The Substance

“YOU, LORD, IN THE BEGINNING LAID THE FOUNDATION OF THE EARTH, AND THE HEAVENS ARE THE WORKS OF YOUR HANDS; THEY WILL PERISH, BUT YOU REMAIN; AND THEY ALL WILL BECOME OLD LIKE A GARMENT, AND LIKE A MANTLE YOU WILL ROLL THEM UP; LIKE A GARMENT THEY WILL ALSO BE CHANGED.” Hebrews 1:10-12
 
When I was a child growing up in the church parsonage in Dallas, Texas, the Mary Martin version of Peter Pan was one of the highlights of our TV watching experience. It may have been the Golden Age of television, but TV was always in black and white at my house. But I digress.
 
Act One, Peter Pan became separated from his shadow, and Wendy sewed it back on, so it wouldn’t get away. The funny thing about shadows is that they seem to slip away when we wander away from an unbroken relationship with the light. Light is The Substance of a shadow, in the same way that prayer is The Substance of praise. They are related to each other.
 
The Book of Hebrews reads like a letter from Paul. If it didn’t come directly from his hand, it definitely reveals his mind. This passage of Scripture provides The Substance of faith, shedding light on the shadow of truth provided in Leviticus.
 
The preface of the first chapter of Hebrews launches a majestic passage about God’s Son, but the author couldn’t stop himself from breaking into unbridled prayer and praise to God, The Father. It should be a pattern for us all.
 
Talking about God without offering praise to Him, robs you of the power of His Presence. Talking to God without knowing Him personally, limits your faith in believing prayer. Prayer and praise both speak to God, but from a unique perspective.
 
Believing prayer initiates asking for His provision based on a confidence in His unlimited resources. Continuous praise involves basking in the content of His holy character long after His provision has been received.
 
Talking about God without praying to Him can express truth concerning His character. Talking about God falls short of The Substance of God, when you exchange expressing truth about Him for daily life-changing encounters and continuous soul-cleansing conversations with Him.
 
Prayer and praise without ceasing. Like breathing in and out, you need to do both.
 
This capitalized passage of Hebrews is a direct quote from Psalm 102:25-26.  It begins as the prayer of an afflicted man seeking mercy for himself and his nation. Both were in need of the life-changing Presence of God. His prayer for help ends with his shout of praise, and The Substance for all believing prayer, “You are the same.”
 
The Psalms are filled with passages of praise, extolling the virtues and the manifest Presence of God. Read them often, and pray to The Father. Acknowledge Him in the midst of your daily grind or any contemporary crisis, and you will sense His Presence. The Presence of The Father is The Substance of prayer, and leads you to praise Him for His priceless companionship and His unchanging character. 
 
King David discovered a new perspective of God when he walked through his own private, shadow of death experience. His crisis resulted in a powerful awareness of God, and a sense of His Presence. As a shepherd boy, David had sung and talked about an intimacy with God, but he had not yet grasped The Substance of The Shepherd. His breakthrough out of the shadow and into The Substance came when he no longer talked about God in the third person. Through prayer He came face to face with God and gasped out, “You are with me.” Psalm 23
 
NOTE TO SELF: The Psalms provide 150 powerful packages of prayer and praise. The writer of Hebrews was deeply rooted in them. You should be too. Praying to God, for any reason, should lead you to praising Him, on every occasion.  Read five Psalms a day, and you will read through the Book of Psalms every month. You will find a pattern of prayer and praise develops in your life. Your perspective on God’s power will increase, and your companionship with His Presence will intensify. You need both.
 
You discover The Substance of God through prayer and praise. Don’t miss Him through life’s shadow of death experiences. He will meet you in them, and walk you through them. When you find yourself in the shadow, pray to God believing, “You are the same.” Praise God, experiencing, “You are with me.” TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!