|
Central, then, to Christian formation is the formation of the experience of God-God's Self within the self. Priority is a relational experience, and in this the Trinity enjoys us and we enjoy the Trinity.
So, in Prayer, while our focus is usually on intercession for others or petition for ourselves, the divine order is first on relating with the Trinity, not getting something other than God, but getting the "supper" Who is God-in-Christ. Larry Crabb, in The PAPA Prayer, cites the great Methodist missionary E. Stanley Jones, for the latter reminds us pointedly of the priority of getting God, first of all, in prayer:
The first thing in prayer is to get God. If you get Him, everything else follows. Allow God to get you, to invade you, to take possession of you. He then pours His very prayers through you. They are His prayers - God-inspired, and hence, God answered.
Prayer's like the fastening of the cup to the wounded side of a pine tree to allow the resin to pour into it. You are now nestling up into the side of God - the wounded side, if you will - and you allow His grace to fill you up. You are taking in the very life of God.
Therefore, we need to understand the principle goal and effect of Prayer. To examine how we pray, indeed, will show where we are in our spiritual Journey. How we pray reflects how we live and confirms a way to live. Prayer, then, is reflective and creative.
Prayer is not about getting something, principally. Prayer is mainly any means to get God and be gotten by God. This is the same as saying: Prayer is about having a relationship.
As I noted yesterday, we need to have a discipline of Prayer. Few, if any of us, will know God deeply without set times and means of Prayer.
What a wonderful opportunity we each have - to enjoy intimately the Lord of the Universe, the Mystery of mysteries, the Love of love!
Continued... |
