Father, Reveal Who You Are

Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.

(Matthew 6:9)

A young Christian went to her spiritual mentor and said, “Teach me how to pray.” The mentor answered, “Pray the Lord’s Prayer, but take an hour to do it.” The opening line of the Lord’s Prayer is so loaded with meaning, you can spend an hour on it alone. Consider what it teaches us:

First, God is not just our Sovereign Creator, He is our Father. Anytime we see the word “father” we know that it is speaking to us about two things:

• Family name and honor
• Inheritance
  

We bear His name and honor of the Father and share in all that is His.

Second, the inheritance we have in Him is all of heaven itself. This is not just a matter of going to heaven when we die. It has very much to do with this life, for Jesus also teaches us in this prayer to say, “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Because we belong to the family of our Father in heaven, we have an inheritance to bring forth on the earth.

Third, God is our Father. All who call on Him in this way are linked together. Our relationship with God brings us into relationship with each other. We are in this family together. We share in the inheritance with each other and with Jesus Christ.

Fourth, there is a uniqueness to the name in which we share. It is a name that is above all principality, power, might and dominion. No other name even comes close to this name. It is the name above all names, and it is full of glory.

In the prayer, “Hallowed be Your name,” we are calling for the revelation of God’s glory — His greatness and goodness — to be made know. The Message Bible puts it well:

Reveal who You are.

In the Bible, a name is not merely a means to get someone’s attention. A name discloses identity, purpose, destiny. In the Garden of Eden, God gave Adam the assignment of calling the animals, of giving them names. It was not a matter of organizing a convenient system of identification, but of establishing what each animal was to be about.

When God makes His name known to us, He is actually revealing Himself to us, showing us who He is and what He is like. He is offering Himself to us in intimate relationship. To receive, believe and call on the name is to receive, believe and call on Him.

The mood of this prayer is imperative — that is, it is a command. That is exactly how Jesus authorized us to pray it. To speak this command does not go against the will of God in any way. We are not making Him do something He doesn’t want to do. No, it is completely in line with His will because He longs to reveal Himself to us. But He will not do it unless we ourselves are willing to receive it.

I am captured by this powerful opening line, and I am praying it wherever I go:

Father, reveal who You are.

• Reveal who You are in the businesses, schools and marketplaces of this city.
• Reveal who You are in the theatres and restaurants.
• Reveal who You are in the bars, strip clubs, porn shops and red light districts.
• Reveal who You are in the prisons, county jails and detentions halls.
• Reveal who You are on the hospital floors, in the E.R., the O.R. and the Paramedic van.
• Reveal who You are in the bodies of the infirm, the sick and the lame.
• Reveal who You are in the eyes of the blind and the ears of the deaf.
• Reveal who You are in the rescue missions, in the streets, under the bridges—wherever destitute souls seek refuge.
• Reveal who You are to all peoples and nations, to heads of state and religious leaders.
• Reveal who You are to the Christian, the Jew, the Muslim—to men of every religion, and to the atheist as well.
• Especially in this hour, reveal who You are in New Orleans, in Gulfport, in Buloxi, in all the places devastated by Katrina. Reveal who You are the lives of all those who have lost everything to this terrible storm. Reveal Yourself as the God of salvation, protection, provision, healing and restoration. Reveal the light of Your glory in this dark hour.
  

Reveal who You are in Jesus’ name, Amen.

The Lord Jesus Christ has authorized you to bring forth the revelation of the Father into this world. Begin now by praying, “Father, reveal who You are.”

Give Us Today the Bread of Tomorrow

Give us this day our daily bread. (Matthew 6:11)

No doubt, you will recognize this verse from the Lord’s Prayer. But I think it may be greatly misunderstood. Most Christians think of it as a request for God to take care of the little everyday necessities of life. For example, The Message has it as beggarly “Keep us alive with three square meals.”

There must be more to it than that. Just a few verses down, in Matthew 6:33 (another often-quoted verse) Jesus says, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

This is in response to the questions, “What shall we eat? What shall we drink? What clothes shall we wear?” God has already promised these to us. So the way to get our daily needs met is to seek God’s kingdom, and these things will follow as a matter of course. We don’t have to ask for them, we just need to believe God’s promise for them.

So what does “Give us this day our daily bread” mean? Let’s look at the word “daily” for a moment. The Greek word is epiousios. It is found only twice in the Bible — in Matthew's and Luke's versions of the Lord’s Prayer. Many Bible commentators believe that it actually means “for the morrow.” This is supported by the translation of a related word, epiouse, as “the next day” in Acts 7.26 and 16.11. The “daily bread” is not the bread of today but the bread of tomorrow.

So what is the “bread of tomorrow?”

To understand that, we must recognize that the Lord’s Prayer is a kingdom prayer. It comes in the middle of the Sermon on the Mount, which begins, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3). On the other side of the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus tells us to “seek first the kingdom of God.” And in the middle of the prayer itself, right before the part about “daily bread,” is this powerful petition, “Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

You see, it’s all about the kingdom of God. This kingdom is not primarily about a place but about an authority — the rule and reign of God. And it is about the coming age that is breaking forth into this present one.

The prayer, “Your kingdom come, Your will be done,” is actually set in the imperative mood. That is, it’s a command: “Kingdom of God, come! Will of God, be done on earth as it is in heaven!” This may seem startling, but Jesus actually gives us the authority to call forth the kingdom and will of God upon the earth.By this prayer, we are actually calling forth the reality of the next age — the age when God’s kingdom and will are fully in manifestation on earth just as they are in heaven — into this present one.

Then comes the next line, “Give us this day our daily bread.” It is the bread of “the next day,” or “tomorrow.” Young’s Literal Translation calls it “our appointed bread.” It is the portion that belongs to us in the kingdom age.

The kingdom of God — His rule and reign — has been breaking into this present age ever since Jesus came, and it will continue to come until it is completely fulfilled. Our part is to pray and command it to come, just as Jesus taught us.

We no longer belong to this present age. We may be in it, but we are not of it. Paul tells us that we are not to be conformed to it, but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2). We are kingdom people, and we require the provision of the kingdom. The resources of this present age simply will not do. We need the provision and power of the next age in order to see the kingdom come into this one. We need the bread of tomorrow — today!

Give us today the bread of that coming day, the provision and power of God’s kingdom. Amen.

What’s in a House?

A house is a an abode, a dwelling place. It is a place of decision and destiny. Don’t think “building,” think “family,” for a house is a place of relationships, a place where inheritances are imparted. Every house bears a name, and that name establishes the family.

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Amen.

Under God’s Circumstances

Some Christians talk about their circumstances as if those circumstances have the final word on their life. “Well, under the circumstances …,” they say, as if that settles the question. It does not—there is more to be said. God always has the last word, and for believers, it is always a good word.

You see, God has circumstances of His own. He has a plan and a purpose, a will and desire. He has a kingdom, a rule and a reign. He invites us to partner with Him in it all, and Jesus taught us how to do that.

We pray:

• Kingdom of God, come!
• Will of God, be done!
  

Are there any circumstances that can stand up to that? I don’t think so.

Get up under God’s circumstances by getting into agreement with His Word. Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness (God’s way of doing and being right) and everything will be taken care of.

Fully Authorized Agents of Heaven

Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. (Matthew 6.10)

Notice that the mood of these phrases is in the imperative. That is, they are not requests, but commands:

Kingdom of God, come!
Will of God, be done on earth as it is in heaven!

In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus has given us the authority to exercise these commands. To put it another way, we are fully authorized agents of heaven.

Our authority comes from heaven, and it is given to us to exercise upon the earth.

1. Wherever we see a situation on earth where the kingdom of God is not manifesting, we have authority to call God’s kingdom forth.
2. Wherever we see a situation where the will of God is not being done, a situation that is out of sync with heaven, we have authority to call for God’s will to be done.

We need a revelation of who we are in Christ, of what He has commissioned us to do, and of the authority and power we have been given in the name of Jesus to perform it.

What’s it Like in Heaven?

Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. (Matthew 6.10)

No doubt, you recognize this sentence from the Lord’s Prayer. It is what Jesus taught His disciples to pray. Here are few questions for you to chew over:

• Was it God’s will, in Jesus’ day, for His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven?
• Is it God’s will today for His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven?
• What is it like in heaven?
• Is it a place of blessing or of cursing?
• Of provision or of lack?
• Of prosperity or of poverty?
• Of health and wholeness or of sickness and disease?
• Is it a place of death or of life?
• What would the will of God being done on earth as in heaven look like?
• Can we pray for provision and expect to receive it?
• Can we pray for healing and expect to receive it?
• How about raising the dead? Can we pray for that and expect to receive it? (Jesus sent the disciples out to, among other things, raise the dead — and they did! And there are many instances in Church history of the dead being restored back to life — but that’s an article for another day.)

Jesus said, “Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them” (Mark 11:24).