Further Insight Into Communication with the Father
Greetings and good morning, brothers and sisters. This is Dr. James Perry continuing with our series where we seek to explore the deeper meanings of our relationship with Jesus Christ. Over the years, the heavenly Father has revealed many revelations of spiritual truth to me, and I want to share them with you. This morning we will ponder our lives as we seek to gain further insight into communication with Father.
And now, sit back and listen to today's message.
Further Insight Into Communication with the Father
"Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought; but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered." Romans, Chapter 8, Verse 26
Brothers and sisters, in today’’s broadcast, we want to share some further insight into communication with the Father. These insights have recently been discovered under the searchlight of adversity. Being material creatures, we often pray to God with requests for our material needs and desires. But very often we find that these prayers are not answered in any kind of form that we can recognize. We are like little small children asking for things that are not wise for us to have. And when the Father does modify our request and gives us that which is wise and beneficial to our spiritual welfare, we fail to recognize that answer as well. It was not what we were looking for. James says, "Ye ask, and receive not because ye ask amiss." So how can we better align our requests with what the Father is willing to give us?
Surely, the heavenly Father is not so aloof and distant that his children cannot communicate with him? Why is it then so difficult to achieve consciousness of that communication that the soul is conversing in with the Father?
The children of light pray diligently as they should, but the contents of those petitions are usually for intercessions related to the material life. Thus even though the Father hears these petitions and responds, the children of light fail to recognize the answer to these petitions because they are focused on a material answer and not a spiritual one. There is a reason why we are called spiritual children. We are like the material children who ask for things that their parents deny in their wisdom of protecting their children’’s welfare. Consider this quote: "Which of you who is a father, if his son asks unwisely, would hesitate to give in accordance with parental wisdom rather than in the terms of the son's faulty petition? If the child needs a loaf, will you give him a stone just because he unwisely asks for it? If your son needs a fish, will you give him a water snake just because it may chance to come up in the net with the fish and the child foolishly asks for the serpent? But still men ought always to pray and not become discouraged." If we continue to pray, our prayers will gradually align themselves with the Father’’s will.
So we see that we have a dichotomy of expectations when we pray. We are praying for our immediate material needs, and the Father responds by addressing our spiritual needs. We know that as earthly parents, if we keep denying the unwise requests of our material children and wisely supply some material request, they will stop asking for those requests that are being denied to them and accept those that are wisely given them. We also know that as the child matures, she is likely to understand more and more why the unwise requests were unwise and therefore denied. This is the growth process. Consistent asking provides the reason why the request was denied in the first place, while insight is given into the request that is granted. That is why Jesus says, "Men ought always to pray and not become discouraged."
Although the child’’s foolish request is denied, he still thrives in his relationship with the heavenly Father just as the earthly child does with his earthly parents. The spiritual child and earthly child both know that their parents love them and only wants what is best for them. Though the full realization of this great truth is not likely to be fully realized until the child becomes a parent, all of these things will become absolutely clear. And in the case of the heavenly Father, when the child reaches spiritual maturity and he begins to see with the eye of the spirit, these things become clear. There simply is no way to get around the need for experience in trying to understand the things that can only be understood by experience.
Let us see if we can resolve the conflict existing between the dichotomy of the spiritual and the material. This conflict arises first because we are two-fold beings within one personality. We have a spiritual nature that is also developing in the material mind. This spiritual nature is destined to survive the dissolution of the material nature. So we must learn to render to the spiritual nature things of the spirit and to the material nature things material. Just as we have to learn the laws of the material world, we also have to learn the laws of the spiritual world. The province where we learn the laws of the spiritual world is in the relationship with the Father. The province where we learn the law of the material world is within the material world. And we have become extremely skilled in learning those laws of the material world, while our discovery of the laws of the spiritual world are tardy because we don’’t make an effort to discover them.
The Father has commanded mortal man to live this life subject to the laws of the material world, and thus he has no choice but to live the material life if he is to live. He has been given a mind and a material body. The material life will at some time disintegrate. But within this same material mind, there is a soul that is growing. Of the material nature, Jesus says that in the world, we shall have tribulation. This tribulation is in consequence of our material natures which are subject to the ups and downs of material life. But he also says be of good cheer, ““for I have overcome the world.”” In other words the spiritual nature of Jesus has overcome the world, and based upon this great triumph, we can overcome the material world through our spiritual natures.
We can experience the Father’’s love as we love each other as Jesus loves us. Jesus promises us peace and eternal life. He said that if we loved one another, all men would know that we were his disciples. When we pray to the Father, we must pray in truth and in spirit. We must pray that His will be done in our lives, and we must pray for each other. When we pray for each other we become aware of their spiritual needs, and are in a better position to meet those spiritual needs. We should pray for spiritual values and for spiritual growth.
As we live our lives, we can ask ourselves if Jesus was here living this life, what decisions would he make differently than we would? And then we can compare our lives with the spirit of his life and see if there is any difference. And if there is, we can choose to act on that difference, thus yielding to the guidance of the Spirit of Truth. Now that we have removed the dichotomy between the spiritual and the material, we can enjoy and thrive in our spiritual relations with the Heavenly Father.
We can tell him all about our troubles, and this will be therapeutic in that it will release the emotional energies that have accumulated since he will know all about it, and we can receive all of those spiritual qualities that will help us to master the material problem spiritually according to his will. And even as do wise earthly Fathers, the heavenly Father does not do the work for us, nor does he exempt us from necessary experiences that are essential for our growth. We can bask in his love and his security as he guides us into spiritual adulthood.
This concludes today's message on understanding further insight into communication with the Father. We hope you find something in this message to ponder and pray about as you go about your day.
Until next time, this is Dr. James Perry.
Your Kingdom Come; Your Will Be Done!
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By Dr. James Perry
Further Insight Into Communication with the Father
