Jesus opened the way for mankind to gain access to the Father in heaven.  "No one comes to the Father except through Me" (John 14:6b).  The hinge on the door which opens heaven is the resurrection of Jesus Christ, Who, through His death opened up a "new and living way" (Hebrews 10:20) into the Most Holy Place, and into the very presence of God.  Divine access to the throne room of heaven was formerly denied to man because of sin.  However, Jesus Christ, our perfect, sinless, great High Priest, stepped down from His throne in heaven and willingly laid down His life as the only acceptable sacrifice  to atone for our sin once for all.  By laying down His life for our sins Jesus tore open the veil that had previously kept us separated from the Father and opened the way for us to experience eternal life, both now and forever.  There is no other way to heaven and the heavenly Father, except through Christ Jesus. He is the way, the truth, and the life!

 

Through His sacrificial and atoning work on the cross and His resurrection from the dead Jesus has connected us to the Father in heaven.  He has revealed the Father to us, and now we can know the Father and Creator of the world.  "No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made Him known" (John 1:18).  To be one with Christ is to be one with the Father. "I and the Father are one" (John 10:30).  Jesus does not want us to only know Him and the Father academically; He wants us to know Him intimately.  His entire work in the world is meant to bring us into a deeper, more personal, and abiding relationship with the Father.  "If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him" (John 14:7). The consuming desire of our heart, like the apostle Paul, should be to know God better (reference Philippians 3:10-11).  He has gone out of His way to reveal Himself to us, and to provide the way for us to have communion with Him.  Jesus opened the way for us to become a part of His family, with God as our Father, and through His obedience to the Father we now have the right to be called sons and daughters of God (reference John 1:12; 2 Corinthians 6:18).  "And by Him we cry, 'Abba, Father' " (Romans 8:15)).  We are His children, and He is our Father.  "Today I have become your Father" (Psalm 2:7; Acts 13:33). And as our Father, He is concerned about our needs (that is why He sent His Son to die for us!); and He wants nothing more than for His children to rest securely in the shelter of His protection and tender-loving care.  He wants us to be completely dependent upon Him. We do this through feasting daily on the Word of God and spending intimate time alone with the Lord in prayer - for it is in the knowledge of God that we find ourselves abundantly full and satisfied.

    

The great work of God is accomplished in the world when we access the great power of God through prayer.  "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.  And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  If you ask anything in My name, I will do it" (vv. 12-14). During His earthly ministry, Jesus demonstrated the importance of prayer as the key to His accomplishing the Father's will. Jesus declared that as His followers we would have opportunity to do even "greater things" through prayer.  The gospel would spread throughout the earth and multitudes would be saved,  because Jesus, our great Mediator, would be sitting at the Father's right hand interceding for us (reference Hebrews 7:25); and His Holy Spirit would be within us to help us in our prayer life to guide us through His Word and to teach us to pray more effectively, consistently, and according to His will.  "This is the confidence we have in approaching God:  that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.  And if we know that He hears us - whatever we ask - we know that we have what we asked of Him" (1 John 5:15).  The scepter of our loving Father and eternal King will be extended to us when we come to Him in prayer and ask of Him the things which pleases His heart and furthers His kingdom work in the world.  This is the privilege of every son and daughter of God (reference Romans 8:15-16); we will receive what we ask by faith through prayer.  Every request we bring to our heavenly Father should be for the purpose of glorifying His name and accomplishing His will, not ours. Jesus has connected our heart to the heart of the Father and desires that we commune daily with Him there, so our lives will be filled with daily answers to prayer. Let us follow His pattern for prayer as we enter His courts with praise and thanksgiving this morning.