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Knowing the Heart of the Father

By Christine Urrutia

March 18, 2020

Can we truly preach with power apart from knowing the heart of the Father? I start with a bold question because I believe it’s that important. Wait. Please allow me to correct that: Jesus thought it was that important! John 5:19 says, “Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner’” (NASB). Jesus, Himself, knew how critically important it was to consistently seek the heart of His Father in prayer. And if Jesus modeled it, then we cannot afford to not be doing it ourselves!

We can preach the Word of God. We can teach the Word of God. We can be really good at both, and God in His sovereignty can bless it, but apart from knowing the heart of the Father, apart from seeking a deep knowing of the Father’s heart as He knows ours, apart from intimately connecting to His heart and seeing through His eyes, we are missing Him! Our preaching needs to be intimately connected to the dunamis power of God, and more importantly His sheep need the invitation to regularly experience the dunamis power of God in their lives also.

That dunamis power is described as a “power, force or ability” and “an excellence of soul” (Thayer’s Greek). Strong’s Concordance defines dunamis as “power through God’s ability!” I love that it is cited in Strong’s as a feminine noun. The key to that power is found in 2 Timothy 1:7, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” It is the power of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit given to us that we may preach and teach through God’s ability. I believe that’s one of the many reasons why John 5:19 is in the Scriptures. Apart from God, we can do nothing. But through God, through modeling what Jesus did, we have the ability to preach with power! We have the ability to be the vessel, the conduit, through which God moves to transform the lives of both the saved and the ready to be saved.  

Oh Pastor, oh precious men and women of God, if you are already intimately connected to the heart of the Father, then I encourage you to allow the Holy Spirit to fan into greater flame that which your Abba Father has already placed inside of you. Continue the work of the Father as Jesus modeled. Be encouraged that you through God’s ability are making a difference, and the Father sees and loves you! Continue to consistently seek the heart of the Father through prayer and don’t limit Him. And if the many responsibilities of being a pastor or the challenges of being a pastor have begun to crowd that time with the Father, I exhort you to pause, re-focus or re-center and begin anew a holy pursuit of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit through prayer.

What did Jesus do? What He saw the Father doing! Praying pastors preach with the power of God because they are intimately connected to the heart of the Father!

About the Author

Pastor is a passionate pursuer of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. She loves Jesus! She is a wife, mother, pastor and teacher. She attends Cucamonga Christian Fellowship under the leadership of Superintendent Fraser Venter. She is currently in the Conference Ministerial Candidate process. Most importantly, she is a humble servant of the Lord.