Identifying With The Father

Introduction to Prayer; Identifying With The Father

Let us start this journey through the Spirit by first rendering a simple working definition for prayer.

Psalm 102:1-2

1 Hear my prayer, O LORD, and let my cry come unto thee.

2 Hide not thy face from me in the day when I am in trouble;

incline thine ear unto me: in the day when I call answer me speedily.

PRAYER IS COMMUNICATION WITH GOD. If you can only absorb that simple, yet powerful word, the eyes of your understanding will indeed be enlightened. In order to

put prayer in its proper perspective, we must go back to the beginning or conception of the Church. A good place to start is the conversation the disciples had with Jesus concerning prayer.

St. Luke 11:1-4

1 And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples

2 And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.

3 Give us day by day our daily bread.

4 And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us

from evil.

I realize that most teachers automatically go to this passage as a foundational source of knowledge and direction. However, I will not bore you with the usual breakdown of this prayer into

categories of thought. But I will, however, go so far as to say that Jesus made it clear that a new dispensation was about to begin. God could actually be addressed as Father. In that encounter they asked the Lord to teach them how to pray. By no means does this imply that these men were not men of prayer. We know from other Script that these disciples were men who really kept the Jewish religious traditions. However, due to their association with the Lord, they realized that a new era was unfolding right in their midst. No doubt they witnessed

the Lord’s intimacy with the Father. I can only imagine how they felt when Jesus declared, “greater works will you do” (St. John 14:12). Somehow, they knew communication with the Father was essential if they were to be anywhere near as effective as their Master. The Lord’s response to their request was what has become known as The Lord’s Prayer. This prayer has become the

ritual the Body recites every night just before going to bed. I submit it is more than a ritual, it is literal in content and is the foundation of all that will lend itself to identifying the true Sons of God.

St. Luke 11:2

And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father...

According to the prayer, we are now to consider ourselves Sons of the Most High. We are His offspring, begotten by His Spirit.

Jesus said, That which is born of flesh is flesh, but that which is born of the Spirit is spirit (St. John 3:6). This simply means we are the offspring of Almighty God; we are partakers of His

divine nature. I once heard a preacher say, “the great truths of the Bible have become nothing more than a collection of clichés”. He most certainly was right concerning our Sonship. Most Saints would

quickly say, “I have no problem believing that I am a child of God”. On the surface this may be true. However, when all the ramifications of Sonship are put on the table, many find them difficult to accept.

God is a Spirit and those who worship Him must do so in Spirit and in Truth (St. John 4:24). Note also that worship is a form of prayer. If you look into this a little closer, one might ask, “How

is it possible to worship God in Spirit?” In order for this to be possible, a change had to take place in man. He being natural was unable to worship God in the Spirit. Follow the threads of scripture as we go back to the old covenant and work our way to the new.

Ezekiel 11:19-20

19 And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh:

20 That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.

Note the Father proclaims that He will give man one heart. The implication here is powerful. One heart is to have one mind, one

desire and one purpose. In other words, the Lord intended to bring man into oneness with each other as well as with Him. He

would accomplish this by putting a new spirit in man. The 20th verse implies that this new spirit will enable man to walk in the statutes of God. It would give him the ability to keep the law.

Another word for heart is soul or human spirit. To read the above script in this context is to say, “I will take the soul (heart or human spirit), out of the flesh.” But let us continue to investigate this marvelous miracle.

Ezekiel 36:26-27

26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.

27And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.

In the above passage we are able to identify the new spirit to be placed in man. It is the Spirit of the Lord.

The human spirit was taken out of the flesh and placed in the Holy Ghost. It is the operation of God. In Him now we live and move and have our

being (Acts 17:28). Paul furthered this explanation in his writings to the church at Rome.

Romans 7:5

For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.

When we were ‘in the flesh’ identifies not only a spiritual location but a physical one as well for the human soul. In this passage the term simply means without the presence of and void of the

influence of God. After the fall of man, the spirit of iniquity filled him, and brought him into the captivity of sin. In such a state man was unable to walk in the righteousness of God. He could

only bring forth fruit unto death. Evil concupiscence worked in his members. The spiritual parts of man were occupied by a satanic foreign spirit, and the human body became a body of sins.

Romans 8:9

But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. Now we truly see the new location of the human spirit.

It has been placed in the Spirit of God. Not only have we been begotten of God, but we are now in Him and He is in us. As Paul also said, “If we live in the Spirit let us also walk in the Spirit”. In that we live in Him we have been indeed born again. We are the offspring of God, the Father. He wants us to identify with these facts. We are the children of the Most High.

Romans 8:15-16

15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry,

Abba, Father.

16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

We did not receive the spirit of the world again. In that He says ‘again’ it is evident that we died and were resurrected in a new life.

We were apprehended by the Spirit of adoption, which is referred to as such because we once belonged to another. But now by the Holy Ghost we can cry, “Our Father”. There are other scriptures that validate this issue as well:

St. John 3:5-6

5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

We are that which is born of the Spirit. If you look into the mirror and see yourself only as flesh, then you will never identify with the Father. Nevertheless, we are the offspring of a God that controls

the entire universe. We have His mind, heart, and spirit. When the Pharisees and others of the Sanhedrin Council rebuked Jesus for implying that He was the Son of God, He responded by

quoting a prophecy that was recorded in the 82nd Psalm.

Psalm 82:1-8

1 God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he judgeth among the gods.

2 How long will ye judge unjustly, and accept the persons of the wicked? Selah.

3 Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy.

4 Deliver the poor and needy: rid them out of the hand of the wicked.

5 They know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in darkness: all the foundations of the earth are out of course.

6 I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.

7 But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes.

8 Arise, O God, judge the earth: for thou shalt inherit all nations.

The 6th verse of this psalm is a statement the Father made concerning the Church. He calls us gods. But how could we be anything less, seeing as how our real Father is a mighty God. Nevertheless, the Lord also admonished us to accept this testimony concerning the Church as fact, or we will die as mere men. In this psalm we also learn that which is expected of us by the

Father. He is quite specific in His instructions.

I. How long will ye judge unjustly, and accept the persons of the wicked?

Obviously, we are to do righteous judgment in all situations. However, this is not always the case. In many instances the Sons of God have denied justice and allowed wickedness to prevail even in the household of Faith.

II. How long will we accept the person of the wicked?

As I was writing, the Lord spoke to me and said, “How long will you mix and co-mingle righteousness with that which is sinful and perverted, and put it on display as My Church?” Needless

to say, I was embarrassed and could not answer. Many of the scriptures the Lord has ministered to me year after year began to race through my mind. How long will the Church accept the personality of satan as a part of its identity?

II Corinthians 6:15-18

15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?

16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall

be my people.

17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive

you,

18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

In the name of love, compassion, lust, greed and religious protocol, leaders have nurtured, protected and made excuses for the wickedness of those who dwell in the Household of Faith. The

wicked have been identified as Christ. The “Nobody is Perfect” and “Dual Nature” doctrines aided and abetted in the destruction of holiness in the Body. If the disciples were still in the grave, I am sure they would be turning over by now due to the condition of the Body of Christ.

III. Defend, deliver and do justice to the poor, afflicted, fatherless and needy.

How exactly does one fulfill this commandment? Well, the answer is simple. We must become champions for their causes. Paul insisted that our ministry is to those who are ignorant and out of

the way.

Hebrews 5:1-3

1For every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and

sacrifices for sins:

2 Who can have compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way; for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity.

3 And by reason hereof he ought, as for the people, so also for himself, to offer for sins.

These are good deeds that are an expression of the love of Christ that dwells in us.

I John 3:17

But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?

IV. Deliver the poor and needy. Rid them out of the hand of the wicked.

Now we come to a commandment that can only be fulfilled by those who operate in the spiritual authority given to them by our

Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul goes on to say, “they are ignorant, without understanding, and they walk in darkness” (Ephesians. 4:18). The Father has given us the responsibility of

deliverance. We are the light of this world. Therefore, we are able to show men the way to God. I do not know if you are grasping the reality of this call to action that has been placed on the life of every Son of God. God is the only hand that is strong enough to bring a man from the powers of darkness to the Kingdom of Light. The Father worked this great power through Christ to bring the disciples into His Kingdom. Now this ministry of reconciliation has been given to us. We are now made the gods to this world. We can deliver men and women from the kingdom of satan by simply imparting the life of Christ which flows through us. We are the hope and life the world needs.

V. But you shall die as men and fall as one of the princes.

If we do not embrace the fullness of this call and purpose for our lives, we too will fall as did Satan.

Hebrews 12:9

Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?

It is time to identify with God in character, purpose and spiritual authority. How is it possible to enter into effectual prayer and

fellowship with a God we either cannot or do not identify with? Communication with God (prayer) can only be rendered within the knowledge and acceptance of our divine nature. You must

embrace what it means to be a Son of God. You simply must accept who you are in God.