Faithful on Fridays Blog

Discipline to Delight: Part Three

The Stairway to Heaven is not unique to Led Zeppelin; he got it from Jesus.

“Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” John 1:51 

The image is praying, an earth to heaven connection: the Bible calls it Jacob’s Ladder, 

And he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it! Genesis 28:12 

When we spend intentional, intimate time with Jesus, our Bridegroom, our words are received in heaven and we can expect a response: a heaven to earth connection.

The Song of Songs is an allegory or drama, a lower story, of the most loving relationship depicted in the Bible. Nowadays most Bibles help you out with subtitles of the characters, a woman and a man having intimate conversation. When we’re able to think in the upper story the drama becomes you and Jesus. Whether you’re male or female, in the upper story you are the Bride of Christ, His beloved. The words of Chapters One, Two, Four, Five, and Eight are written in a conversational way and can be read as if you’re speaking to Jesus and He responds to you. Get alone with your Savior and give it try.

The last method I’d like to present in this short series on intimate prayer, going from discipline to delight, is learning to pray the names of God since His names reflect and teach us His divine character. I’ve chosen five names from Scripture, but there are many to choose from depending on your season of life.

1. El Kanna: Our God is jealous and passionate: Ex. 20:5, 34:14.
2. Yahweh: I AM, meaning an eternal ‘covenant keeper‘, a relational name:  Ex. 3:13-15.
3. Moshia: God is our Deliverer or Savior: Is. 43:3, 11, 45:15; Ps. 17:7; Zech. 8:7. The Hebrew name for Jesus is Yeshua which comes from the same root.
4. El Ha’ Chabod: He’s the God of Glory, Ps. 29:3. In the New Testament check out Acts 7:2; 1 Cor. 2:1; James 2:1. Lord of Glory is used in 1 Cor. 2:8 and Father of Glory, Eph. 1:17. Doxa is the Greek word for glory which indicates a reputation of a weighty person, someone who is heavy with worth and deserves honor.
5. Go’el: Redeemer God, our God ransomed us from the slavery of sin with His own blood. He loosened, broke, and destroyed the power of Satan over us with that one act of mercy: Job 19:25; Ps. 19:14, 107:2.

As we draw closer to God, calling on Him with a specific name, we’re declaring His identity, who He is, reassuring ourselves that He is more than enough to help us. When we progress through the discipline we enter into the delight.