Easter is now over (at least the celebration), and we are left to live in light of the reality of Jesus life, death, resurrection and eventual second coming. If we actually embrace those realities, then our lives have to include some very distinctive implications. Life is not just a random set of events that get strung on the necklace of survival. Life is a meaningful and profoundly important set of days in which we build a platform and leave a legacy. In the midst of life, we come to grips with the reality that there is more to this whole thing than what we can see and touch. There is something, or in our worldview there is someone, who is both connected to what we can see and touch in a personal way and yet is transcendent beyond our immediate and limited world. We believe that God is infinite and yet personal. We believe that God all-powerful when we are not. We believe that God is all-knowing of yesterday, today and tomorrow when we are limited in all three dimensions. We believe that God is all-loving and is actually working all things to work together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose even when we know so little about love. We believe these things because the Scriptures reveal these truths to us and we see them lived out in our day to day lives. Therefore prayer becomes one of the most reasonable and rational things we could ever do.
If we try to make sense of our lives and our world without the presence of the transcendent God of Creation then we will never have any satisfaction or peace. The world is just to messed up for that. But if we engage the all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-loving God with the desires and hurts of our hearts then we can begin to be touched and transformed by His perfect and powerful hand. This engagement is what we call prayer. It is the revealing our ourselves to the fullness of who He is. It is the exposure of our needs, our desires, our hurts, and our worship to a God who desires a relationship with us. Prayer is a place where we can be intimate with God, and it is a place where He can be intimate with us. It is a place where His peace can be transfused into our ‘blood stream’ even if our world is upside down and inside out.
For the next couple of weeks we will continue to look at John 17 and what is known as at the High Priestly Prayer of Jesus. He prayed this prayer just before taking the disciples to a garden on the last night of His life. He prayed for Himself, and then for His followers, and finally for those who would believe in Him through the impact of His followers. Why He prays is very important… how often He prays is very revealing… and what He prays is equally important and revealing. Prepare yourself to respond to Jesus example of prayer and to embrace the importance of pray becoming a more significant party of you life.
Your bro,
Kevin