Changing The Way You Pray!

Genesis 1:1 "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

John 1:1 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made."

 I want to clarify something that confuses a lot of Christians. God is Not schizophrenic. There are not three Gods sitting around discussing things. There is not God, AND Jesus, AND the Holy Spirit. It is all about relationship. Simply put, I am a son. I am a step-dad. I am a husband. I am still only one person, but it is all about relationship. Jesus is the expression of God in human form. Look at what it says here in John 14:8-9 Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou [then], Shew us the Father?

In several previous posts I have been writing about the Names of God, and discussed that a Name represents the nature and character. It is not just reciting the name Jesus as an incantation on the end of a prayer some how twists God's arm into giving to you your list of demands.

As I have said before, one of the ways in which God will reveal Himself to His creation is through His Names. "They who know God’s name will put their trust in Him." (Psalm 9:10). A name is that by which a person or thing is made known. In Scripture, a name reveals more than just a title; it reveals the very nature and character of the one that is named.

As for God, he makes Himself known by many names. Not that His nature changes, for He changes not; but one name could not possibly contain, and reveal all of Who God is. He reveals more of His nature; more of Who He is; by each name He is made known. The more fully we come to know all of Who God is through His names; the more fully we will know Him.

What I believe where most people have a problem, is in reading the Old Testament, and seeing how God reveals Himself in part is what they think He is in totality! Nothing could be further from the truth! In the New Testament we can fully know God in the person of Jesus! All of the various names (natures) by which God introduced Himself in the Old Testament, are fully realized and revealed in totality in Jesus! I like how the Weymouth New Testament words Col.2:9 "For it is in Christ that the fulness of God's nature dwells embodied, and in Him you are made complete,"

Now, when the Scripture refers to Jesus as the Word of God, it might be better understood what is meant if we realize that WORDS are an expression of the one speaking. If I was to remain silent, and did not communicate in any way, there would be no way that anyone could know anything about me. They could not know my likes or dislikes, my thoughts, my emotions, my nature, characteristics, anything! It is through my words that I speak, or even what is written on these cyber pages, that reveal what is inside of me! The more  I speak, and write, then the more I will reveal of myself. If someone was only to hear parts of what I say, then I could be easily misunderstood as to what I meant.

Jesus is the WORD OF GOD! He is the expression of ALL of who God is REVEALED in human visible form! What I also find interesting is that in order to speak, you have to use your breath for the words to come out of your mouth and be heard. Now, get this...... the same Hebrew word for Spirit (Ruach), is the same word used for "Breath"! It is also the same word used for "Cool", as in God walked with Adam in the Cool of the day. It is not talking about temperature, but rather in the Spirit of the day! For further information you can click here.

Okay, so now you see this, you can more clearly understand what is meant when Jesus said in John 15:7: "If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you."

And also in verse 16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.

Over the last several posts I have tried to share some things that I learned some 16 years ago, which have absolutely changed my understanding about God, and even Prayer itself. Since then I have not ever been able to pray the same way again! Though there have been times I have even tried, but I have realized quickly that I have given up childish beliefs. Not a belief that God answers prayers, but the childish belief that He is some celestial Santa Claus, giving out answers to prayers to good little boys and girls.  Perhaps after reading these posts, the Spirit of God within you will also draw you to a more mature understanding and you too will begin Changing The Way You Pray!