PARENTHOOD
a divine stewardship

The Crucial Factor-Prayer (1)

Parenting is a divine stewardship that demands that we raise our children not for our own pleasure or according to our own goals and standards. As parents we represent God Himself. God, through Moses, imparted to the children of Israel one of the ten commandments that specifically addressed the attitude of children toward their parents: "Honor your father and your mother: that your days may be extended upon the land which Jehovah your God is giving you." This ordinance was nestled among the righteous requirements that governed the deportment of man toward God; hence, the parents must be a pattern and a representative of God in the carrying out of His purpose in the growth and development of the children. How can we fulfill this tremendous responsibility? The crucial factor is prayer.

Prayer is a great mystery. What is prayer? How should we pray? What is the secret of answered prayer? In this issue of Parenthood we begin a series of papers addressing this essential Christian action. We should never presume that we are able to be effective parents without prayer. Yet we need to empty our minds and thoughts of all that we think is prayer and learn what the Bible reveals concerning the prayer of intercession.

Here we are looking at the prayer of the incense altar. Looking carefully at the portion in Revelation 8 which reveals Christ adding the incense from the altar to the prayer of the saints, we see that the administrative center in God's economy is the prayer of Christ. And this prayer is the prayer of all the saints: "...When we pray in Him, Christ is actually the one, praying. He prays in us; He prays in our prayer. In the sight of God, all the proper prayers of the saints and of the churches are prayers of Christ and are included as part of Christ's intercession."

We need to learn to pray this kind of prayer. We will then become mingled with God in His heart's desire. We are not seeking a method for raising perfect children. We are aspiring to be people who are a part of God's purpose, His desire for a group of people on the earth who are absolutely one with Him. Then whatever we do, including the teaching, training, disciplining and loving of our children will be God incarnated-God mingled with humanity expressed in us.

When we study the incense altar, we are studying the greatest matter in the universe. There is nothing more central than this. Although we are not politicians, we surely are heavenly statesmen. Furthermore, we are studying universal "politics," that is, God's politics. The ark in the Holy of Holies is the central government, our heavenly Washington, D.C. The incense altar may be regarded as our heavenly White House. This means that everything is executed, motivated, and carried out from this divine center. The intercession of Christ is God's White House. Christ's interceding life, His prayer life, is the center of God's administration.

The book of Revelation is a book of God's administration, a book of divine execution. This book reveals the throne of God and the administration of God throughout the universe. However, the executing center actually is not the throne; the executing center is the incense altar in Revelation 8. Revelation 8:3 says, "And another Angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer, and much incense was given to Him that He should add it to the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne." On this altar the prayers of the saints are offered to God, and Christ's incense is added to these prayers. When the prayers of the saints ascend to God with the incense of Christ, God executes the policies of His administration.

THE PRAYER LIFE OF THE CORPORATE CHRIST

The prayer life of Christ is the center of God's execution of His government on earth. Revelation 8 indicates this.... The prayers in Revelation 8 no longer are merely the prayers of the individual Christ, but have become the prayers of the corporate Christ. In the matter of the execution that takes place at the incense altar, the saints truly are one with Christ. Therefore, when we speak in this message of the prayer life of Christ, we mean the prayer life of the corporate Christ.

Furthermore, we need to realize that whenever we pray in the spirit, Christ is praying in our praying. The New Testament speaks of praying in the Lord's name. To pray in the name of the Lord Jesus is to pray in Christ. When we pray in this way, Christ is actually the one praying. For example, suppose you go to a bank to carry out a transaction in the name of another person. Will the bank honor your name or the name of the person you represent, To be sure, the bank will not recognize your name; instead it will recognize the name of the person represented by you. In a very real sense, because you are representing that person, you are that person, for you are acting in his name In like manner, when we pray in Christ's name, we pray in Him. Also, when we pray in Him, Christ is actually the one, praying. He prays in us; He prays in our prayer. In the sight of God, all the proper prayers of the saints and of the churches are prayers of Christ and are included as part of Christ's intercession.

A REPRESENTATIVE BOOK

The Bible is a picture book. The picture portrayed in the Bible as a whole corresponds to the diagram of the tabernacle and the outer court. There is one book in the Bible that can be regarded as representing the entire Bible. This representative book is the Gospel of John.

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