us, He wants to be our heavenly Daddy. The question is, will we let Him get that close?