Tag Archives: Awareness

Prayer – Lesson 3: The Environment Of Prayer – God’s Presence

Prayer, ,

LESSON THREE

THE ENVIRONMENT OF PRAYER – GOD’S PRESENCE

INTRODUCTION

Part of our concept of prayer is to get God to come into our realm and our situation and do something to change it or help us.

This is not Biblical prayer. Prayer is not about bringing God to where we are. Prayer is about changing our awareness from ourself-absorbed self-consciousness to a consciousness of God’s presence. He is Emanuel – God with us.

The first time prayer is mentioned in the Bible governs the meaning of prayer throughout the Bible – called the Law of First Mention.

“At that time men began to call on the name of the LORD,” Genesis 4:26 (NIV), the original Hebrew word for “call” suggests the idea of “turning the head to face the one who could bear the burden.” Turning the head implies changing one’s awareness.

1. GOD IS PRESENT EVERYWHERE

We cannot take or bring God anywhere. He is already here.

God’s presence fills heaven and earth. We are in His presence like a fish in water.

Solomon prayed: “But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built.” 1 Kings 8:27 (NIV).

“‘Can anyone hide in secret places so that I cannot see him?’ declares the LORD. ‘Do not I fill heaven and earth?’ declares the LORD.” Jeremiah 23:24 (NIV).

“Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?” Psalm 139:7 (NIV).

We must begin by acknowledging God’s presence and worshipping Him for who He is, otherwise our problems will loom bigger than God and we will want to call Him in instead of realising that He is already here.

Question: If God is everywhere, where is heaven?

Heaven is not a place. It is the environment in which God dwells and rules.

Changing one’s awareness is not only about acknowledging God’s presence but also about recognising who He is.

Everyone has an idea of God that is shaped by our imagination. Our imagination is influenced by our culture, upbringing and environment.

These are all “images” and not reflections of the true God. We are to gain our understanding from revelation, not imagination.

“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.” Hebrews 11:6 (NIV).

Question: Who is “He” in this verse?

He is the God who exists and who rewards those who earnestly seek Him. That means that He is the God of revelation, the God whom we meet in the Bible and who made Himself known primarily in His Son.

2. GOD IS PRESENT IN THE FULNESS OF WHO HE IS

In any human situation God is present with everything He is and everything He wants to and is able to do.

No matter what the crisis, there are three facts that never change:

God is here

God is functional (good

God is in charge

True prayer is engaging God on the basis of our motivation and the recognition of His presence. It’s not about getting our needs met. It’s about recognising who God is in our situation and giving Him the opportunity to act according to who He is so that He can put Himself on display.

Getting our needs met is His way of showing us who He is so that we can acknowledge His glory.

“Now on His way to Jerusalem, Jesus travelled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As He was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met Him….When He saw them, He said, ‘Go show yourselves to the priests.’ And as they went, they were cleansed. One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus feet and thanked Him – and he was a Samaritan.”  Luke 17:11-15 (NIV).

Question? Why does God not always answer our prayers?

There is no pat answer to this question. God is God. He is not obliged to give us any explanations or reasons. However, there are conditions to prayer. We shall discuss them in our final lesson.

1. We may have the wrong motivation.

2. We may be praying to the wrong god, the god of our imagination and not the God of revelation.

3. WE CANNOT WELCOME GOD INTO OUR PRESENCE

That is an arrogant misunderstanding of our relationship to God. We are not on the throne – He is. If we approach Him, it is on the basis of the blood of Christ and the mercy and grace of God.

It is His right to accept us and welcome us into His presence, otherwise we are doomed.

“Therefore brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, opened to us through the curtain, that is, His body, and since we have a great high priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.” Hebrews 10:19-22 (NIV).

Let us not become sloppy in our understanding of who God is.

He is our Father but we owe Him honour, reverence and holy fear because He is God. Since He fills heaven and earth, there is no place where He is not. It is our place to draw near to Him as He waits to receive our worship and adoration.

“Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably, with reverence and awe , for our ‘God is a consuming fire.’” Hebrews 12:26 (NIV).

CONCLUSION

1. Prayer is about changing our self-awareness to God-awareness.

2. We cannot “bring” God into our situation through prayer since God is everywhere.

3. God is present everywhere in His fulness.

4. It is a misunderstanding to welcome God into our presence. He is God and has made provision for us approach Him.

 

Steep Yourself in God

Christian Life, , ,

STEEP YOURSELF IN GOD

”What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, not to be so preoccupied with getting so that you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way He works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how He works. Steep yourself in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. Don’t be afraid of missing out. You’re my dearest friends! The Father wants to give you the very kingdom itself.” Luke 12:29-32 (The Message).

There is fervour in these words of Jesus. What He is talking about here is the very foundation of life. Until we get this right, our experience of God will always yo-yo between doubting and trusting. Our worries and cares come from our being so us-aware and so close to the circumstances that we cannot step back, as Jesus always did, and look at the big picture.

The first thing to settle in our hearts is the non-negotiable truth that God loves us. Since He has taken the trouble to come Himself to redeem us at the cost of His own life, our physical needs and wants are miniscule by comparison. He did this for one reason, to restore us to His family as His sons and daughters. Settle that one too! Everything God has promised and does for us fits into that context – family.

Jesus urged us to approach the Father as little children, not teenagers who always think they know better but as little children who are helpless without their father. This is the amazing thing about life in God’s family. He is not training us for independence as human parents do their children. God is training us for complete dependence; in fact, in His scheme of things, the more dependent we are on Him, the more mature we are in the faith!

Jesus insisted, “Without me you can do nothing.” John 15:6 (NIV). To God, maturity means going back to infancy! Why has He built such a contradictory principle into our relationship with Him? It takes us right back to His dream – to create beings who would be one with Him (ECHAD) because oneness in the Godhead is who He is. “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.” Deuteronomy 6:4 (NIV), Israel’s creed.

Although He gave us the gift of choice, He knows very well where it takes us when we use it to enforce our independence. That same capacity to choose becomes a powerful tool when we recognise our dependence on Him and align ourselves with Him as helpless infants.

The benefits of this attitude are ‘out of this world’ – access to the limitless supply of God’s resources, a carefree life in the care of God, and the inexpressible joy of being responsible partners in His kingdom, bringing His rule of love and truth into the mess we humans have made because of our independence.

If we insist on viewing God as a blown-up version of our human fathers, we will forfeit the most unpredictably exciting life. Instead we will spend our lives chewing our fingernails, chasing ‘things’ as though this life were all that mattered, and missing the journey that takes us deeper and deeper into the heart of the Father.

If we are to be the disciples of Jesus we claim to be, then we have to learn to think like He did. Jesus was joined to His Father at the hip. He was a mature Son who depended on His Father like a new-born infant. That’s the paradox of the Christian life. Growing up means becoming more and more like little children. In this way, Jesus said, the kingdom is ours.