The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe…
"Abba Father"
"Perhaps this constitutes all we need to know of the mystery we ponder. Perhaps we simply need to be aware that our Lord's praying heart dwells within our own, and that the remembrance thereof will lead us if only we will believe such a wonder to be true."
We return to a familiar and blessed theme we have often considered in the twenty five years of these messages.
"The prayer of the upright is His delight" (Proverbs 15:8).
"The upright," of course, are those whom God has raised up from the fallenness of sin through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. He delights in our prayers offered from humble, trusting hearts, based on a wonder regarding prayer far beyond our capacity to fully comprehend.
"Because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying Abba Father" (Galatians 4:6).
The praying Christ dwells within born again believers in the Lord Jesus. His "Abba Father" cries within our hearts and delights the heart of the Father. Scripture never offers a detailed explanation of what this means, and nearly a half century of pondering such a marvel has not for me yielded the sense that I understand. I can say, however, that whenever I ponder the Apostle Paul's affirmation of Christ's "Abba Father" moving within our hearts, I have the sense that none of us have never prayed a genuine prayer that does not involve the Lord Jesus as the presence and power thereof. From the simplest, "We thank You for this meal, Father," to prayers prayed in the most extreme circumstance and contingency, the Christ who lived a sublime earthly lifetime of communion with His Father continues somehow to do so in our lifetimes, and in our hearts.
It must be this way, of course. "Without Me ye can do nothing" surely applies to the enigma of finite beings seeking to fellowship with a God whose thoughts and ways transcend our own by an incalculable measure (John 15:5; Isaiah 55:9). Thankfully, the Apostle Paul discovered for himself and for us the "hope of glory" that "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me" (Colossians 1:27; Philippians 4:13). This includes the life of prayer to which God calls us. How could it not? Most of us do not usually think in such terms, however, or if like myself, a half century seems to have only resulted in mere glimmers of light, we usually pray as if alone in our communion with God.
We never are. Perhaps this constitutes all we need to know of the mystery we ponder. Perhaps we simply need to be aware that our Lord's praying heart dwells within our own, and that the remembrance thereof will lead us if only we will believe such a wonder to be true. I suspect this is the case because while we need to know all we can of the Bible's teaching concerning prayer, at the end of the day (and at it's beginning), fellowship with God must bear an elegant simplicity amid the eternal profundities of so great a gift. The Lord Jesus taught this when indicting Pharisees for the pretentious exercise of "long prayers" (Mark 12:40). Thus, we close as we began, in the wondrous light of God's delight in our prayers and of Christ's "Abba Father" crying within our hearts, for which explanation may not be as necessary as the simple realization of its truth…
"Because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying Abba Father."
"Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit Himself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered."
(Romans 8:26)
Weekly Memory Verse
As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.
(John 1:12)
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