Prayer

Mark Alexander
March 23, 2014

When we are talking about God, we call Him "He," not "you." However deep our perception of God may be, God is still "He," not "You." We think of God in the third person. We are looking for God, we are observing God, we are trying to understand God, but we have only an indirect relationship with God. Then however deep you may understand God, have no to do with God. Just understanding.

We need to have communication with God. We need to have a give and take relationship with God. We must communicate with God. Otherwise, we have nothing to do with God. In order to realize God, in order to acknowledge God, we must have a direct relationship with God.

God must be "You." God must be "you," not "He." From "He" to "You." The relationship between God and man must he You-and-I relationship, an encounter between You and I. This is prayer. God must be second person to me. Otherwise, we cannot have direct relationship with God.

God and man were supposed to be one from the beginning. God and man were supposed to be able to have give and take action of love and beauty. But because of the fall of man, man became impure, he lost purity and beauty. Therefore, man was disqualified to be given love, joyful love. Man became the object of love no longer. The relationship between God and man was broken when man fell.

Although fallen man was disqualified to be given love, God had inscribed his nature within man. God cannot erase it. Because man's nature is inscribed by God, it is homogeneous with God's nature. Therefore there cannot be conflict between them, and God's nature within man cannot be destroyed. Therefore, once born as a man -- as a son or daughter of God -- this nature cannot erased. It is eternal. This is the reason why God couldn't destroy mankind. This is the reason why He has to establish His providence to save mankind.

Therefore, God couldn't stop loving man. But in order for man to receive love, despite his disqualification, the nature of love must be changed from joyful love to the love of compassion. Therefore, God's love was changed from joyful love to compassionate love.

When love is given, creations can manifest or reveal beauty. If a person is given love, he or she will be beautiful. When a girl is loved, she becomes beautiful. It's true. Even fallen man, when love is given, he becomes beautiful. And what is beauty before God? It is faith. The love of compassion is expressed through the providence or dispensation of God. The climax of His dispensation will be the coming of the Messiah. Therefore, when God gives us the Messiah, this is God's portion of responsibility, and to have faith is man's portion of responsibility, his five percent.

Then if we express beauty, God can give love of joy to us and we can restore our original relationship with God. Therefore, whether God can give joyful love or not will depend upon if we can fulfill -- if we can have faith or not. Therefore, because man committed, because man didn't fulfill his portion of responsibility, it is impossible for God to give love without a condition.