Prayer, according to Jesus, is a time when we ask for God’s kingdom to come and God’s will to be done. It is when we invite God into our lives, and offer ourselves as agents to accomplish that will and spread that kingdom. But even as we step into God’s presence (see Hebrews 4:16), we are inviting God into our lives.
Let’s be honest, even as we pray the words and thoughts of Jesus (see Matthew 6:5-15; Luke 11:1-13), it’s easy to focus our time asking for our slice of daily bread. I am often short on his kingdom and his will and long on my needs and wants.Those things are significant.
Talking with God is our chance to be honest with him and that means being honest with ourselves. If prayer is a way of opening ourselves to God, then we step into the presence of a God who lives in light (1 Timothy 6:16). In our approach to God, especially when we seek his forgiveness for our sins, we are asking for his light to shine on us and expose, to ourselves and to him, all areas of our lives.
Five seconds, five minutes or fifty minutes, step into God’s presence now.
If prayer is a way of opening ourselves to God, then we step into the presence of a God who lives in light (1 Timothy 6:16).
When his light does shine on us and we allow ourselves to see what is revealed by it, we have to accept what we see there. His light dispels the shadowy places that we would keep to ourselves. This may tempt us to pray insincerely, to avoid the difficult and uncomfortable views that God’s light may expose.
When we truly come into the presence of God, his light burns away our pretense of righteousness and reveals us for who we are to a God that already knows us. The revealing light of the Lord does not teach God who we are; instead it allows us to see ourselves, and the pale complexion of places we have kept in the shadows.
It is in this light that we ask for his grace and mercy over those places that desperately need it. Because of this, it can be tempting not to pray, not to really pray but simply rehearse, to avoid the burn of such intense light on our hidden places.
But God’s light does not simply dispel the dark shadowy places that we wish to have remain hidden. Stepping into the presence of a God who lives in light reveals every part of us, the characteristics yet unfinished, as well as the habits that have been remodeled and remolded, revealing his work to recreate us into who he intends us to be.
We are grateful that the tools of renovation are in his [the Holy Spirit] hands and not ours.
When we take time to pray, it is a chance to tour ourselves, guided by the Holy Spirit. He walks beside us, pointing to the places where his work is not yet complete, reminding us that in Jesus Christ even those places we keep in the shadows are rooms to be renovated by his love. He allows us to remember the before of certain places, reminding us of the condition in which he found us, and the rejuvenation he has brought to our life. We walk with him, marveling at the work done and appreciating the potential that still exists for our growth. We are grateful that the tools of renovation are in his hands and not ours.
When we come to God in prayer, truly come into the presence of the Lord and invite him into our lives, it is an intimate and transformative experience. It takes us back in human history to the intimacy of the Garden of Eden when God walked and talked with Adam and Eve. God knew them; they knew God, and they knew each other and themselves. Prayer is a grasping at that original created goodness and fellowship.
