Praying to Our Father
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Bible Verses ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Matt. 6:9 You then pray in this way: Our Father who is in
the heavens, Your name be sanctified.
John 1:12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the
authority to become children of God, to those who believe
into His name, (13) Who were begotten not of blood, nor of
the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Words of Ministry ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Lord said, "You then pray in this way." He did not say
to pray with these words. If He had, all we would have to do
is repeat these words every time we prayed. No, this is not
what the Lord meant. The Lord meant that we should pray in
this way. Many people pay attention to their needs; they do
not pay attention to God's needs. This is why the Lord opened
His mouth and told us to "pray in this way." To "pray in this
way" is something very significant, great, and profound.
Brothers and sisters, if we want to learn to pray at all, we
have to learn to "pray in this way." This was the first time
since God came down to earth to become a man that He told us
how to pray and how to pray in a concise way.
The Lord told us that we have to pray to "our Father who is
in the heavens." "Father" is a title, a new name by which man
addresses God. Prior to this, man called God "the Almighty,"
"the Most High," "the living God," or "Jehovah." No one dared
to call God the "Father." This was the first time the word
"Father" was used. This shows us clearly that this prayer is
for saved ones, those who have eternal life already. When a
man is saved, he can call God the Father. Only those who are
begotten of God are the children of God, and only they can
call God the Father.
This prayer is directed toward "our Father who is in the
heavens." How sweet this is and what a great comfort it is.
Originally, only our Lord Jesus could call God the Father.
But in these verses, He instructed us to call God our Father.
This is a great revelation. Thank God that His Son has died
and risen for us so that we can become God's children and
receive a new position. From now on we can pray to our Father
who is in the heavens. How intimate, free, and uplifting this
is. May the Spirit of the Lord teach us more and more to know
that God is our Father and to believe that the Father is
loving and patient. Not only does He want to hear our prayer;
He also wants us to share the joy of prayer.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(c) Living Stream Ministry. Bible verses are taken from the Recovery
Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from "The Prayer Ministry
of the Church" in the Collected Works of Watchman Nee, Vol. 22, pp.
161-162. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA
Please visit us at www.emanna.com
Comments to: comment@emanna.com.
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Message Date: 12/27/2008
