Unsearchable Greatness
Psalm 145:3, 5, 6,
I would think that every Christian wants to pray better and bigger prayers. And how can we? Well, you have to start with God. To pray bigger prayers, we have to be sure how big our God is. David had it right, if you go back to that Psalm, “Greatly to be praised and His greatness is unsearchable.” Something similar in Paul in Romans chapter 11, you remember when he breaks out in that doxology, “Oh, the depths of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable His judgments and His ways past finding out.” And the very word that the Lord Jesus uses in the Lord's Prayer is also a word to remind us of how great our God is, “Our Father in heaven.” That little phrase, ‘in heaven,’ points to His transcendent position, His authority and His Majesty. Theologians have used four little letters, so it's even a word you could say, Omni, which means full or complete. And we can speak of His omnipresence, which means He is everywhere present. We can speak of His omnipotence, which means He is all-powerful. And we could also speak of His omniscience, which means He's all-knowing. He knows everything about everything.
And when we come to prayer, we never want to lose sight of His greatness, and we can, we can do that very easily. In fact, we can suffer from little faith like those disciples on the boat on the Sea of Galilee in the midst of that hurricane storm. They didn't see Christ's greatness, His power and His majesty. That's why they were so afraid.
There's actually a book, some of you might even be familiar with it, by J.B. Phillips, it was written back in the 1950’s titled, Your God is Too Small. And the thesis of that book is that Christians can hold an inadequate small view of God. And God even complains to His covenant people that they have wrong thoughts about Him. In Psalm 50 He says, 'You thought that I was altogether like you. I'm not like you, I'm not finite like you, I'm not little, inadequate, frail like you.'
But there's something else we have to remember when we go to prayer. We want to remember the majesty and greatness of our God. But if you go back to the Lord's Prayer again, we also want to remember the intimacy of that new Father/Son relationship by way of the new birth and adoption. He's our Father, and that's not a metaphor. It's not a metaphor, that's reality. We are the sons of the living God. We are the children of God, we can cry, Abba Father. And we could translate that word, it's an Aramaic word, ‘dearest Father’. And our Father wants us to come to Him, He invites us over and over again. Even in the book of Hebrews, you have those three ‘draw near to me’ exhortations. Hebrews 4:6, “Let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace.” Again, Hebrews 7:26, “Those who draw near to God through Him.” Then Hebrews chapter 10, “Therefore brothers, let us draw near with a true heart, and full assurance of faith.”
And we have to remind ourselves, probably regularly, maybe even daily, that there's no one, no one who loves you more than your Heavenly Father. And no one who can take better care of you, because He is an all-powerful, all-knowing, everywhere present father. I find it interesting, the longest and the most definitive treatment we have on anxiety is found in the Sermon on the Mount. Right? And in that same sermon, Jesus picks up the word ‘Father’ at least 17 times. See, He wants to remind us again and again who your Father is. He takes care of the little birds of the air, and the lilies of the field. One Scottish Presbyterian put it this way,
“Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and His greatness is unsearchable.” “On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate. They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds, and I will declare your greatness.”
I would think that every Christian wants to pray better and bigger prayers. And how can we? Well, you have to start with God. To pray bigger prayers, we have to be sure how big our God is. David had it right, if you go back to that Psalm, “Greatly to be praised and His greatness is unsearchable.” Something similar in Paul in Romans chapter 11, you remember when he breaks out in that doxology, “Oh, the depths of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable His judgments and His ways past finding out.” And the very word that the Lord Jesus uses in the Lord's Prayer is also a word to remind us of how great our God is, “Our Father in heaven.” That little phrase, ‘in heaven,’ points to His transcendent position, His authority and His Majesty. Theologians have used four little letters, so it's even a word you could say, Omni, which means full or complete. And we can speak of His omnipresence, which means He is everywhere present. We can speak of His omnipotence, which means He is all-powerful. And we could also speak of His omniscience, which means He's all-knowing. He knows everything about everything.
And when we come to prayer, we never want to lose sight of His greatness, and we can, we can do that very easily. In fact, we can suffer from little faith like those disciples on the boat on the Sea of Galilee in the midst of that hurricane storm. They didn't see Christ's greatness, His power and His majesty. That's why they were so afraid.
There's actually a book, some of you might even be familiar with it, by J.B. Phillips, it was written back in the 1950’s titled, Your God is Too Small. And the thesis of that book is that Christians can hold an inadequate small view of God. And God even complains to His covenant people that they have wrong thoughts about Him. In Psalm 50 He says, 'You thought that I was altogether like you. I'm not like you, I'm not finite like you, I'm not little, inadequate, frail like you.'
But there's something else we have to remember when we go to prayer. We want to remember the majesty and greatness of our God. But if you go back to the Lord's Prayer again, we also want to remember the intimacy of that new Father/Son relationship by way of the new birth and adoption. He's our Father, and that's not a metaphor. It's not a metaphor, that's reality. We are the sons of the living God. We are the children of God, we can cry, Abba Father. And we could translate that word, it's an Aramaic word, ‘dearest Father’. And our Father wants us to come to Him, He invites us over and over again. Even in the book of Hebrews, you have those three ‘draw near to me’ exhortations. Hebrews 4:6, “Let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace.” Again, Hebrews 7:26, “Those who draw near to God through Him.” Then Hebrews chapter 10, “Therefore brothers, let us draw near with a true heart, and full assurance of faith.”
And we have to remind ourselves, probably regularly, maybe even daily, that there's no one, no one who loves you more than your Heavenly Father. And no one who can take better care of you, because He is an all-powerful, all-knowing, everywhere present father. I find it interesting, the longest and the most definitive treatment we have on anxiety is found in the Sermon on the Mount. Right? And in that same sermon, Jesus picks up the word ‘Father’ at least 17 times. See, He wants to remind us again and again who your Father is. He takes care of the little birds of the air, and the lilies of the field. One Scottish Presbyterian put it this way,
"The mere thought of God should end all anxiety. The mere thought of God should end all anxiety. If God be God, there is no insoluble problems that exist. If God be my God then no problem of mine is without its appropriate solution. He can solve every riddle of life, neutralize all trials or evils and compensate all losses."
So there's no situation, no situation in life too hard for your Heavenly Father. We go back to the fact that He is our Father in Heaven, the Omni-God.
Posted in Pastor Devotional