Who Do You See When You Pray?

๐——๐—ถ๐—ฑ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐—ธ๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜„ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐Ÿณ๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿฌ ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—š๐—ผ๐—ฑ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฏ๐—ถ๐—ฏ๐—น๐—ฒ?! From Father to Friend, The Word to The Way, Jesus, True God, Son of God, Strong Tower, My Shepherd, My Shelter, King of Kings and LORD of Lords, Bright and Morning Star, Jehovah Elohim โ€“ The LORD God, El Hayyay โ€“ The God of My Life. What about the Alpha and the Omega, Alpha being the first letter of the Greek Alphabet and Omega being the last. Essentially saying, God you are everything from A to Z and somewhere between Alpha and Omega there are 700 names of God, 700 different aspects of His personality, 700 different character traits that make up your God.

๐—ช๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐—ฐ๐—น๐—ผ๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ฒ๐˜†๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ธ ๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐˜ ๐—š๐—ผ๐—ฑ, ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฝ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐˜๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฑ? Is it the one hanging on all those old ancient walls, the one that shows Jesus as a shepherd with a lamb around His neck? Or perhaps it is the one of Our Savior hanging upon a cross. Does He have His hand outstretched across the stormy sea? Do you visualize Him as friend, constant companion? When you close your eyes and begin to pray what do you see? Do you see the man, or do you see Almighty God?

Revelation 1:12-17 describes Jesus, the Son of God, this way โ€“ โ€œ๐’‚๐’Ž๐’๐’๐’ˆ ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐’๐’‚๐’Ž๐’‘๐’”๐’•๐’‚๐’๐’…๐’” ๐’˜๐’‚๐’” ๐’”๐’๐’Ž๐’†๐’๐’๐’† ๐’๐’Š๐’Œ๐’† ๐’‚ ๐’”๐’๐’ ๐’๐’‡ ๐’Ž๐’‚๐’, ๐’…๐’“๐’†๐’”๐’”๐’†๐’… ๐’Š๐’ ๐’‚ ๐’“๐’๐’ƒ๐’† ๐’“๐’†๐’‚๐’„๐’‰๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ ๐’…๐’๐’˜๐’ ๐’•๐’ ๐’‰๐’Š๐’” ๐’‡๐’†๐’†๐’• ๐’‚๐’๐’… ๐’˜๐’Š๐’•๐’‰ ๐’‚ ๐’ˆ๐’๐’๐’…๐’†๐’ ๐’”๐’‚๐’”๐’‰ ๐’‚๐’“๐’๐’–๐’๐’… ๐’‰๐’Š๐’” ๐’„๐’‰๐’†๐’”๐’•. ๐‘ป๐’‰๐’† ๐’‰๐’‚๐’Š๐’“ ๐’๐’ ๐’‰๐’Š๐’” ๐’‰๐’†๐’‚๐’… ๐’˜๐’‚๐’” ๐’˜๐’‰๐’Š๐’•๐’† ๐’๐’Š๐’Œ๐’† ๐’˜๐’๐’๐’, ๐’‚๐’” ๐’˜๐’‰๐’Š๐’•๐’† ๐’‚๐’” ๐’”๐’๐’๐’˜, ๐’‚๐’๐’… ๐’‰๐’Š๐’” ๐’†๐’š๐’†๐’” ๐’˜๐’†๐’“๐’† ๐’๐’Š๐’Œ๐’† ๐’ƒ๐’๐’‚๐’›๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ ๐’‡๐’Š๐’“๐’†. ๐‘ฏ๐’Š๐’” ๐’‡๐’†๐’†๐’• ๐’˜๐’†๐’“๐’† ๐’๐’Š๐’Œ๐’† ๐’ƒ๐’“๐’๐’๐’›๐’† ๐’ˆ๐’๐’๐’˜๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ ๐’Š๐’ ๐’‚ ๐’‡๐’–๐’“๐’๐’‚๐’„๐’†, ๐’‚๐’๐’… ๐’‰๐’Š๐’” ๐’—๐’๐’Š๐’„๐’† ๐’˜๐’‚๐’” ๐’๐’Š๐’Œ๐’† ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐’”๐’๐’–๐’๐’… ๐’๐’‡ ๐’“๐’–๐’”๐’‰๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ ๐’˜๐’‚๐’•๐’†๐’“๐’”. ๐‘ฐ๐’ ๐’‰๐’Š๐’” ๐’“๐’Š๐’ˆ๐’‰๐’• ๐’‰๐’‚๐’๐’… ๐’‰๐’† ๐’‰๐’†๐’๐’… ๐’”๐’†๐’—๐’†๐’ ๐’”๐’•๐’‚๐’“๐’”, ๐’‚๐’๐’… ๐’„๐’๐’Ž๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ ๐’๐’–๐’• ๐’๐’‡ ๐’‰๐’Š๐’” ๐’Ž๐’๐’–๐’•๐’‰ ๐’˜๐’‚๐’” ๐’‚ ๐’”๐’‰๐’‚๐’“๐’‘, ๐’…๐’๐’–๐’ƒ๐’๐’†-๐’†๐’…๐’ˆ๐’†๐’… ๐’”๐’˜๐’๐’“๐’…. ๐‘ฏ๐’Š๐’” ๐’‡๐’‚๐’„๐’† ๐’˜๐’‚๐’” ๐’๐’Š๐’Œ๐’† ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐’”๐’–๐’ ๐’”๐’‰๐’Š๐’๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ ๐’Š๐’ ๐’‚๐’๐’ ๐’Š๐’•๐’” ๐’ƒ๐’“๐’Š๐’๐’๐’Š๐’‚๐’๐’„๐’†. ๐‘พ๐’‰๐’†๐’ ๐‘ฐ ๐’”๐’‚๐’˜ ๐’‰๐’Š๐’Ž, ๐‘ฐ ๐’‡๐’†๐’๐’ ๐’‚๐’• ๐’‰๐’Š๐’” ๐’‡๐’†๐’†๐’• ๐’‚๐’” ๐’•๐’‰๐’๐’–๐’ˆ๐’‰ ๐’…๐’†๐’‚๐’….โ€ What a description of power, of might, of majesty. Jesus portrayed with eyes of fire, those same eyes that had filled with tears at Lazarusโ€™ tomb now flaming with the fire of a righteous Judge before whom nothing is hidden. A voice resounding and roaring with power and authority. His face shining like the sun, glory blinding, light dazzling, that same glory that struck Paul blind on his way to Damascus.

I think that what you see when you pray makes a difference, the revelation of Jesus caused John to fall down as though dead. He knew this was Almighty God, the God of All Power, the God who crushes the enemy, the God who can blind you with one brief glance at His glory. ๐——๐—ผ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐—ธ๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜„ ๐—๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜‚๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐˜„๐—ฎ๐˜†, ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—š๐—ผ๐—ฑ ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ผ ๐—น๐—ถ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜†? All powerful, for whom nothing is impossible. Today when you close your eyes, I pray that you would see Jesus in all of His brilliance, in all of His power and that as you do faith would arise and revelation would be yours just as it was Johnโ€™s. Almighty God, the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, your everything from A to Z. ๐Ÿ’•๐Ÿฆ‹

Who is God to You?

Questions.  We all have so many of them.  Would you believe that in 2022, 12 million people asked Google the question Who Am I?  Coming in at 1st place was What to Watch with a staggering 109 million searches! As we journey through life with our Abba Father at our side, the question we need to ask Him is ๐–๐ก๐จ ๐€๐ซ๐ž ๐˜๐จ๐ฎ? This dear friend, is the real question, the important one. ๐–๐ก๐จ ๐€๐ซ๐ž ๐˜๐จ๐ฎ? Ultimately it does not matter who we are, it matters who God is! Who do you believe God is? What do you believe God can do?

Matthew 16:13-20 tells us a very interesting story, one that was pivotal for Peter. Jesus asked, โ€œ๐‘พ๐’‰๐’ ๐’…๐’ ๐’š๐’๐’– ๐’”๐’‚๐’š ๐’•๐’‰๐’‚๐’• ๐‘ฐ ๐’‚๐’Ž?โ€ and Peter answered Him, โ€œ๐’€๐’๐’– ๐’‚๐’“๐’† ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐‘ช๐’‰๐’“๐’Š๐’”๐’•, ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐‘บ๐’๐’ ๐’๐’‡ ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐’๐’Š๐’—๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ ๐‘ฎ๐’๐’….โ€  Peter knew that Jesus was the Messiah, the one they had all been longing for. I find Jesusโ€™ reply astonishing, โ€œ๐‘ฉ๐’๐’†๐’”๐’”๐’†๐’… ๐’‚๐’“๐’† ๐’š๐’๐’–, ๐‘บ๐’Š๐’Ž๐’๐’ ๐‘ฉ๐’‚๐’“๐‘ฑ๐’๐’๐’‚๐’‰, ๐’‡๐’๐’“ ๐’‡๐’๐’†๐’”๐’‰ ๐’‚๐’๐’… ๐’ƒ๐’๐’๐’๐’… ๐’‰๐’‚๐’” ๐’๐’๐’• ๐’“๐’†๐’—๐’†๐’‚๐’๐’†๐’… ๐’•๐’‰๐’Š๐’” ๐’•๐’ ๐’š๐’๐’–, ๐’ƒ๐’–๐’• ๐‘ด๐’š ๐‘ญ๐’‚๐’•๐’‰๐’†๐’“ ๐’˜๐’‰๐’ ๐’Š๐’” ๐’Š๐’ ๐’‰๐’†๐’‚๐’—๐’†๐’. ๐‘จ๐’๐’… ๐‘ฐ ๐’‚๐’๐’”๐’ ๐’”๐’‚๐’š ๐’•๐’ ๐’š๐’๐’– ๐’•๐’‰๐’‚๐’• ๐’š๐’๐’– ๐’‚๐’“๐’† ๐‘ท๐’†๐’•๐’†๐’“, ๐’‚๐’๐’… ๐’๐’ ๐’•๐’‰๐’Š๐’” ๐’“๐’๐’„๐’Œ ๐‘ฐ ๐’˜๐’Š๐’๐’ ๐’ƒ๐’–๐’Š๐’๐’… ๐‘ด๐’š ๐’„๐’‰๐’–๐’“๐’„๐’‰, ๐’‚๐’๐’… ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐’ˆ๐’‚๐’•๐’†๐’” ๐’๐’‡ ๐‘ฏ๐’‚๐’…๐’†๐’” ๐’”๐’‰๐’‚๐’๐’ ๐’๐’๐’• ๐’‘๐’“๐’†๐’—๐’‚๐’Š๐’ ๐’‚๐’ˆ๐’‚๐’Š๐’๐’”๐’• ๐’Š๐’•. ๐‘จ๐’๐’… ๐‘ฐ ๐’˜๐’Š๐’๐’ ๐’ˆ๐’Š๐’—๐’† ๐’š๐’๐’– ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐’Œ๐’†๐’š๐’” ๐’๐’‡ ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐’Œ๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ๐’…๐’๐’Ž ๐’๐’‡ ๐’‰๐’†๐’‚๐’—๐’†๐’, ๐’‚๐’๐’… ๐’˜๐’‰๐’‚๐’•๐’†๐’—๐’†๐’“ ๐’š๐’๐’– ๐’ƒ๐’Š๐’๐’… ๐’๐’ ๐’†๐’‚๐’“๐’•๐’‰ ๐’˜๐’Š๐’๐’ ๐’ƒ๐’† ๐’ƒ๐’๐’–๐’๐’… ๐’Š๐’ ๐’‰๐’†๐’‚๐’—๐’†๐’, ๐’‚๐’๐’… ๐’˜๐’‰๐’‚๐’•๐’†๐’—๐’†๐’“ ๐’š๐’๐’– ๐’๐’๐’๐’”๐’† ๐’๐’ ๐’†๐’‚๐’“๐’•๐’‰ ๐’˜๐’Š๐’๐’ ๐’ƒ๐’† ๐’๐’๐’๐’”๐’†๐’… ๐’Š๐’ ๐’‰๐’†๐’‚๐’—๐’†๐’.โ€

Peter knew who Jesus was. It was revealed to him by the Father. But for one moment look at the blessing that came with that revelation. He was given the keys to the kingdom of heaven, the ability to bind and loose, and the very church itself was built upon Peter! An imperfect man who denied Jesus three times, even after this revelation. Incredible authority was given to him.

This question too, is pivotal for us and it is in the secret place, that place of intimacy that the answer will be revealed. It is when we come away with the LORD that we discover who He is! ๐—ช๐—ต๐—ผ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—š๐—ผ๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚? Today is a beautiful day to establish that question in your heart.

๐—›๐—ฒ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ž๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—ž๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—Ÿ๐—ข๐—ฅ๐—— ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—น๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฑ๐˜€.  ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—”๐—น๐—ฝ๐—ต๐—ฎ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ข๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ด๐—ฎ, ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ด๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฑ.  ๐—”๐—น๐—น ๐—ฃ๐—ผ๐˜„๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ณ๐˜‚๐—น.  ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—›๐—ผ๐—น๐˜† ๐—ข๐—ป๐—ฒ.  ๐— ๐—ฎ๐—ธ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—›๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—˜๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐˜๐—ต.  ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—š๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—œ ๐—”๐—บ.