“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.” Matthew 6:13
What is power, spiritual power? From Scripture we discover that power is a Person. Christ is power, our power. His power is communicated to us by the Holy Spirit. He strengthens us, quickens, revives, restores, empowers us to believe and to obey. From the moment that the believer was placed in Christ by the Father, by virtue of this spiritual union with Christ by the Spirit, the very power of Christ became his own. All that the believer needs with regard to the power of God is revealed to him IN CHRIST. So that, complete in Christ, all is provided for every need, whether it be for great things like the moving of mountains, or believing God for the stilling of the heart, as Christ stilled the ocean. It is one and the same power, only revealed in a different measure. Not only is there the sufficient power of Christ to live, but also to minister. His calling is His declaration of His provision, His enablement to fulfill that calling. How then is the believer to know the truth of this power, but “receive” it, live by it, counting upon it day by day, in order to live by faith in the faithfulness of God? The answer resides in prayer, specifically an order and substance of prayer, that the Lord Jesus has given to every believer to follow, and to master.
When Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the prison in Jerusalem, while the city was being besieged by the Babylonians, the Lord spoke to him and said, “Call unto Me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not.” (33:3) There would be in the vision that God gave him, and by vision, we speak of the revelation of the will of God to him concerning the blessing that was in store beyond the period of the deportation of Israel, a word that he and Israel could count upon, knowing that it would be fulfilled. It would be by the Lord’s command to Jeremiah to pray, that the blessing would be declared, and hope would be given.
How then should we pray? The answer is first revealed in the “when” of prayer. From Christ’s mention of “daily bread” in the prayer, we see that the manner of this prayer should be prayed daily. As the cross is a daily cross, and the present day is one that the Lord has made, a day of salvation, a day to hear God’s voice, and respond in obedient faith, so is this prayer to be embraced in all of its revealed and unrevealed meaning. God has given to all men, every believer, the means by which he can breach, by faith and obedience, the resistance of the world, flesh, and the devil, so that Christ’s power can be known in the simplest way, the provision of daily bread, and in the great way, the coming of the kingdom of God and His will being done on earth as it is in heaven.
The prayer begins with worship, or “worth-ship” of God, the hallowing, or honoring of God’s name, which represents the entirety of His holy character, the uniqueness of that holiness, as seen in His immeasureable goodness and grace. Secondly, there is the priority in intercession that His kingdom, in power and practice, be known in every heart, so that His will be done, the very means by which He will bless the believing soul.
Christ then deals wth the essential matters of daily bread, both physical and spiritual. Forgiveness of sins, and pardon for all debt, are essential elements that must be deal with. Being led, daily delivered from the evil one, is essential also. How is this to be known on a daily, moment by moment basis? It is revealed in Christ’s authoritative words, “For Thine is the power and the glory, for ever.”
Dear Father, Be our power today. In Jesus’ name, Amen.