Greetings Phil,
Surrender. Yield. Relinquish. These words do not hold a natural attraction for us. In fact, the opposite is often true. These words sound weak. Yet surrender is the first key to opening our hearts to God’s voice and to His ways. So let’s examine how what seems like weakness is really strength.
Let’s be honest. Does prayer sometimes feel like a wrestling match? Do you find yourself approaching prayer as though its purpose is to win God over? As though you need to plead your case and convince God to act? Does it feel like you are trying to talk God into something?
Let’s flip the script. Consider this: Prayer is not a way for you to influence God but a way for God to influence you. God does not have to be convinced to give. Giving is in His nature. He is more ready to give than you are to ask. He does not have to be encouraged to act in your best interest. You are the apple of His eye.
Reframe the purpose of prayer. Prayer is the way you open your heart toward God so He can do what only He can do. Seek Him for what He will do in you, not just for what He will do for you.
This refocusing does not preclude Him working on your behalf in response to prayer.
He will. He wants to. Scripture reminds us, “For the eyes of the LORD move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His” (2 Chronicles 16:9 NASB). We’ll talk more about the power of asking when we get to the section on knocking. I just want you to see that the request aspect of prayer is not the whole picture. When we boil prayer down to just trying to get God to perform for us, then we miss out on the primary objective of prayer, and we never find the kind of peace and purpose God intends for prayer to provide.
In prayer, we make ourselves fully available to our heavenly Father, allowing Him access to every fragment of our being, every detail of our lives. Prayer flows out of His deep work in us.
Consider a sponge. It has a molecular makeup that predisposes it to be absorbent. When a sponge comes into contact with a liquid, the sponge soaks up all of the liquid it can hold. That’s just the nature of a sponge. A sponge, because of its design, can’t keep from absorbing liquid. A sponge that has come into contact with liquid becomes saturated with that liquid. Everything about the liquid—all its chemical components and its color and smell and taste—is now soaked into the sponge. The sponge is the container of the liquid.
When we were born again and became new creations, we were given a spiritual makeup that, when we come into contact with the living God, will absorb as much of Him as we can hold. His thoughts will transform our thoughts. His heart will reform our hearts. His desires will reshape our desires. We can partake of the divine nature. We have the mind of Christ. The Spirit reveals the deep things of God.
As God authors our prayers, He doesn’t just dictate to us. He changes us. As we purposefully keep our lives soaked in His presence, He will give Himself to us. (Live a Praying Life®, emphasis added)
Breathe
When I approach prayer as first the coming together of my heart and His, as the releasing of all that I am to all that He is, it changes my experience of prayer. Prayer is not a duty to perform or simply a discipline to engage in, but rather prayer becomes the breath of my soul.
Father, as I soak myself in Your presence, saturate me with Yourself. Seep into my spirit pores until I am filled with You. Let me breathe in Your love for me, and breathe it out again toward You. You are my treasure, and my heart knows no other home. (Conversations with the Most High)
Marinate Your Heart
Today in your designated time of prayer, focus on letting His desire for relationship with you foment a response from your heart. What does it mean to you right now that the God whose presence you seek, seeks you? Write out your response.
In the quiet of the moment, in the inner sanctuary of your own soul, allow yourself to feel loved. Even adored. Let your heart soak in the words of Zephaniah 3:17. Pause after each phrase and let the truth put down roots.
The LORD your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing. —Zephaniah 3:17
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Jennifer Kennedy Dean 2021© | Legacy Writings
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Lord God, You are our treasure. We praise You in the Name of Jesus Christ.