Luke 11:1
... When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray..”
Matthew 6:6
But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father
Luke 11:2
He said to them, “When you pray, say: “‘Father…
By now, the words ‘Jesus’ and ‘multitudes’ began to be spoken in the same breath, with the same breathlessness. The crowds were growing and for good reason: Jesus preached and demonstrated the sudden, seeming ‘nearness of the Kingdom of God. Up to now it had been: “If God..”, or “ When God..”. But Jesus preached the ‘Imminence’ of God, the immediacy of the Kingdom. People marveled, and followed. God was near. When Jesus spoke, they could feel God. Then, on this day came the Sermon on the Mount. In these few moments, Jesus opened the windows of Heaven and invited His hearers access to the Throne. In this sermon, He introduced the Gospel of Grace. Grace whereby God was removing their offence and clothing them in righteousness with the very simple requirement on theirr part that they believe. Believe and be healed. Believe and be saved. Believe and see God.
Scripture tells us that one of Jesus’ disciples had a question. Maybe he was putting it all together. An epiphany of sorts. A revelation that from this day forward, God was doing something different, something new. The un-named disciple asked, “Jesus, (I’m paraphrasing) seeing as how everything is changing, going forward, how do we pray?” Can’t you see him mentally connecting the dots? The thing with connecting the dots is, before you draw the first line, you have no idea what is being hidden. But, as you draw the lines, connecting the dots, the picture begins to take shape. The disciple who qestioned Jesus may have been at that point. Mentally, he was drawing the lines, but the shape was not quite recognizable. Not yet. Jesus’ response illustrated God’s plan. Relationship.
“Father”. Jesus instructed them to call Him (God): Father. And based on His opening of this sermon, anyone could call God “Father”. They and we were being invited to ‘Relationship’, as in ‘relatives’, as in ‘protected’, ‘provided for’, ‘healed’, ‘covered’, ‘Blessed”. David’s words come to mind: “Is there anyone still left of the the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness?:. In those few moments Heaven smiled and continues to smile. On that day, God withdrew wrath and extended Grace. On that day, God, our Creator, revealed Himself as “Abba Father”. Not just Father, but ‘Daddy’. In those few moments, He offered us relationship and intimacy. The same intimacy that He extended to Moses, that caused Moses’ face to reflect His very Glory, He now extends to us. Face to Face.
Jesus said “find a closet”: a private place, where you could have a private personal audience with the ‘King of Glory’. In that private place, much as it is in your own home, there’s no need to shout. You simply speak: quietly, reverently, lovingly, thankfully, gratefully. Find a quiet place. When my earthy father was still alive and I would go to visit, when I would sit down to visit, we would sit close, close enough to grasp hands, close enough to carefully examine one another, to determine how the time that had passed since our last visit had treated us (I’m crying). We sat close enough that we didn’t have to speak loudly, we could whisper. We would laugh and talk. He would lay his hands on my shoulders, I found comfort in the very weight of His touch. The memory of my time with him is precious.
Beloved. Our Father, who is in Heaven, whose Name is Holy, Hs Kingdom has come! His will is being done in these earthen vessels, these bodies of ours that are but His Temples’. His will is being done in us, just as it is in Heaven. Each day, each and every day He personally delivers to us the Bread of Life, His Holy Word. Additiomally, He provides us with our every need according to His riches in Glory, by Christ Jesus. He has forgiven our debts, and they were many, and He strengthens us inwardly to forgive any that may be indebted to us. Let us never accuse Him of tempting us for He protects us from, and gives us power over our true Adversary, Satan. Unforgiveness is but one of the many distractions that the enemy uses to keep your eyes off of your Father. Don’t be burdened by unforgiveness. Forgive, without condition, and be free. Free to worship your Father, in Whom resides the Kindom, Who is All-Powerfil, In Whom rests all Glory. And with whom you have relationship of such an intimate, comforting nature, that time spent with Him, talking to Him, sharing your deepest cares and concerns, sharing and receiving from Him: Hope, Faith, dreams. Can you hear Him speaking to you in whispers: in that ‘still, small voice’? Can you feel the weight of His hand on your shoulder? Do you know how much love and pride reside in His touch? Do you know how much He longs for you? How He longs to draw near? How comforting is that? How encouraging? How empowering? Time spent with your Father in a private, intimate setting, will fill us with the confidence of overcomers, super conquerors that He has purposed in us from befor the beginning. Come and sit at the King’s table beloved, and be Blessed. Time spent with Him is precious!
.wb
2 Samuel 9:13
And Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, because he always ate at the king’s table; he was lame in both feet.
Psalm 42:1
As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God.
As The Deer
As the deer panteth for the water
So my soul longeth after Thee
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship Thee
(Chorus)
You alone are my strength, my shield
To You alone may my spirit yield
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship Thee
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