Knowing God

Luke 1:39-56

“Successful prayer begins with God’s identity. We are not equals with Him. He is God. We are the work of His hands and the product of His redemption.” T.W. HUNT

Lexham Theological Wordbook Theological Overview

Prayer in the OT is intentional communication with God. This is the NT conception of prayer, as well, which develops naturally out of an OT understanding of the concept.

One way of understanding the character of God is by cataloguing His attributes : a quality or feature regarded as characteristic or inherent

Catherine Soanes and Angus Stevenson, eds., in Concise Oxford English Dictionary (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004).

Luke 1:46 - 55

Mary’s prayer response to Elizabeth’s greeting contains so much we could study it for months.

For tonight let’s zero in on a few key takeaway’s:

Mary prays/speaks to:

the Lord

God my savior

the Mighty One

one whose name is Holy

one who is known for mercy

one who does mighty deeds with His arm

one who has a relationship with Israel; Abraham and his descendants

Hannah’s Prayer 1 Samuel 2:1-10

Upon leaving Samuel at the tabernacle, Hannah offered this prayer.

Attached are my notes re: the similarities of the two women’s prayers.

Attributes of God

An attribute is ‘a quality or feature regarded as characteristic of, or inherent in...’ (Concise Oxford English Dictionary)

OMNISCIENCE

God is ‘all-knowing.’ Hannah specifically identifies God as the One who knows. Mary certainly recognizes God’s superior knowledge.

God knew Mary - by name just as He knows each of us.

God knows our past, our present, and our future.

So, why pray?

Recognize that we are not made for just this life…but for an eternal life in God’s presence.

TW Hunt writes,

God could work without prayer…Creating and redemption are uniquely a divine work…But the governing of the universe and the management of the world we know are not beyond us. God has chosen to bring us in on that governing process because of our eternal work of reigning which is ahead of us.

T. W. Hunt, The Doctrine of Prayer (71).

Prayer is not as we often make it an attempt to tell God what we want as much as it is a time for us to discover what God has in store.

OMNIPRESENT

There are no space and time limitations on our ability to speak with God. Even know with cellphones there are limits of when and where we can speak to those in our lives.

Both Mary and Hannah affirm God’s presence in the midst of their lives.

OMNIPOTENT

Both prayers remind us of God’s unlimited power. He acts in ways impossible for us to act.

GOD IS...

SPIRIT

John 4:24 HCSB

God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Apart from new birth - which comes only through the Holy Spirit creating the life of Jesus in us - we are unable to connect with God.

That God is spirit reminds us that though He has characteristics familiar to us, He is unlike us. He is not created in our image. Rather He created us in His image.

God is Love

1 John 4:7–8 HCSB

Dear friends, let us love one another, because love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love.

the only way we can define ‘love’ is by coming to a deeper knowledge of God’s character and nature.

God is Holy

Matthew 6:9 HCSB

“Therefore, you should pray like this: Our Father in heaven, Your name be honored as holy.

Exodus 3:5 HCSB

“Do not come closer,” He said. “Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.”

Most encounters with God we read in OT and NT begin with the individual falling/kneeling before God in recognition of His unique status.

We will never exhaust all there is to know about God.

The more we know of Him simply enhances and deepens our prayer life.

ASSIGNMENT:

Do or Review the activities for 1, 5 before next week.