The Four Five Spiritual Laws Part 2
© 08.25.25 By David Eric Williams
Jesus said, “This is how you should pray: “Father, may your name be kept holy. May your Kingdom come soon. Give us each day the food we need, and forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. And don’t let us yield to temptation” (Luke 11:2-4, New Living Translation).
To understand how the five spiritual laws pertain to Christian living, prayer and evangelism we will first examine the use of this model in our day-to-day life as followers of Jesus Christ.
The five spiritual laws begin by acknowledging the sovereignty of God the Father. To say “may your name be held in reverence” is to acknowledge the Father as worthy of worship. According to Scripture, he is worthy not because he is a creature who somehow achieved deity and is exalted but because he is the absolute other and truly transcendent. In other words, he is not of creation but is the Creator and therefore outside of creation. He is not beholden to the “natural law” in the way we are. Rather, he is the one who brought about reality and upholds it by his power.
This does not mean he is a stranger to his creation. God is intimately involved in all aspects of this universe. All things happen according to God’s will. Indeed, there is nothing outside his control. As Yahweh spoke through the prophet Isaiah, I create the light and make the darkness. I send good times and bad times. I, the LORD, am the one who does these things (Isaiah 45:7). Truly God is sovereign. Truly he is transcendent. Without a doubt he controls everything. One practical benefit of this is that, we know God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them (Romans 8:28). Thus, even those things we consider a disaster are part of God’s providential care for his people.
When we understand God is the sovereign ruler of the universe it changes the way we live our life. In the epistle of James we read, Look here, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.” How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.” Otherwise you are boasting about your own pretentious plans, and all such boasting is evil (James 4:13-16). Unfortunately, we tend to live as if we control our own destiny. Granted, the Scripture is clear concerning our duty to act responsibly. And it does not forbid us from making plans. Yet, even as we live a responsible, planned-out life, we are required to place everything at the Father’s feet. He is our sovereign; we must live according to his will to the best of our ability and recognize the outcome is ultimately in his hands.
We will continue our examination of the five spiritual laws in the next column.
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