We continue our studies on Governmentalism with Part 3 of the Lord’s Prayer.
The Lord’s Prayer began as a patriarchate appeal: “Our Father which art in Heaven…” That opening phraseology is loaded with information about the organogram of responsibility of the Trinity. It is nothing short of the decoding of the responsorial and governmental structure of the Godhead. God is a Trinity. The Trinity or the Triune Council is made up of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. These are governmental titles like “President” or “Vice-President”. Attached to each is a roll of responsibilities.
Some think the relationship between God the Father and God the Son hints at the biological and therefore anathema. But such biological structuring of the Trinity defies even logic. What biological role for the Spirit then? Clearly therefore the Trinity cannot be a biological relationship of the constituencies. Our orientation as humans is why we think the relationship between God the Father and God the Son bespeaks biological. To so think is to think “like mere men” Apostle Paul would have said.
But Jesus said, “Our Father which art in Heaven…Thy Kingdom come.” It follows therefore that this is an appeal to a political figure and not a biological figure; or why mention of kingdom? Without God we wouldn’t even have known what “Father” is. It therefore seems funny for US to be seeking to define what HE calls himself. Jesus the Son tells us to boldly address God as “Father”. Now, that had never been done up till that moment. The Jews weren’t familial with God. The Lord’s Prayer was therefore revolutionary and hinted at further dislocations of religious orthodoxy.
When we call God “Father” it is an invocation of provision, guidance and protection. These three things – provision, guidance and protection – are the summary of this prayer: “Give us our daily bread…Lead us (not into temptation)….Deliver us from evil”. We’re asking for provision, guidance and protection. That’s the role of a father. Fathers provide, fathers guide, fathers protect.
The role of a father is not biological. It is governmental and ministerial. A father is a local government. Even children know this intuitively. They disdain those who limit fatherhood to biological function. Children call “father” the man who takes governmental and ministerial responsibility over their lives. You can’t be a successful father if you don’t provide, guide and protect your children. The ability to impregnate is not fatherhood. It is malehood. When we pray the Lord’s Prayer we are in essence telling God, “Take ministerial responsibility over us!”
The conceptual framework of fatherhood also gives us insight into the responsibilities of government. If God the Father as government can take on responsibility for food, guidance and protection, then it is the role of any government to provide for its citizens to create a guidance framework through values based educational system, and to protect the citizens. Three BASIC responsibilities of government are therefore food security, citizen development, and law & order. Without these three a society cannot endure and a nation stands little chance of success.
Now, it is interesting that God the Son tells us to direct our prayers to God the Father and not himself. He taught us to pray to the Father, not to himself, or any other. Just God the Father, the titular head of a kingdom. The simple deduction from this is that what we deem a religious rite is in fact about governmental authority. God the Son does not have authority to answer prayers. Only God the Father does. And if the Son (the creator agency of the Godhead) cannot answer prayers, it is unimaginable that any creature has that capacity. No matter how elevated a creature, human or otherwise, it/he/she CANNOT process prayers.
When Satan takes on the role of answering prayers it is in continuation of his rebellion and crashed ambition. Listen to him: ‘I’ll climb to heaven. I’ll set my throne over the stars of God. I’ll run the assembly of angels that meets on sacred Mount Zaphon. I’ll climb to the top of the clouds. I’ll take over as King of the Universe!’ Isaiah 14:13-14 MSG. To pray to Satan therefore, or supplicate gods and demons is a declaration of rebellion against God. Only God the Father has authority to attend to prayers.
Prayer is governmental. Even Jesus prays to the Father. He prayed to the Father at Gethsemane. He’s still supplicating for us in Heaven. Hebrews 7:25. The Trinity is a governmental device of God as per division of labour for Himself, by Himself, in Himself.
The first verse of the Lord’s Prayer tells us that the God to whom we pray has a name that is hallowed. ‘Hallowed’ means holy, sacred, consecrated. If the name is not hallowed – holy, sacred, consecrated, don’t pray to it, to him or her. It is sacrilege. We pray to the Father whose name is holy. Any prayer to any other being is profanation of that which is holy. We have to make up our mind whether we want to serve God or serve gods.
Worship of deities, human or otherwise CANNOT be combined with the worship of the Holy God. We cannot seek help from Jehovah and seek help in the tents of demons and contumacious gods. ‘Heaven helps those who help themselves’ is not found in the Bible. It is not scripture. And we cannot pervert the Word of God into justification for the worship of demons. When Jesus said to give unto Caesar what is Caesar’s, he said it in the context of paying tax. He never implied that we should propitiate, appease or seek the favour of demons, along with worship of Jehovah.
We cannot serve God and devils. We must not provoke the jealousy of God. ‘Thou shalt have no other gods before me.’ Jehovah declared in Exodus 20:3 KJV. The Message translation is more direct: ‘No other gods, only me.’ Exodus 20:3 MSG. ‘No carved gods of any size, shape, or form of anything whatever, whether of things that fly or walk or swim. Don’t bow down to them and don’t serve them because I am God, your God and I’m a most jealous God, punishing the children for any sins their parents pass on to them to the third, and yes, even to the fourth generation of those who hate me. But I’m unswervingly loyal to the thousands who love me and keep my commandments.’ Exodus 20:4-6 MSG. ‘Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served…; and serve ye the Lord.’ Joshua 24:14 KJV.
If you’ll like to serve the one and only true God please prayer this prayer: Father I acknowledge that I am a sinner; that Jesus died for me and rose on the third day. I confess with my mouth that Jesus is Lord. I accept him as Lord and Saviour. Amen.
© Leke Alder | talk2me@lekealder.com