When you have revelation, even sorrows and sadness, failures and troubles, tragedies and horrors have boundaries.  In the great song book of lament, a declaration of faith is recorded:

Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.  (Lam 3:22-23)

I want to propose that revelation is a ‘good thing’ the Lord wants to lavish upon us…again and again like manna from heaven – daily bread!

Would God the Father withhold any good thing from us?  For the Lord God is a sun and shield; The Lord bestows grace and favour and honour; No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly. (Ps 84:11)

Jesus teaches about revelation that seeking revelation is about persistence, something we seek and search for, and something that increases in expectancy and frequency with relationship.

We can capture this idea from Luke 11:1-13 and the Lord teaching us to pray – both describing the habit with instruction, but also describing it from a relationship perspective – Father…

Once Jesus was praying in a particular place. When he had finished, one of his disciples approached him.  “Teach us to pray, Master,” he said, “just like John taught his disciples.” 

“When you pray,” replied Jesus, “this is what to say: “Father, may your name be honoured; may your kingdom come; give us each day our daily bread; and forgive us our sins, since we too forgive all our debtors; and don’t put us to the test.

“Suppose one of you has a friend,” he said, “and you go to him in the middle of the night and say, ‘My dear friend, lend me three loaves of bread!  A friend of mine is on a journey and has arrived at my house, and I have nothing to put in front of him!’ He will answer from inside his house, ‘Don’t make life difficult for me! The door is already shut, and my children and I are all in bed! I can’t get up and give you anything.’

Let me tell you, even if he won’t get up and give you anything just because you’re his friend, because of your shameless persistence he will get up and give you whatever you need. 

“So this is my word to you: ask and it will be given you; search and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you.  You see, everyone who asks receives! Everyone who searches finds! Everyone who knocks has the door opened for them!

If your son asks you for a fish, is there a father among you who will give him a snake?  Or if he asks for an egg, will you give him a scorpion?

So if you, evil as you are, know how to give good presents to your children, how much more will your heavenly father give the holy spirit to those who ask him!”

Imagine then having the audacity to pray, shamelessly and earnestly persisting, knocking, searching and seeking revelation from the Lord!

Can we?

Maybe we can and ought to, as per Eph 1:17: “God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him”

 

Feel free to pickup a Series Booklet from the Desk in the rear of the auditorium.