I have always been told that one of the most revealing things about a person's true belief's is found in the way they pray. Some sound like an orphan, crying for mercy, some sound like slaves, praying with reluctance. We have to remember who it is that we pray to and be reverent in such times but it is as equally important to remember who we are in this process.
I have asked myself this question a lot here lately: Who am I to God? What is my relationship to the One that I am praying to?
"For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, "Abba, Father!" Romans 8:14-15 ESV
"But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as His sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God." Galatians 4:4-7 ESV
When I read Galatians 4:4-7, I am reminded that I am bought at a price and that I can't allow myself to forget the truth those words contain. I can't allow those words to simmer around the surface. I have to plant them deep into my heart and allow them to take root. If not I will still act as a slave to sin and pray like an orphan.
As a slave, I feel reluctant to pray. I feel that I have no right to ask anything of God. I spend more time asking forgiveness for my mistakes than I do praying for any sort of true abundance in my life. And as a slave, I view my relationship more with fear than I do with the tenderness and love a father gives his son. When I pray in a spirit of a slave, I lack the intimacy I need in my words to the Father. I live a life of sanctified unworthiness before God.
When I pray as an orphan, I am not reluctant but I suffer with extreme desperation in my prayers. But as an orphan, I feel like I am begging more than anything else. I often feel a great gap between myself and God. A life in abundance is a foreign concept to me. I live with a mentality of poverty, especially in my prayer life. I ask for scraps and that is all I really expect from God.
Neither of these examples are the way that God intends for any of us to live our lives. As sons and daughters of God, we know exactly who we are. Orphans and slaves have know idea who it is that they really belong to and they don't know what two-way intimacy really is.
“And he said, "There was a man who had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.' And he divided his property between them. Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything. "But when he came to himself, he said, 'How many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants."' And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' But the father said to his servants, 'Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.' And they began to celebrate.” Luke 15:11-24 ESV
When I read the passage above, I have to look at the life of the prodigal from the father's point of view to see what God sees when He looks down at me. The father in the story couldn't have seen his son if he was sitting in his office with the door closed or in the back of the house with the blinds shut tight. He had to be sitting on the front porch with a clear view of the front drive, searching the horizon for a glimpse of his lost son. Just like the father in the story, God is looking off into the distance, waiting for a glimpse of the lost son or daughter, that has wandered off the path He laid out for them. But do we come to prayer knowing and fully expecting God to already be there waiting on us? The father in the story runs to his son. I can imagine what this must have looked like. Father running towards his son and the son running to the father and when they met in the middle the collision must have been epic and beautiful. We must come to prayer expecting an embrace from God.
Further on in the story, we find that the older brother is unhappy with the way that his father has treated the wayward son. He felt that the level of forgiveness was over the top but the father goes out of his way to assure the older brother that just as he treats his wayward son in extravagance that everything the father has is his also. And it is the same with us. Everything God has is ours and we need to learn to pray that way.
The Father loves you and I the same way that He loves Jesus. That needs to the position of our minds and the fountain of our hearts when we come to prayer. I am not an orphan. You are not merely a slave of God. We are sons and daughters of the Most High. And with that title comes the privileges bestowed on us by being His sons and daughters. "But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as His sons." Galatians 4:4-5 ESV
I don't know many people who have totally tapped into that yet, the full rights as a son or daughter of Christ. But what a way to pray. I know a great many people who pray with great confidence and at times I feel like their prayers get quicker results than mine. The main difference between them and me: They come expecting God to act on their behalf where as I just wish and hope He does. Which way will you pray?
I have asked myself this question a lot here lately: Who am I to God? What is my relationship to the One that I am praying to?
"For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, "Abba, Father!" Romans 8:14-15 ESV
"But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as His sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God." Galatians 4:4-7 ESV
When I read Galatians 4:4-7, I am reminded that I am bought at a price and that I can't allow myself to forget the truth those words contain. I can't allow those words to simmer around the surface. I have to plant them deep into my heart and allow them to take root. If not I will still act as a slave to sin and pray like an orphan.
As a slave, I feel reluctant to pray. I feel that I have no right to ask anything of God. I spend more time asking forgiveness for my mistakes than I do praying for any sort of true abundance in my life. And as a slave, I view my relationship more with fear than I do with the tenderness and love a father gives his son. When I pray in a spirit of a slave, I lack the intimacy I need in my words to the Father. I live a life of sanctified unworthiness before God.
When I pray as an orphan, I am not reluctant but I suffer with extreme desperation in my prayers. But as an orphan, I feel like I am begging more than anything else. I often feel a great gap between myself and God. A life in abundance is a foreign concept to me. I live with a mentality of poverty, especially in my prayer life. I ask for scraps and that is all I really expect from God.
Neither of these examples are the way that God intends for any of us to live our lives. As sons and daughters of God, we know exactly who we are. Orphans and slaves have know idea who it is that they really belong to and they don't know what two-way intimacy really is.
“And he said, "There was a man who had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.' And he divided his property between them. Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything. "But when he came to himself, he said, 'How many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants."' And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' But the father said to his servants, 'Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.' And they began to celebrate.” Luke 15:11-24 ESV
When I read the passage above, I have to look at the life of the prodigal from the father's point of view to see what God sees when He looks down at me. The father in the story couldn't have seen his son if he was sitting in his office with the door closed or in the back of the house with the blinds shut tight. He had to be sitting on the front porch with a clear view of the front drive, searching the horizon for a glimpse of his lost son. Just like the father in the story, God is looking off into the distance, waiting for a glimpse of the lost son or daughter, that has wandered off the path He laid out for them. But do we come to prayer knowing and fully expecting God to already be there waiting on us? The father in the story runs to his son. I can imagine what this must have looked like. Father running towards his son and the son running to the father and when they met in the middle the collision must have been epic and beautiful. We must come to prayer expecting an embrace from God.
Further on in the story, we find that the older brother is unhappy with the way that his father has treated the wayward son. He felt that the level of forgiveness was over the top but the father goes out of his way to assure the older brother that just as he treats his wayward son in extravagance that everything the father has is his also. And it is the same with us. Everything God has is ours and we need to learn to pray that way.
The Father loves you and I the same way that He loves Jesus. That needs to the position of our minds and the fountain of our hearts when we come to prayer. I am not an orphan. You are not merely a slave of God. We are sons and daughters of the Most High. And with that title comes the privileges bestowed on us by being His sons and daughters. "But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as His sons." Galatians 4:4-5 ESV
I don't know many people who have totally tapped into that yet, the full rights as a son or daughter of Christ. But what a way to pray. I know a great many people who pray with great confidence and at times I feel like their prayers get quicker results than mine. The main difference between them and me: They come expecting God to act on their behalf where as I just wish and hope He does. Which way will you pray?
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