Our devotion this week is written by J.D. Walt and is entitled, “Right Here. Right Now.” J.D. Walt is the Executive Director at Seedbed.com. We hope this devotion encourages your faith.
“He ascended into Heaven and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.”
I love how Timothy Tennent, who writes our Daily Text each Sunday, puts it. He says Jesus did not just ascend from here to there. Because he ascended into the Heavens, he ascended from here to everywhere.
This is perhaps the first and most important teaching on prayer. We aren’t sending our prayers “up there somewhere.” We are speaking directly and immediately to the Risen Son of God. Though unseen to the naked eye, he is right here, right now. Jesus is not with us in the sense that someone who can’t come to our birthday party says they will be with us “in spirit.” Jesus is not with us “in spirit,” but in person–in the power of the Holy Spirit.
The Great Commission Jesus gave his disciples ends with the words, “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” By this he did not mean, “I’ll be pulling for you in Heaven.” No, he meant WITH YOU. In fact, it is the very meaning of his name: Emmanuel—God with us.
The ascension of Jesus mysteriously means two completely different things all at the same time. He is high and lifted up. He is nearer than our breath. This makes prayer “in the name of Jesus” far more than the expression of human longing. Jesus raises prayer to the level of participation in the unfolding of the will of God— on Earth as it is in Heaven.
The Ascension of Jesus Christ makes Christian prayer possible. To pray as a Christian does not mean, “I’ll be thinking about you,” as well-meaning people are prone to say when our life goes off the rails. It does not mean, “We will keep you in our thoughts and prayers,” as the anchor person on the evening news casually repeats in the wake of unthinkable tragedy. To pray as a Christian means immediacy of access to Jesus, who is right here, right now.
I want you to deeply ponder those four words. They are the foundation on which everything else we will discuss concerning prayer stands.
Right here. Right now. Most people wait until the end of their life to finally discover this ultimate reality.
Discover it now.
Right here. Right now.
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