So I just went to a conference in Dallas and I learned a lot so I thought I would share with you. The speaker was Francis Chan. The first night, he talked about how awesome and amazing God is and how we should fall on our knees in honor and worship to Him. He read the passage from Revelation 4:
1. After this I had a vision of an open door to heaven, and I heard the trumpet like voice that had spoken to me before, saying, "Come up here and I will show you what must happen afterwards."
2. At once I was caught up in spirit. A throne was there in heaven, and on the throne sat
3. one whose appearance sparkled like jasper and carnelian. Around the throne was a halo as brilliant as an emerald.
4. Surrounding the throne I saw twenty-four other thrones on which twenty-four elders. sat, dressed in white garments and with gold crowns on their heads.
5. From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings, and peals of thunder. Seven flaming torches burned in front of the throne, which are the seven spirits of God.
6. In front of the throne was something that resembled a sea of glass like crystal. In the center and around the throne, there were four living creatures covered with eyes in front and in back.
7. The first creature resembled a lion, the second was like a calf, the third had a face like that of a human being, and the fourth looked like an eagle in flight.
8. The four living creatures, each of them with six wings, were covered with eyes inside and out. Day and night they do not stop exclaiming: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God almighty, who was, and who is, and who is to come."
9. Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to the one who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever,
10. the twenty-four elders fall down before the one who sits on the throne and worship him, who lives forever and ever. They throw down their crowns before the throne, exclaiming:
11. "Worthy are you, Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things; because of your will they came to be and were created."
Verses 2-3 explain the majesty of God. He was as the stones jasper and carnelian which were bright red, and had a halo “as brilliant as emerald.” Verse 5 tells of the thunder all around God’s throne. And around the throne were creatures we would have never imagined. They were amazing creatures full of eyes so they could look upon God for eternity and continually say, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God almighty, who was, and who is, and who is to come.” These creatures were so great compared to us. If one of us met one of them face to face we would be terrified, but these creatures are nothing compared to God’s glory. They were terrified in the presence of God. They were so ashamed of their sinfulness and never ceased to praise God and try and hide themselves from God’s glory. This should show us that God is the God of the universe not just this boring person we pray to every once in a while when we need something out of him. Francis Chan said that if we would think about this aspect of God before we prayed then our prayers would be greatly changed. We would realize who we are praying to.
The second day he brought out his little girl who was hugging his neck. Then he asked us if our relationship with Christ looked like this. He told us that our relationship with God is to be like a Father and his child. He talked about God’s amazing love for us. He sent his ONLY son to die on the cross for us. He told us to picture the person we love most about to be killed, up in front of all these people who hated him and who were crying out, “Crucify him, Crucify him!” Just think of how that would feel. God loved us that much! He would give up his only son to take the place of us sinners. Francis Chan said that we should also come to God in prayer with this aspect of God in mind. We need to remember that God is both the God of the universe who is all powerful and is so magnificent and also our Father who loves us with an infinite amount of love. If we come to God with both of these views of him, our prayer life should be radically changed.
