“After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.” (John 17:1)
Recently, during my devotion time, I came across the phrase, “look up” and it began a thought process in me that brought to my mind several times where this phrase was mentioned and experienced. In the verse above, Jesus had just shared with His disciples what was going to happen to Him and to them, that He would be leaving them but that their grief would turn to joy. Picture the scene as Jesus prayed to the Father: He looked up toward Heaven and spoke to God. Looking up was important to Jesus.
And remember the story of the Fishes and Loaves? “Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke them. Then he gave them to the disciples to distribute to the people.” (Luke 9:16). Again, Jesus looked up. He knew where The Father was and, I suspect, He wanted His disciples and the people to know too.
During The Transfiguration in Matthew 17, Jesus was with Peter, James and John on the mountain where He was transfigured by the glory of God and they heard God speak through the cloud that covered them. The disciples were terrified and fell to the ground…“But Jesus came and touched them. “Get up,” he said. “Don’t be afraid.” When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus.” (v. 7-8). I’m reminded that when we’re afraid or in a trying situation, we may fall to our knees in fear and desperation . But we need to do as Peter, James and John did. They looked up and saw Jesus.
In my second retirement job, I directed a program that placed senior citizens in classrooms working with special needs children. One of the volunteers was a lady who was the Spiritual Leader of an Indian tribe who did presentations on Indian lore all over the region. One of the things she told me was about prayer. When we pray, we usually bow our heads and close our eyes. She said that when her people prayed, they looked up to Heaven and talked to God. I thought that was very interesting.
Two more things. The people at the store checkout; I don’t know if they’re taught this or not but most of them do not “look you in the eye” after checking you out. It really makes a difference when the person looks up at you, makes eye contact and hands you your receipt and wishes you a good day. Don’t you think it would please Jesus if we look up at him when we pray and “see” His face? Finally, the words of the old hymn, “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus” are so true: “Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face, And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, In the light of His glory and grace.” Look up! “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.” (Psalm 121:1).
Related Posts:
Discover more from Revelations From The Road
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Leave a Reply