Mike's Meds - Pictures of Jesus
This is mark 9 on the question of prayer.
"After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, "Why couldn't we drive it out?"
He replied, "This kind can come out only by prayer." (NIV)
Some other translations have 'prayer and fasting'.
We must not for one moment suggest that all sick folk are demonised, heaven forbid! But there is a general point here worth making about effective kingdom healing. After all, the disciples were concerned about the effectiveness of their ministry.
The last word here, 'prayer', is most interesting. There are a number of words for 'Prayer' in the Greek and this is a very particular one. The Greek word used here comes from a putting together of two other Greek words: The second one is the word for prayer which is normally understood by Christians, that is something like, "Oh God, please.....Amen" and its derivatives. There's nothing wrong with that.
But the first part of the Greek word here is a very strong word for closeness. It means to haul in tight to you. The two words are then put together and are used here in a way we have not been properly explaining out of our own ignorance. They are a very strong hauling close of the kingdom, or of the king, in order to achieve a kingdom work.
How do I do that? The answer is not in the words used, it lies in worship and thanksgiving and meditation. What picture should we meditate on?
I enjoy the scene at the beginning of Revelation where the Jesus of today appears to John. The emphasis of the picture being painted is that this is of the Jesus of today. This is how he is, now. Worth reading again! It shows him with fire, like the sun. It shows him standing patiently among the lamp stands, holding the spirits of the church in his hand. The lamp stands are the churches around us today.
Two things always strike me: these are lamp stands, not ready-glowing lamps. They are out. They do not serve him as they are not alight. And he holds in his hand the spirits of the churches so he could light them if he wanted to. But he himself is the light. The scene has a great air of patience, as he waits for us.
Jesus is waiting for the church.
I like to meditate on the fact that this is still the patient Jesus today. He did not appear to John because John knew some religious trick or other to persuade him onto the island. He was there all the time.
What has happened is that, through thanksgiving and worship and meditation, John has opened himself up to seeing something which was right up close behind him all along.
And it is thus with the kingdom of God. It is here right alongside us and right alongside the person who longs for restoration.
We must strongly indulge in 'prayer' as the Greek word has it in Mark 9 above. When we give thanks and worship and meditate on the king and his kingdom and the cross and all the rest that we do, we should meditate on his nearness, knowing all that we do about his true character, and hold a picture of him in our minds of how he is today.
We often use, in teaching kingdom dynamics, the analogy of the car aerial and its effect. When a supplicant's faith aerial rises it has exactly the same effect as opening a door in that person to allow the kingdom into whatever part of life is in need of it. I am suggesting that meditation and worship and thanksgiving should raise our aerials, and put into the Christian's mind a picture of Christ today, the only reliable picture I know being the one in Revelation. And here it is:
"I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. On the Lord's Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, which said: "Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea."
I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and among the lampstands was someone "like a son of man," dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.
When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: "Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.
"Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later. The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches."
Revelation 1:9 – 20 (NIV)
Our King waits patiently for us among the churches. Is he truly filled with power and authority? Is he waiting for me?
Every blessing
Mike
Director: Order of Jacob's Well
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