He said not “God,” but your Father, to incite them to greater confidence. For who is a father, and would not allow the want of his children to be supplied? But He adds another thing also; for you could not say that He is indeed a father, yet knoweth not that we are in need of these things. For He who has created our nature, knoweth its wants.
Reproduced in full. Translation: Oxford 1841 (Newman), public domain (Public domain).
Also cites: Hom. 22. in Matt.