Day 11

So Jesus now begins and he says “ this, then, is how you should pray ”…. Pray after this manner- he is showing them a protocol of prayer- in order words they should pattern their prayer after it- to get the desired results.

Our Father in heaven, your holy name be honoured, your kingdom come; your will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread, forgive us the wrongs we have done, as we forgive the wrongs that others have done to us. Do not bring us to temptation, but deliver us from evil.

Let us take it one prayer phrase after the other...  

·     OUR FATHER...

What comes to mind is the consciousness of FATHERHOOD. You are not praying to anything else or anyone else- but to the FATHER - the creator of the universe.

ABBA father, the source, the sustainer, the defender. You must carry this mind-set when you pray. ROMANS 8:15 says “ the Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship . And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”, God is your source, and he is obsessed about defending your interests; God is interested in you.

In Matthew 7:11,  “ If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! ” 

Jesus is contrasting earthly fathers and heavenly fathers; and he makes the point that even though people in our dimensions are wicked and evil, they still take care of their children. Terrorist still take care of their children. An armed robber just returned from killing someone but kisses his child on the forehead- that's how powerful fatherhood is. As cruel as he is, he has compassion for his own child.

How much more God? So when you approach God - realise you are coming to a responsible Father. Fatherhood is not just the ability to give birth to children, the real proof of Fatherhood is the ease to release; to give, your ease to release, that's the real proof of Fatherhood. In God's mind, if you say -you are truly a father, he measures it by your ability to give- your ability to release. So when I say my Father -am coming to the one who has made me a receiver because he is a GIVER, this should be the construct of your mind-set, that you are coming to him with certainty, not wondering and hoping for- you are sure- you have certainty-

What did scripture say- To them that ask him he giveth-, he loves you enough to respect your will - if you do not ask him. He assumes you are aware but not interested. Ye have not because you do not ask not.

 James  4:1-3 reads “ What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. ”

Do you know the how many things we will have cheaply received in our lives if only we had the grace to ask, and ask persistently. “ Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened .”- Matthew 7:7-8

God gives to unbelievers- rain, mercy- how much more - me a believer now we are talking of family affair and you think God will not give?

  Abba, total dependence on him. Are you totally dependent on God. Oh, you know- I have a backdoor herbalist in case God is delaying. Let me tell you something - do you know why God shows up at the last minute most times - because by then you will have exhausted all your other options and know for sure that it is only God that can help you- then he comes through for you.

When you approach God, let him be your source and sustainer and everything- not humans, not your job, not your pastor-not your charm, not your uncle, father, company, not that talisman on your waste, those of you who think you can mix Jesus and charms- when you approach God, have the understanding that he is your source, sustainer and everything.

Believers need to get to a point where we must be willing to take God seriously by folding the other gods that we have. A God that you carry is that one powerful enough. You carry it... Many people have gone into traditional worship, simply because the advocacy of prayer- that had been proposed failed them. So don't be hard on anyone, we are not condemning, we are helping to see that it is not necessary to go to those places - when you know God as Abba.

Abba means SOURCE – seeing God as source. You are saying Lord am not confused about the channels you have brought in my life to help me- my destiny helpers are not the source, my parents & my boss are not the source, my business & my work are not my source, my husband and my wife are not my source , they are channels, I come to you as my SOURCE -

Seeing God as your source means, you are saying- " I'm not in confusion, I will not mix you in the multitude of helpers in my life to join the que- as though you are a helper - you are more than a helper, you are more than an advisor , you are the SOURCE" -

So if someone for instance says he or she cannot be of help to me, I am not worried because God is the source and He can raise anyone to come to my aid.

You know-sometimes you can get confused- who is really your source and it is important that- as you approach God- you approach him with an understanding that Lord- it is true that you use man/woman to bless me, you use systems and structures to bless me- but am not confused I come to you the SOURCE and my SUSTAINER , RESTORER and my PROVIDER .

 Approach God as touching his Fatherhood. So Jesus is teaching that there is something lacking about your knowledge of the Fatherhood of God and that interrupts the quality of your prayer life, sometimes we may pray to dissipate energy as if we are praying to one, whose benevolence we are not sure of, it’s as if someone has to assist God to help you- but you go to God, knowing that he is your SOURCE and SUSTAINER.  Listen God is not an examiner waiting for you to hit every right button, he is a Father who is already delighted that you are approaching him, when you pray, pray ABBA Father.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Shalom and God bless you.

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