Our Father...

“How many pray the Lord’s prayer a thousand times in a course of a year and yet if they were to keep doing it for a thousand more years they would not have really prayed or tasted it at all. In a word, the Lord’s prayer is the greatest martyr on earth. Everybody tortures and abuses it; so few get comfort and joy from proper use.” – Martin Luther

Unbelief

"And Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid.." Matthew 14:29-30

"The wind was actually boisterous, the waves were actually high, but Peter did not see them at first. He did not reckon wit them, he simply recognized his Lord and stepped out in recognition of Him, and walked on the water. Then he began to reckon with the actual things, and down he went instantly." - UMTH devotional

"Fear attacks the foundation of our relationship with God - our faith. Fear is faith in the devil, it is also called unbelief. Fear and faith cannot coexist - they work against each other." - Bill Johnson, Heaven invades earth

When we are not consumed with the fullness of His glory, our immediate reality takes priority over the spiritual, invisible reality. Naturally, we become more aware of the devil's dominion over earth: we become fearful (worrisome), filled with anxiety, and without even realizing, we enter into a state of unbelief. We no longer act as ambassadors of His Kingdom and release His presence into the environment, but turn faithless and allow the environment to dictate our decisions. We begin to react to the system instead of allowing His reality to dominate the system.

As we can see from the above scripture, our weak, rationale minds often overpower our faith and lead us in to darkness. We acknowledge darkness over His Kingdom power, and instantly become overwhelmed by our circumstances. We forget the Lord and we begin to doubt. And at this point, when our faith is tested, there is a mental process that happens extremely quickly in our minds. We give permission for our immediate reality to take over. Similar to how Adam and Eve gave up their authority to have dominion over earth to Satan, our immediate reality cannot have dominion over God's true reality (in our minds) unless we give it permission. Our faith fights against unbelief, and in an instant, we determine the winner. It may seem as if "nothing much" happened, but in the spiritual world, a violent war is waged. Two realities fight and only one has dominion over our minds.

We truly need to perform reckless abandonment for God to realize His reality, and to pull it down in to our reality. We need to have our faith anchored in the unseen realm so that our God may win all the wars fought in our minds/hearts - no matter the circumstance.

On Earth, as it is in Heaven

"That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us." John 17:21

Jesus prayed nothing less for us than absolute oneness with Himself, as He was one with the Father. And from reading what Jesus spoke, it's clear that God's ultimate desire is for His son to be manifested in our mortal bodies.

Lord, manifest Your Spirit in me. Come, be in control so that I may reflect your love, grace, and humility. There's nothing good that dwells within me if it is not your Spirit that drives me. I desperately need you to raise me up, so that I can live - and ultimately live to glorify you. I cast out, in Your name, the imageries of worldly life when I think about the word "living". I wish to live to gather and join You in Your harvest. I wish to live to worship You without departmentalization. I wish to live out my original purpose and subdue the earth with Your glory. GIve me the supernatural strength to yield each step so I allow your will to be done through me. Manifest Your Spirit within me, as you desire. I wish to be one with You.

Lord, without Your manifestation in me, I am powerless and cannot represent You the correct way - I cannot display the raw power of Your glory. It is disgusting that I call myself a christian, and I falsely represent you constantly. I need to show your power so that I can correctly represent your reality! At times, I am tricked to think I am being "realistic" and "humble" when I do not believe I can perform the miracles You performed in scripture - to heal the sick and cast out demons - but I realize that this is false humility. I am without true faith. Get rid of my unbelief so that I can walk on water. Get rid of the "fairy tale" ideas of your word, so that I can get closer to your superior, spiritual reality.

"Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on water and came towards Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, 'Lord, save me!' Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. 'You of little faith,' he said, 'why did you doubt?'" Matthew 14:29-31

God! Cast out my sin of unbelief! Get rid of all my doubts! Build up a supernatural faith in me, so that I may bring down Your reality, Your heart, and Your will on earth. Constantly remind me of my identity - that I am an image of You. And as this thought crosses my mind, hit me with Your revelation and the power of this meaning.

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven...

In Christ, Amen.