The Higher Life
Prayer. It’s something that Christian women do everyday. We talk to God during those quiet times in the morning when the rest of the world still seems to be asleep. We talk to God in the frustrating chaos of traffic as we’re rushing to get to school, to work, or to the gym. We cry out to God in the shower (when we think that no one else can hear us) and beg for his help to get through the next day, the next hour, and sometimes the next minute without having a complete mental and physical meltdown. We lift up our voice to God in worship, with fellow believers, as we confess our sins, repent of our ways, and rely on His Spirit to start anew. We talk to God in the stillness – uttering nothing with our mouths, yet often groaning in our souls. In his book Beyond Personality, C.S. Lewis describes it like this:
“An ordinary simple Christian kneels down to say his prayers. He is trying to get in touch with God. But if he is a Christian, then he knows that what is prompting him to pray is also God [the Spirit]: God, so to speak, inside of him. But he also knows that all his real knowledge comes through Christ, this Man who was God – that Christ is standing beside Him, helping him to pray, praying for him. You see what is happening. God is the thing beyond the whole universe to which he is praying – the goal that he is trying to reach. God is also the thing inside of him which is pushing him on – the motive power. God is also the road bridge along which he is being pushed to that goal. So that whole threefold life of the three-personal Being is actually going on in that ordinary little bedroom where an ordinary man is saying his prayers. The man is being caught up into the higher life … he is being pulled to God by God through God, while still remaining himself.”
I love it. Through all the craziness, through all the sin, through all the joy, through all the disappointments, through all the triumphs, and through all the heartbreaks of life, our God always remains intimately concerned with our prayers. Whether we are in our cars, in the shower, at the kitchen table, in our child’s room, or kneeling beside our own beds, every member of the Trinity is always involved when we pray. No prayer is too small; no request is too great; no sin is so insurmountable that it cannot be dealt with by our Triune Maker.
But here’s the question: how often do we feel that type of intimacy with God? We may know that it exists, but when was the last time that we felt like we were being caught into the higher life? And if it’s been a while … why?
7 Comments
Sue Bohlin
Feeling the love. . . or not
>>But here
Gwynne Johnson
Jesus, our initiator!
What a great reminder of God’s reaching out to us in every way.
Sharifa Stevens
Feelings Change
Brittany,
What a great post. Did CS Lewis say anything that isn’t quotable? Sheesh!
I am more and more convinced that a lot of faith isn’t feeling-based. It’s believing in spite of circumstances, that when I pour my heart out and am greeted by silence, that the silence is not all there is.
Terri Moore
It’s been a long time since
It’s been a long time since I felt that intimacy in prayer. Sometimes (most of the time) I feel guilty…..like "why in the world should I be asking for this when there is so much worse in the world I could/should be praying for?" And the bottom line is that sometimes (most of the time!) I don’t really believe God cares about my daily life. I can know it and say it and even teach it, but I don’t REALLY believe it. So sad and it makes it really hard to pray.
Brittany Burnette
Love this dialogue … Gimme more!!
Hey, ladies! I love your input on this. And you’re right – we do live (and pray) based upon what we know, not how we feel. But then again, I can remember going through the motions for years: yes, you know that you are loved by God; yes, you know that you have been chosen before the foundation of the world to be His; yes, you know that nothing shall ever separate you from the love of Christ Jesus. But isn’t there something wrong when you can know that, believe that, teach that, trust that, but feel so schizophrenic, abandoned, and out of sorts? Must there be the constant divide between the head and the heart?????
Heather A. Goodman
This may sound crazy (but
This may sound crazy (but when has that ever stopped me before), but spending more time writing fiction has connected me more intimately with God. I’m not arguing a one-to-one correlationg, but here’s some of my realization:
– Though I let my characters go through rough stuff, I don’t want to, and I hurt with them.
– Though I’m away from the story, I’m never away from my characters. They’re with me. (So maybe that’s the crazy part, but the best thing about being a writer is not getting carted away for hearing voices in your head. Or responding to them.)
az life insurance quote
replay
Recently my unlce has been struggling with his health. And I have found myself asking God to do what was neccesary for my uncle to be assured of his salvation in Christ alone. For me, the most effective prayer is the honest cry from the heart with desire to find rest in God’s will.