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February 2 - April 24, 2024
Jesus wants us to see the significance of the place wherein the Father dwells. Jesus wants us to see the Father on the throne that is above every other throne.
Jesus beckons us to Heaven that isn’t only waiting for us after we die but is accessible...
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It’s the place of dominion, authority, and preeminence over every power, principality, and dominion. And this is where prayer is birthed.
“If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth” (Col. 3:1-2).
“Do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which...
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Scripture tells us to look up to where God is in Heaven. And Jesus told us to pray, “Our Father in heaven.” So, what’s Heaven lik...
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Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying: “You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created” (Revelation 4:2-11).
We have a problem today, and that is we think we know enough about God and Heaven. We think our perceptions are accurate, but the truth is we see veiled through our religious lenses and skewed paradigms. King David said, “Enlighten my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death,” and “Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things from Your law” (Ps. 13:3; 119:18).
Because everything flows out of what we see or how we perceive God and where He lives. That being said, let’s look more closely at several of the phrases in Revelation 4:
“And behold, a door standing open in heaven” (v. 1). The foundation to prayer is the exhale that a door has been opened for us into Heaven. It is a welcome sign for us.
and I shall show you things’” (v. 1). Here is our official invitation
When you pray, you’re not simply talking to your Friend. You are approaching a throne set far above every throne, power, and dominion. Almighty God is enthroned over the nations, over the galaxies, and He is Your Father. His throne is set and is immovable.
He isn’t passive, distant, disconnected, indifferent, or aloof. He’s engaged deeply and deliberately. He is a burning fire that is coming back again!
and through Christ gives us His righteousness, His throne, and His rewards. He takes enemies and makes them His ruling class.
It’s the real group of elders around the throne, and they are wearing white robes. Nothing speaks to what we have received in Christ like the words describing these elders. They are robed in righteousness, reminding us that He who didn’t sin became sin so that we would “become the righteousness of God in” Christ (2 Cor. 5:21). I want you to know that, if you are in Christ, you are as clean as Jesus is clean, and you are as close as Jesus is close to God the Father because you’re in Him and He’s in you!
I believe the Psalm 29 thunders are coming back to the pulpits. That’s bringing Heaven to Earth when God thunders in His glory and power and majesty.
the Spirit of the Lord, the Spirit of Wisdom, the Spirit of Understanding, the Spirit of Counsel, the Spirit of Knowledge, the Spirit of Might, and the Spirit of the Fear of the Lord (see Isa. 11:2).
“I’ve never seen Him like this before,” and the crazy thing is they haven’t. God is forever blowing their minds with fresh discoveries of His beauty, and they never get used to Him!
Jesus, in His first line of the Lord’s prayer, takes us to Revelation 4 to set the eyes of our minds and hearts on where prayer begins: the throne room.
Friend, when you pray, Jesus wants you to have a picture of Heaven and the activities going on around and about the throne. He wants you to know you have an open invitation to come up and worship and pray from your...
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The one word that surrounds the throne is holy.
I find it hard to get past the fact that the creatures, who have been in the same room with the same Person, sing the same word forever. I get bored when we sing a worship song more than a couple of times. These creatures haven’t even scratched the surface of seeing and knowing all of God, so every time their eyes lock onto something about the Father, they can’t help but say, “Holy! Holy! Holy!”
Faith in prayer flows out of revelation—revelation of who God is and where He lives. And since revelation never stops, as we see in the worshipful response of the four creatures, faith continually flows out with fresh proclamations.
“Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” was what Jesus told them to decree. Note that prayer comes down from the place of revelation. Revelation accesses Heaven, and faith pulls it down.
Everything we need comes from our Father in Heaven, and so in the rest of the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus addressed our daily needs, our receiving forgiveness and giving forgiveness, and our deliverance from temptation.
Prayer is about walking through opened doors and opening closed doors.
This story or analogy Jesus shared tells you there will come “midnight knocks” to the door of your life that will awaken you from your sleep, expose your inability to solve the problem in your own wisdom and resources, and drive you to your knees. Furthermore, His parable shows us that, in the midnight moment when we need God urgently, He doesn’t move on our timetable. In fact, His slowness to act will feel as if He’s resisting us. What do you do then?
According to the parable, you keep praying, knowing who God is, what He possesses, and who you are to Him.
You persevere.
We need leaders who know how to keep knocking, keep asking, keep pursuing until God comes through with the bread!
Leaders are the ones who don’t quit and who press on and press into the release of fullness. Jesus said, “Though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give to him as many as he needs” (Luke 11:8).
