Prayer: An Intimate Epiphany
Prayer is the intimate, yet constant, epiphany that He is God and we are not. To pray, you first must recognize that the One who holds the stars in their place exists - and not only exists, but is listening. You are incapable of bearing your burdens or crediting successes - it must all be of another entity. To pray, you must recognize that there is a higher and more powerful entity outside of yourself.
In my faith, prayer consists of four major components: praise, confession, thanksgiving, and requesting.
Praising God reminds my heart of the depth and infinite power of His heart. Whether or not I'm at a place in my life to offer praise, the obedient act of praising my God marks me as His creation and His beloved. It evokes comfort in my surrender. Praise allows my intimate epiphany of prayer to begin with His goodness and kindness.
Confessing to God sheds light on my brokenness and desperate need of Jesus. Through reflection of personal struggles and sin, I am naturally pointed back to the cross. By confessing my shortcomings, I come to the intimate epiphany of my complete inability to fix my circumstance or my being - rather I can lean fully on His saving and complete sacrifice.
Giving thanks to God accredits for His blessing - all that belongs to Him. Successes, people, places, events, things, emotions. All belongs to Him and yet He graciously provides more than enough for His children. Through thanksgiving, my intimate epiphany of His provision and kindness is made clear.
Requesting His presence in life's darkness establishes His position to change. It enables me to step outside of my delusion of control and rely on His full understanding and trust in His will. It is the intimate epiphany that I have the ability to boldly make my desires known to God. My God is one who cares for His creation, who wants to hear the aches and wants of His created. To ask Him with boldness requires trust in His presence and power.
I am finishing up the last few pages of my prayer journal. It consists of 2 years of praise, confession, thanksgiving, and requests. Of small intimate epiphanies that He is God and I am not. As I read through it, I see many answered prayers. Some clear and some hidden. From my prayers of anxiety and fear of not getting into graduate school to the joy of getting into 4. From the prayers for a friend who was exploring her beliefs to prayers of thanksgiving for her confident and newfound faith in Jesus. From prayers of trusting in His forgiveness to prayers of fully relying on it. From prayers of insecurity and fear of my academic inability to prayers of thanksgiving for thriving and learning. From prayers of requesting a God-fearing man to prayers of thanksgiving for falling in love. From prayers of heart ache to prayers of confidently waiting in His healing.
Despite my restlessness, prayer has provided His stillness in the intimate epiphany that He is God. It draws me closer to the my Creator and molds me to be more like His intended creation.
In my faith, prayer consists of four major components: praise, confession, thanksgiving, and requesting.
Praising God reminds my heart of the depth and infinite power of His heart. Whether or not I'm at a place in my life to offer praise, the obedient act of praising my God marks me as His creation and His beloved. It evokes comfort in my surrender. Praise allows my intimate epiphany of prayer to begin with His goodness and kindness.
Confessing to God sheds light on my brokenness and desperate need of Jesus. Through reflection of personal struggles and sin, I am naturally pointed back to the cross. By confessing my shortcomings, I come to the intimate epiphany of my complete inability to fix my circumstance or my being - rather I can lean fully on His saving and complete sacrifice.
Giving thanks to God accredits for His blessing - all that belongs to Him. Successes, people, places, events, things, emotions. All belongs to Him and yet He graciously provides more than enough for His children. Through thanksgiving, my intimate epiphany of His provision and kindness is made clear.
Requesting His presence in life's darkness establishes His position to change. It enables me to step outside of my delusion of control and rely on His full understanding and trust in His will. It is the intimate epiphany that I have the ability to boldly make my desires known to God. My God is one who cares for His creation, who wants to hear the aches and wants of His created. To ask Him with boldness requires trust in His presence and power.
I am finishing up the last few pages of my prayer journal. It consists of 2 years of praise, confession, thanksgiving, and requests. Of small intimate epiphanies that He is God and I am not. As I read through it, I see many answered prayers. Some clear and some hidden. From my prayers of anxiety and fear of not getting into graduate school to the joy of getting into 4. From the prayers for a friend who was exploring her beliefs to prayers of thanksgiving for her confident and newfound faith in Jesus. From prayers of trusting in His forgiveness to prayers of fully relying on it. From prayers of insecurity and fear of my academic inability to prayers of thanksgiving for thriving and learning. From prayers of requesting a God-fearing man to prayers of thanksgiving for falling in love. From prayers of heart ache to prayers of confidently waiting in His healing.
Despite my restlessness, prayer has provided His stillness in the intimate epiphany that He is God. It draws me closer to the my Creator and molds me to be more like His intended creation.
Comments
Post a Comment