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Prayer - realizing the future in the present
As followers of Jesus, we live the future of the Kingdom in the present. No matter what happens around us, or who sits in the seats of political power, we are called to live the life of the Kingdom. This is a Kingdom that is based on who we are, and Who God is, not any other political or organizational structure. Being in the wake of the election season, that is particularly good news. Prayer is central to the realization of the life of the Kingdom.
In Revelation 5, John gives us a glimpse of the center of the Kingdom of God, the center of all created reality. It is here that we see what is at the heart of the government of God. Take a few moments to take a look in the passage to the right, and notice what you see there.
God is at the center. Those beings that are closest to Him carry two things: the means to make music, and the prayers of God's people. God's word and praise is not just proclaimed, it is sung! It is a place of celebration. And in the midst of it all are prayers - reminding us that our prayers are held there in the center of the universe. And then there is the Lamb. What cannot be known or revealed in any other way, what is the greatest source of power and authority in the universe, can only be revealed and understood through the Lamb that was slain. The glimpse that gives us into who God is and what He is all about is not expressed through raw overwhelming power, but through the power of love, vulnerability and self-sacrifice. Jesus is the embodiment of love and strength in its fullest and most mature form.
And then, there are the voices of countless beings, hundreds of millions or more, gathered around and proclaiming the truth of who God is, and who He invites us to be in response When we pray, we purposefully step into the flow of the worship that is going on around the throne of God, and allow it to shape and change us as we participate. We are not alone. We stand with the majority of beings in the universe! Prayer is how we enter into the dialogue, the music, the realization of what is really real. That's what Pastor Jon invites us reflect on this morning.
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Revelation 5
NIV
Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals. 2 And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?” 3 But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it. 4 I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside. 5 Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! See, the Lionof the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.”
6 Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. The Lamb had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits[a] of God sent out into all the earth. 7 He went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. 8 And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people. 9 And they sang a new song, saying:
“You are worthy to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
because you were slain,
and with your blood you purchased for God
persons from every tribe and language and people and nation.
10
You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God,
and they will reign[b] on the earth.”
11 Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. 12 In a loud voice they were saying:
“Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and praise!”
13 Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying:
“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be praise and honor and glory and power,
for ever and ever!”
14 The four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped.
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