I had a thought that encouraged me this morn. I’m on our back porch listening to some acapella praise songs and starting my prayer time. I’m looking out over a patio down the steps from the porch. On the back line of our lot here is a solid row of very tall evergreens that hide the houses behind our lot, so it feels a little like nature even though it is in a suburban subdivision. Above the evergreens I see the sky which is cloudy this morning with a slight chance for rain later today. I always start my prayer time picturing the throne scenes in Revelation 4 and 5. First, the angels and 4 living creatures are praising the Father on the throne. Then Jesus, the Lamb standing as if slain, appears at the right hand of the Father and the praise is directed toward the Son. The scene closes with praise for both the Father and the Son on the throne.

As I begin my prayer with those images, another image comes to mind. I can see the face of Jesus in those clouds above the evergreens. I don’t know what form Jesus has taken since he ascended to the Father’s right hand after the resurrection. But I assume that He can take any form He wants and appear to people today. Many converted Muslims claim to have seen Jesus as part of their conversion. How can I doubt that? So I see Jesus’ face in the clouds and he looks at me. He knows all the little secrets I am hiding from people. I can open up and confess those things, which is humbling, and ask forgiveness. That’s kinda like when Jesus was on trial in the high priest’s palace and Peter is outside warming up by the fire, denying 3 times that he even knows Jesus. Luke 22:61 In this verse, right after Peter denies Jesus for the third time and the rooster crows, the Bible notes: “The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter”. This gaze caused Peter to remember Jesus’ prophecy that he would deny Him three times, prompting Peter to leave the courtyard and weep bitterly. Only Luke records that and he got that from some eyewitness (Luke 1:1-4). I wonder who he got that very private information from. Luke wrote his gospel probably late 50’s AD, so maybe he got it from Peter who died in the mid 60’s. It is interesting that neither Matthew nor Mark record that moment. The critics say that Luke and Matthew copied a lot of their gospels from Mark, but here is something that Luke has that is not in Mark, which makes us think Luke did not copy from Mark. He did his own investigative reporting.

But as I look at the face of Jesus staring at me, it makes me think about what happened after He looked at Peter. Jesus would go from the high priest to Pilate and be crucified by 9 AM that morning. So the face of Jesus then fades off onto a cross in the back corner of our lot. I see him suffering and dying for my sins and it helps me focus on the things that really matter today as I go about my business and pleasure. But wait, another image appears in the sky while Jesus is on that cross on the back corner of my lot. It is the face of a white haired, ancient looking father figure, the Father. He looks at me, and then he looks at his Son Jesus on the cross, and then He looks back at me. I can see His tears of love for His Son and for me. I get the sense that He is telling me that He loves me and is in control and that I need to quit worrying about things all the time, that I need to trust Him, to “let go and let God”.

One last image this morning on my porch. I am kinda making up and adding a few images but the ones about the face of Jesus and the face of the Father were real to me this morning. One last image that I add is Jesus being taken off that cross, buried on the opposite corner in the back of the lot, and then I imagine Him being raised from the dead and ascending to the Father. So my images end with the face of the ascended Jesus looking at me now, which was the very first image I saw this morning, telling me to go find someone to love, to help, to share His story with. So that is what I am going to try to do.

I hope this helps you see the face of the Father and Son in your prayer life. Too often we just say words, even praise, but don’t see anything. It helps to see the Father and Son.