How to Pray Scripture (Psalm 23) — A Deeper Christian Prayer Experience (July 1988)

So, I want to just come over and say to you, if there is all that in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, could I not take some passages in the epistles and look at them differently? I hear Paul telling people in Colossae all about the Lord Jesus Christ and what He is and what He does, but can I step away from Paul, and can I step away from the town of Colossae and say, “Those truths be true.” And I can change one word from and that word is “He” and change it to “I” and it’s almost like I get a new page in the Gospels. Or I can change it from “He” to “You” and I can hear my Father talking to His Son. I wonder if you followed me. Well, it won’t matter; I’ll illustrate it. Let’s go to Colossians, and we’ll take chapter one. The greatest Christological passage in all of holy writ. I’m going to read it three times from the viewpoint of Paul and me, and the viewpoint of you as we listen. But we get bogged down here in space and time sometimes. Let’s hear it the way it’s written.

Colossians 1:15-20. He is the image of the invisible God, the Firstborn of all creation. For in Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rules or authorities. All things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the Firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself might come to have first place in everything. For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all of the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself.

Now, that’s beautiful, isn’t it? Listen to your Lord tell you who He is. Are you ready? “I am the image of my Father; I am the first thing that ever happened in creation. Inside of me, everything was created. Everything of the heavens was created in Me. Everything on earth was created in Me. Everything visible was created in Me. Everything invisible was created in Me. If it were a throne or a dominion or a rule or a power or authority, they were created in Me. Everything has been created through Me, and I created everything for Myself.” How do you like this so far? Say, Praise the Lord. Would you? Amen. All right.

Now, I am before everything. In Me, everything holds together. And I am your head. I am the beginning, and I am the first who has ever torn free of death. All this so that I might have first place in everything. It was My Father’s good pleasure for all of Him to dwell in all of Me and through Me to reconcile everything to Him. Wow. Praise the Lord. This is glorious. Don’t look at me like that. Don’t just sit there and stare at me like that. Does that mean anything to you? Okay, let’s do it again.

My Son, You are My image. You’re the first of all creation. Everything was created in You: the heavens, the earth, the visible, the invisibles, the thrones, the powers. Everything was created through You and for You. You were here before all things, and everything holds together by You. You are the head of the church, the beginning, the firstborn from the dead. You have first place in everything. It was my good pleasure that all of Me would dwell in You. And everything, everything would be reconciled to Me through You. Praise the Lord. I’m going to do it again, and I’m going to move it. Now, I don’t want to wear this out, but I’m trying to teach you something here. Are you understanding? I’m trying to teach you that you’re free of time and space, and you belong inside of Christ. Why don’t you go get there? Alright. Hey, I love this. I’m so excited. The more you do this, the more it does it to you. Alright.

You will become My image on earth, and there will be a creation, and You will be the first thing in it. You will create everything. You’ll create heavens. You’ll create the earth. You’ll create things that are visible and invisible. You’ll create thrones, dominions, authorities, and powers. Everything will be created through You, and my Son, everything will be created for You. I am in the Godhead, brothers. I’m way back there, way, way back there. This is wonderful. Praise the Lord. You will be before all things, and everything that will be will hold together because You are. And then You will become the head of the redeemed, the church. You will be the first to triumph over death. My Son, I will make it so that You have first place in everything. It is my pleasure that all that I am fully Yours, and You will be made King of kings and Lord of lords. For all things that are will fall away, but You’ll reconcile them and bring them back to Me.

We’re going to hear it one more time. One more time. Now, you know, I have no question in my mind that this took place; somewhere this had to happen. And what I’m about to tell you is going to happen. It hasn’t happened yet, but it’s going to.

Father, I have made You visible. I created everything: the heavens, the earth, dominions, and thrones, and powers, and principalities. They were created by Me, and they were created for Me, and they held together by Me, and they all belong to Me. I now stand head of the church triumphant. I was the beginning, and now I am the end. I was the firstborn from the dead, and here are all those who have torn loose from death. And Father, I am now first in everything. It was Your good pleasure for everything to dwell in Me and for Me to reconcile everything to You. Father, here it is. Reconciled to You. The redeemed, I am bringing them back to You. Father, they are Yours and they are reconciled with You. And now, Father, all Your fullness dwells not only in Me, but in them. And all glory now rebounds and returns to You, Father. All praise, all glory, and all honor to the Father now and forever. Amen. Don’t just sit there. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord.

I want you to rewrite this passage just to get your old “time space” mind ripped loose from space and time. I would like for you…I’m not going to ask you to do it…but you ought to do this. You ought to rewrite this four times, just exactly the way I did before you ever turn it into a prayer. Now, I’m going to do one more. You see, that was easy, wasn’t it? And I’m not suggesting that all of this is going to be easy, but I am suggesting to you that there comes a time when it gets a lot easier. Now, I have not planned to do this. I have just picked this passage. Let’s see what happens. I’m going to tell you, I believe that somewhere in this right here, I will find that which is utterly and totally real to the Father and the Son that has got nothing to do with any events that took place on this earth. Let’s see if I’m correct. This is chapter 1 of 1 Thessalonians, 1 Thessalonians 1. I think I’ll stand here in time and look at my Lord. I’ll do what you did this morning. I’ll start there. It’s easier for me to start there.

Lord Jesus, You are grace, and You are peace. You are my prayer. You are my faith, my love, my steadfastness, and You chose me to be one of Yours. I thank You for the Gospel that you gave me that came with such conviction. Lord, I have received Your word, and even in tribulation, I can joy in You. I’m all the way down to verse six. And I can skip over with verse seven and never blink. I can skip over verse eight and never blink. I don’t have to be an Aristotelian. I don’t have to be a son of Aristotle; I can just skim the top of this thing.

Because of you, Father, you have taken the idols out of my heart, and I wait for the day of the return of Your Son. Lord Jesus, You have delivered me from death and from the wrath to come. Now, wasn’t that simple? I have just found that which is real. I didn’t have to get caught with Achaia and Macedonia, and I don’t have to be troubled with the problems in Thessalonica; those Christians don’t have any problems anymore. Now I’m going to try to do this again. I’m going to try to find just that which is between the Father and the Son. I may stumble all over this, but I’ll eventually find a little bit. Now, if you work really hard at this, it won’t work. You’ll get your mind in there studying, and my friend, your Lord will disappear. Let your spirit sparkle, and if it doesn’t sparkle, keep on moving.

Father, the church is Mine, and You have given to her grace and peace. Oh, no, I know what I’m going to do. I don’t dare. I don’t. I just won’t do it. Uh, no. No. I’m not prepared to do it. No. This is worse than bold. This is making love in public. I don’t know if I can do it, but there is the possibility we could find here even a conversation between Christ and His church. It will sound almost as if it’s me, but could you use your imagination and let her speak? Will you listen to her for a minute? I mean, that girl that we met here the other night, will you listen to her?