To be Known
The following is a teaching article by Jaime Redcay:
He heaped dry ashes over his head and body as he cried out to God the laments he had memorized from the Holy Scriptures. His actions reflected the desperation of his prayers. Not too far away a group of men gathered. They were grieving, confused, and afraid but together they were also praying. They waited in obedience like they had been told to do.
These images resonated with me in a new way as I watched a recent television series that highlights the life of the disciples. So vividly portrayed was the equal passion of both the high priest as he sat completely covered in a heap of ashes, and the disciples as they prayed and believed. Yet what happened next gripped me. The fire of the Holy Spirit came for the very first time. The disciples began to breathe prayers filled with the power of God; the very breath of the Holy Spirit came and saturated the words of these men.
The priest and the disciples were praying to the same God. Yet they did not all experience His power.
The priest and the disciples had ALL encountered the Son of God, Jesus.
The priest had Him killed; the disciples followed Him and believed.
Do you Know Him?
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
-Matthew 7:21-23
The reality that one could pray to Him often, drive out demons and perform miracles in the name of Jesus yet still the Lord say, “I never knew you…” should cause each of us to tremble.
Anyone can say a prayer, but do you spend time with the One whom you talk at? Do you know Him? I believe this scripture reveals the difference between the Priest Caiaphas and the disciples on the day of Pentecost and the difference between those who will enter the kingdom of heaven and those who will not. Those who will experience power in their prayers and those who will not.
Caiaphas knew the name of Jesus yet killed Him and kept on praying to God…the Father of the One whom he murdered. If we lack an encounter with Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit we can pray to God completely unaware of the sin in our lives that is dragging us to the pit of hell.
The disciples were not innocent, they too were sinners but they did not just talk to Him they spent time with Jesus. They sincerely loved Him and really knew Him. It was the men He knew that He chose to breathe his power into.
What motivates me to pray? Do I sincerely know the One I am praying to? Are my prayers coming from desperation to preserve my own will or out of a tender heart longing to experience the freedom of God’s will, regardless the cost.
Forget the fancy prayers and long poetic sounds to impress and or bore those listening. I desire for my prayers to be filled with the power of God’s Spirit. May the desperate prayers that flow from my mouth be motivated out of love for Him and not of me. I long for my relationship and conversations with God to be so intimate that when I see Him face to face, the familiar sound of His voice is the one of my closest friend calling my name.
When we take our last breath on this side of heaven, the ONLY thing that will matter is if we spent our lives truly knowing Him.
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