Word of Encouragement (1/13/2021)

We are talking about how difficult it is to be diligent in prayer without experiencing “the sweet hour of prayer.” To experience it, we must set aside enough time to work through all the distractions and racing thoughts. We also need to trust that we can pass through them and rise above them. But there is more to consider.

That state of spiritual tranquility and clarity cannot be attained simply by persisting in prayer long enough. As we said yesterday, it has to be a result of communing with God. Unless we consciously and intentionally focus on God as the Audience of our prayer, we can engage in a monologue and a sort of self-talk therapy. How can we know that we actually had communion with God instead of engaging in a monologue?

This is not an easy question to answer. But here is one idea we can all consider: whether or not we have been changed in some way in the likeness of God after our time of prayer. You know that every interaction we have with another person affects us. Some encourage us and inspire us. Others drain us and depress us. Most of our social interactions don’t affect us that deeply but we can be sure that each interaction influences us in some way in varying degrees. One interaction may be so casual and bland that you don’t feel anything negative or positive about it. But you realize that it was not so “neutral” when you spend time with someone who makes you smile or gives you courage. In all our social interactions, the question is not whether or not we influence one another; it is, rather, what kind of influence we are giving and receiving.

If we cannot help but influence and be influenced by others, can we have communion with God in prayer and not be influenced by it in any way? If some people can affect us in profound ways, how about God? Can we spend time with God and not be changed in any way? If God is God, how can we be in His presence and not be changed? If God cares for us, how can we cast our cares upon Him and not be comforted by it? If His promises are true and He loves us far more than we can ever imagine (as demonstrated by the sacrifice of His Son for our redemption), how can we still be afraid? Think about what happened to Moses when he entered the tent of meeting and spent time with God. Did he not come out with his face reflecting the glory of God? That is a physical, dramatic example of what happens with us when we have genuine communion with Him.

I’m not saying that, if you don’t feel changed, you did not commune with God. The Westminster Confession of Faith helpfully says that God at times withdraws the light of His countenance and allows His beloved child to suffer as if he were talking in darkness without any light (18:4). During that time, we may not experience His comfort and mercies in obvious ways. But if we can recognize that God’s purpose in allowing such things in our lives is to make us desire God even more because life is not worth living without the light of His countenance, we are still being changed into God’s likeness.

When you pray, do you expect to have your attitude and perspective and desire changed by God? That is what should happen when we commune with Him in prayer. As you pray with this expectation, may you experience the life-transforming presence of God in a greater measure.

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