Prayer in the Father’s Honor

[John_Smith]

. . . that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God —Luke 1:35

If the Son of God has been born into my human flesh, then am I allowing His holy innocence, simplicity, and oneness with the Father the opportunity to exhibit itself in me? What was true of the Virgin Mary in the history of the Son of God’s birth on earth is true of every saint. God’s Son is born into me through the direct act of God; then I as His child must exercise the right of a child— the right of always being face to face with my Father through prayer. Do I find myself continually saying in amazement to the commonsense part of my life, “Why did you want me to turn here or to go over there? ’Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?’ ” (Luke 2:49*). Whatever our circumstances may be, that holy, innocent, and eternal Child must be in contact with His Father.

Am I simple enough to identify myself with my Lord in this way? Is He having His wonderful way with me? Is God’s will being fulfilled in that His Son has been formed in me (see Galatians 4:19*), or have I carefully pushed Him to one side? Oh, the noisy outcry of today! Why does everyone seem to be crying out so loudly? People today are crying out for the Son of God to be put to death. There is no room here for God’s Son right now— no room for quiet, holy fellowship and oneness with the Father.

Is the Son of God praying in me, bringing honor to the Father, or am I dictating my demands to Him? Is He ministering in me as He did in the time of His manhood here on earth? Is God’s Son in me going through His passion, suffering so that His own purposes might be fulfilled? The more a person knows of the inner life of God’s most mature saints, the more he sees what God’s purpose really is: to “. . . fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ . . .” (Colossians 1:24*). And when we think of what it takes to “fill up,” there is always something yet to be done.

from My Utmost for His Highest

*Luke 1:35: And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God."

*Luke 2:46-49: Now so it was that after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers. So when they saw Him, they were amazed; and His mother said to Him, “Son, why have You done this to us? Look, Your father and I have sought You anxiously.” And He said to them, “Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?”

*Galatians 4:19: My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you.

*Colossians 1:24: I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church.

As Jesus was born from Mary, so is the Holy Spirit to be born in us. I think Chamber’s left out one of the best parts of Luke 2:35: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you…”
We always have the Holy Spirit with us, but are we listening to Him, or our we instead letting the will of God be drowned out by the world? Who’s being overshadowed, us, or the Highest who we claim to serve?

[drill]

I'll leave the fact that you used the verse way out of context and only used half the verse slide.

I think that, like a lot of people, I have my high moments with God when I'm in the word and such, and then I also have low moments when I'm drowned out by the world. Right now, I would say that I'm somewhere smack in the middle, where I follow God sometimes, but still have a lot of improvement to do. Also, considering things like work and school, it is not hard for me to be drowned out by the world at all, and takes a constant effort to keep from falling into a slump with my faith.

I like the idea that you presented, but I actually disagree with Chambers this time. I really think that by treating God as a father instead of the King of Kings, most people are underestimating his authority, and feel like they can argue against God. Even Job could not argue against God, and he was considered the most righteous person on the Earth at that time. However, it's possible to not underestimate his authority and treat him like a father, its just that from what I've seen, underestimating God's authority seems to be a direct result from treating him as a father. However, maybe you have seen or experienced differently yourself?

[John_Smith]

I'll leave the fact that you used the verse way out of context and only used half the verse slide.

Well sure, if you want to be technical...

But no, you're right, I should have pointed that out. I felt like Chambers was pushing the idea himself, which is I why I wrote what I wrote.

I think that, like a lot of people, I have my high moments with God when I'm in the word and such, and then I also have low moments when I'm drowned out by the world. Right now, I would say that I'm somewhere smack in the middle, where I follow God sometimes, but still have a lot of improvement to do. Also, considering things like work and school, it is not hard for me to be drowned out by the world at all, and takes a constant effort to keep from falling into a slump with my faith.

I like the idea that you presented, but I actually disagree with Chambers this time. I really think that by treating God as a father instead of the King of Kings, most people are underestimating his authority, and feel like they can argue against God. Even Job could not argue against God, and he was considered the most righteous person on the Earth at that time. However, it's possible to not underestimate his authority and treat him like a father, its just that from what I've seen, underestimating God's authority seems to be a direct result from treating him as a father. However, maybe you have seen or experienced differently yourself?

I find it interesting that you draw a dichotomy between God as a father and God as a king, because I typically don't. While 'underestimating His authority,' is certainly a bad thing, I don't understand how viewing God as a Father directly leads to that, since we're supposed to treat our fathers' with respect. And, since He's the Father, that should instill a greater amount of respect.

I (for better or worse) see God as... God. He's both the Father and the King of Kings. Perhaps it is proper to say, 'He is the Father, when I have a problem to bring to Him; He is the King, when He commands me to do His will.' If so, then solely viewing Him as either would lead to an imperfect view of Him. That being said, it should be noted that the 'Father' aspect of God is both the comforter, and the discipliner.

[ClaecElric4God]

I'm with John on this one. I've never separated God as my Father from God as my King. Or as my Master. Or my Saviour. He is quite a lot of things to us, all of them deserving of our respect and obedience. But I also see where drill's coming from. I think the problem with the view of "father" is that, nowadays, children have no respect for their parents, and feel no obligation to obey them. I mean, kids can call the cops on their parents for trying to enforce their authority. The world's view of a father today is the person who raises, feeds, and houses you, does nice things for you and makes sure you make it in life. Everything in a parent/child relationship is the parents giving and the child getting. It's this flawed picture that is hurting families and pushing young adults out who don't know what they're doing and have no sense of responsibility, and it's this same picture that leads Christians to believe that they can just live off of God's grace and mercy and He'll love and take care of them no matter what and that's okay. Also, there's the mindset of "growing out" of God's authority. Because eventually we come to a point where we're no longer under the authority of our earthly fathers, where we still need to honor them, but we make our own choices and no longer live under them. But a Christian is to live as a child of their Father, and we never come to a point where we no longer have obligation to obey God. Our growth is never complete on this earth, and we're always to be in submission to our heavenly Father.

So a true picture of fatherhood is perfectly honoring to God, and that's what He wants. No, we can't argue with God. But that's because He's our Father, because a child has no right to argue with their father. As a perfect Father, the authority of God is absolute, so to underestimate His authority as a Father is no more plausible than to underestimate his authority as King.