Dear Members and Friends,
Often, in our monthly letter, we make mention about deteriorating world conditions which are inevitably leading to the much-anticipated return of Jesus Christ. As we see prophecy being fulfilled before our eyes, it is inevitable that we yearn for the time just ahead of us to replace the 6,000 years failure of man’s rule on this earth. Everywhere we look are problems of man’s own making and we are admonished to pray for the return of Jesus Christ and His future millennial rule on this earth.
In the model prayer as outlined by Jesus in both Matthew 6:10 and Luke 11:2, we read that we are to pray for God’s Kingdom to come. In addition, we are also told: “Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man” (Luke 21:36). These prayers are part and parcel of our Way of Life as we approach the end of this age.
How do we accomplish this? Simply by praying to God and exhorting Him to bring about, in His perfect timing, those actions that we look forward to with great anticipation! Which brings me to the question as to what may be two of the most important words that we can ever utter: “Our Father.”
It can be so easy to pray “Our Father” at the beginning of the model prayer without fully understanding just how incredible those two words are. We know that in traditional, mainstream Christianity, the whole of this model prayer can be recited within about 20 seconds with it just being part of a weekly or more regular ritual which gives little or no time to really think about what is being said. Just mumbling that wonderful prayer outline as a matter of course hides the depth of meaning that we should be striving for.
“Our Father” is a phrase that we should think and pray about earnestly. When we consider what this phrase truly means, it can “blow our minds.” To think that the One Who created all things through Jesus Christ (compare Colossians 1:16; Hebrews 1:2; John 1:3; 1 Corinthians 8:6) is the One we refer to as “Our Father.”
When we consider the marvellous creative processes that “Our Father” has instituted, and that that same marvellous Being is central to everything we do, how can we not be amazed that we individually are just one in 8 billion people on planet earth at this time, but that we belong to the ones who can have instant access to “Our Father” at any time? When we pray, whatever time of the day or night it is, “Our Father” is there listening to what we have to say. He is never away on holiday, asleep or too busy to listen to us. I suspect that most of us, at one time or another, have not fully grasped the enormity of this access and the results that it can bring to us, and others.
To be able to say that “Our Father” is supportive of us, hears our prayers and supplications and wants us to live His Way of Life during our physio-chemical existence in order to be part of His Spiritual Family for eternity, is Truth that most people have no concept of today, nor do they have any interest in such spiritual matters.
It is easy to take so much for granted: The life we’ve been given, the air we breathe, the food for our daily sustenance, our clothing, shelter and many other things that we can be grateful for, with that extra supreme blessing of being called into God’s true Church during this age of man.
Our Father has instituted the most incredible plan for mankind that it can take our breath away—to have instant access at any time to the One Who has planned all of this; the One to whom we owe obedience and worship.
As one of eight billion human beings on earth, we are insignificant and yet Our Father has called each one of us into His Church to understand this plan NOW! We are to play our part later in the Kingdom of God to help others achieve the same goal.
Those two words, “Our Father,” showing that He is our God and we are His children, is something that, even now, we can only imagine, and the future that those words hold for us is beyond our human comprehension.
Our elder brother, Jesus Christ, was in complete submission to His Father, and through His supreme Sacrifice at Calvary, He has made it possible for everyone, in their due time, to accept Him as their Saviour. He has gone on before us as we read in Hebrews 10:12: “But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God…”
Let us hold fast so that we never give up on our calling and stay close to the Head of the God Family and the One Who called us in the first place (compare John 14:6). What He has in store for us is beyond our wildest imagination.
With Christian love,
Brian Gale (United Kingdom)
