THE SHEPHERD HEART OF THE FATHER
My Father Knows and Cares: Understanding God’s Shepherd Heart
John 12:32 KJV
If I be lifted up, I will draw men unto my side." Not only men that He draws, He draws blessings, He draws lifting, He draws strength. Glory to God.
Psalm 118:24 KJV
This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.
Our anchor text is found in Matthew chapter 6 verses 5. The Book of Matthew arguably marks the beginning of the New Testament era. Chapter 1 talked about the death, the genealogy of Jesus Christ. Chapter 2 talked about the wise men that came to present gifts to Jesus at birth. Chapter 3 talked about the baptism of Jesus. And chapter 4 talked about the temptation of Jesus Christ. Chapter 5, 6 and 7 are otherwise known as Sermon on the Mount. It is the only sermon Jesus Christ gave on the mountain. And it is also called the Beatitudes. That is, the Christ's sermon on blessedness.
In Chapter 6, the subjects of prayer and the Fatherhood of God are introduced together for the very first time. Here, Jesus establishes the prayer model—the configuration, chemistry, and framework of true prayer. He teaches who we pray to and how our prayers should be patterned.
Jesus begins in Matthew 6:5 by stating, *”And when thou prayest…”* Notice He did not say *”if you pray.”* Prayer is an imperative expectation. As a church, as individuals, as families, and as children, we are expected to pray. Prayer should be our daily atmosphere—we are instructed to pray without ceasing:
1 Thessalonians 5:17 KJV
Pray without ceasing.
Jesus reinforced this duty in His teachings:
Luke 18:1 KJV
And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;
If you do not pray, you will faint. Prayer and fainting cannot cohabit. Either you choose consistent, persistent prayer, or you succumb to persistent fainting—and fainting yields no results, whereas prayer guarantees answers.
Matthew 6:5-6 KJV
And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
Prayer is not a public show, showmanship, or a display of personal stamina; it is a sacred, intimate relationship with your Heavenly Father. Effective prayer must be rooted in a functional, personal revelation of the Fatherhood of God.
God is not merely an abstract spiritual entity residing in a distant heaven; He is our personal Father. Not just ordinary spiritual being that resides in heaven. He's our God.Before you articulate your first prayer point, your Father already knows what you need. Even the unspoken thoughts of your heart are perceived by Him as prayers. This is why we must guard and renew our thoughts because sometimes our thoughts are prayer.Don't think evil, think good. Don't think bad, think good, think wellness, think possibility, think miracle, think the hand of God, think the possibility of God.
Proverbs 23:7 KJV
For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.
So, the subject of the fatherhood of God, perhaps, is the most overlooked attributes of God. The fatherhood of God is the most overlooked attribute of God. We don't see God as our Father. We don't know He's our Father, and don't see Him like that. And that is why we don't believe in our prayer, because we don't know that we are praying to our Father.
The Fatherhood of God is perhaps the most overlooked attribute of God. In the original Greek language, the word for Father is ***Patēr*** (πατήρ), which signifies a **nourisher, protector, and upholder**. When life is challenging and troubles roll in like relentless waves, remember that God cares deeply for you.
Salvation fundamentally transforms our identity, our spiritual DNA, and our fatherhood. Prior to salvation, the devil was our father:
John 8:44 KJV
Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
Through Christ, our Fatherhood shifted from the enemy to Almighty God. The apostle Peter acknowledged the depth of apostle Paul’s writings on salvation:
2 Peter 3:15-16 KJV
An account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you;
As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.
The Heart of the Good Shepherd: Luke 15 and 1 Samuel 17
Our scripture for this teaching is recorded in Luke 15:1–6:
Luke 15:1-6 KJV
Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him.
And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them.
And he spake this parable unto them, saying,
What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?
And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing.
And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost.
Consider also David’s account of shepherdhood in 1 Samuel 17:34–36:
1 Samuel 17:34-36 KJV
And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father’s sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock:
And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him.
Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God.
Throughout Holy Scripture, believers are consistently compared to sheep, and Jesus explicitly declares Himself to be our Good Shepherd: So, what a shepherd does to sheep is what our Father in heaven does for us.
John 10:11 KJV
I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.
Unlike lions, which possess powerful jaws, claws, and independent combat ability, sheep lack self-defense mechanisms. It is entirely the shepherd’s responsibility to protect, defend, and provide for the sheep.
Six Characteristics of Sheep and God’s Shepherd Care
1. Sheep Cannot Defend Themselves Against Trouble
A lion can defend itself because it possesses immense physical strength, speed, and lethal jaws. A sheep possesses none of these. Therefore, the shepherd must step in to rescue the sheep from predators.
Furthermore, sheep do not forge their own path to find sustenance; the shepherd leads them into green pastures. In the exact same way, our Heavenly Father leads us continuously into victory and triumph:
2 Corinthians 2:14 KJV
Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.
Even apex predators face scarcity, as written in the Psalms:
Psalm 34:10 KJV
The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing.
While mighty lions suffer hunger, our Father provides abundantly for His own. Jesus reminded us:
Matthew 6:26 KJV
Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
If God clothes the lilies of the field and feeds the birds of the air, how much more will He care for you, His prized children? Though troubles arise—whether through external circumstances or our own missteps—our Father faithfully rescues us out of them all.
2. Sheep Tend to Go Astray
It is in the natural disposition of sheep to wander away from the fold. Because of this, a faithful shepherd takes daily inventory and relentlessly searches for any missing sheep.
Isaiah 53:6 KJV
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Our Father actively seeks us out when we stray. As illustrated in Christ’s parable, the shepherd leaves the ninety-nine in the wilderness to pursue the single lost sheep until it is recovered. It is never the Father’s will for any of His children to perish:
Matthew 18:14 KJV
Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.
3. Sheep Are Not Designed to Carry Heavy Burdens
Unlike beasts of burden, sheep do not possess the anatomical strength to carry heavy loads; under a weight, a sheep will crush and collapse.
Similarly, believers are not built to carry the crushing anxieties and burdens of life. We are instructed to cast our cares upon the Lord:
1 Peter 5:7 KJV
Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
Psalm 55:22 KJV
Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.
Attempting to carry life’s heavy burdens independently leads to physical, emotional, and spiritual exhaustion. Hand your burdens over to the Good Shepherd—His arms are perpetually open to receive them.
4. Sheep Will Settle for Less If Unguided
When thirsty, unguided sheep will readily drink from stagnant, filthy puddles right in front of them simply to satisfy an immediate urge. However, a good shepherd leads them past contaminated waters to pure, still streams.
Psalm 23:1-3 KJV
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
While human nature often inclines us to settle for lesser, flawed outcomes, God guides us into His perfect, elevated will. Every good and perfect gift originates from Him:
James 1:17 KJV
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
5. Sheep Recognize the Shepherd’s Voice
Sheep possess an innate ability to recognize and respond exclusively to the voice of their shepherd while fleeing from strangers.
John 10:4-5 KJV
And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.
And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.
As children of God, we are calibrated to discern our Father’s voice through His written Word, His Spirit, and sound biblical preaching, while rejecting the deceptive voices of the enemy and harmful human traditions. Jesus warned against voiding God’s Word through human traditions:
Mark 7:13 KJV
Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.
6. Sheep Are Extremely Valuable
In biblical times, owning livestock was a primary measure of wealth. Historical figures such as Abraham and Job were recognized for their vast herds and flocks:
Genesis 13:2 KJV
And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold.
Job 1:3 KJV
His substance also was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she asses, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the east.
In Matthew 23:23, Jesus addressed the scribes and Pharisees regarding their meticulous tithing of agricultural produce:
Matthew 23:23 KJV
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
Just as sheep were prized possessions, you are immensely valuable to God. He purchased you not with silver or gold, but with the precious blood of His Son:
1 Corinthians 6:20 KJV
For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.
Isaiah 43:4 KJV
Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee: therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life.
When a person fails to recognize their God-given honor and value, they live below their inheritance:
Psalm 49:20 KJV
Man that is in honour, and understandeth not, is like the beasts that perish.
You are never invisible to Almighty God. He has engraved your name upon the palms of His hands:
Isaiah 49:15-16 KJV
Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.
Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.
God does not observe your life from a cold distance; He actively steps in to comfort, to wipe out tears, to console us, to uphold, and deliver us:
Isaiah 40:1 KJV
Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.
We serve a God that comforts us, he's a comforter. He provides for us, he rescues us. That is the God we serve.
Hebrews 4:15 KJV
For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
Just as David rescued the lamb alive out of the lion’s mouth, God ensures that your present trials will not consume you.
In John 5:1, the Scripture opens with the phrase, "After this…”
John 5:1 KJV
After this there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
There is always an **”after this.”** Whatever hardship, embarrassment, financial pressure, or delay you are experiencing right now, it is temporary. It will eventually be categorized as a past event—an *”after these things.”*
Consider the patriarch Isaac in Genesis 26. When he dug the first and second wells, opposition arose and his enemies strove for them. But he persevered and dug a third well:
Genesis 26:22 KJV
And he removed from thence, and digged another well; and for that they strove not: and he called the name of it Rehoboth; and he said, For now the LORD hath made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.
God will bring you to your own Rehoboth, a place where the Lord makes room for you, where past struggles give way to fruitful enlargement and testimony.
What a shepherd is to his sheep, God is to you. He sees, He knows, He cares, and He steps into your circumstances to deliver you.
John 20:17 KJV
Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.
And as Jesus promised, every detail of your life is accounted for:
Matthew 10:30 KJV
But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
Lay down your anxieties, transfer your battles into the capable hands of the Good Shepherd, and rest in the assurance of His unfailing love.
