Day 14 of Prayer
When I was a little girl, I remember going to Sunday school and learning about prayer. I believed the posture of prayer was simple— eyes closed, hands folded, head down, and the heart’s desires made audible. It was very methodical for me to close my eyes and make my requests known to God. Mindless, really. I just knew I was “supposed” to do it because that’s what my teachers told me.
Well, fast-forward 20 years and I find myself re-learning the rhythms of what a vibrant prayer life truly looks like. The more I find myself leaning into God, the more I see my beliefs on prayer completely unraveled. The need for wordy lingo, the forbiddance of “uh’s” and “um’s” laced throughout, and certainly *at least* two minutes in length… all down the drain.
Please tell me I’m not the only one that believed the lie of a perfect prayer formula!
The more I lose myself in prayer, the more I truly lose myself. As I make a choice to put Jesus on the throne of my life, it kicks all of my comforts and cares out of the way and allows a sweet peace to settle over my heart. He doesn’t care what vocabulary I use— it’s all pleasing to Him.
He just wants to be with me (us) in the secret place… in a place where He can transform every single one of us.
Prayer, then, is both awe and intimacy, struggle and reality. These will not happen every time we pray, but each should be a major component of our prayers over the course of our lives... Prayer is simply this— “finding our way through duty to delight,” as Tim Keller writes.
In our Christian circles, we hear so often about having a “radical” prayer life. We think radical means everything from wildly enjoyable to miraculous, but in reality, the greek word for radical translates to “rooted.” That’s it, friends! Let’s make it our prayer to have a ROOTED prayer life, despite what is thrown at us along the way.
In John 15 verse 4, Jesus says, “Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me."
Rooted. Remaining. Secure. Those are words I think of when I meditate on Jesus’ words. That Scripture promises that when I remain in Him, despite conflict and struggle, or duty and contentment, that I will bear fruit. I often think of a caterpillar when I think of spiritual transformation, or entering into the secret place. I think of the state of the caterpillar as it journeys into its cocoon, and then I recognize the transformation of it exit as whole new creature. I can only imagine the lack of comfort and pressure that might exude in a time of being in the cocoon, but I can always count on the process promising fruit in the latter… that fruit being a new identity.
Friends, remaining in Him through prayer is our own metamorphosis. We can enter into prayer one way and leave as a completely different person. And we know this— every bit of transformation is a testimony to God’s faithfulness in divinely being a Potter to our clay-resembling lives. Prayer may not be comfortable at all times, but we know that Jesus is faithful. We know that as we choose to continually abandon ourselves and remain in HIM, that fruit will be found.
Lord, allow us to lose ourselves in You. Let us join in with your prayers (Rom. 8). Let us be rooted in You alone. Amen.
Written by Savanna Brown