Daily Devo - Wednesday April 23, 2008

“…and I pray…”
Philemon 6 (ESV)

As a small boy my imagination soared whenever we went to Grandpa’s house. Being some distance away, it was a rare trip; yet one that was filled with wonder and seemingly endless exploration. One sensed that the inside of his house tottered on the threshold of the doorway of time as it was filled with ancient relics and outdated trappings. Tools, cooking utensils, and even the vacuum cleaner were all pre-World War productions. The ticking and chiming of the grandfather clock, the sight of hand-spun blankets, and even the smell of mothballs tickled by childhood fancy. One image, in particular, stands out in my memory as best capturing the ‘essence’ of my grandfathers house—it was the picture of an elderly man (much like my own grandfather) kneeling in prayer. I loved staring at this picture. Though I couldn’t articulate it at the time, I was drawn by its magnetic faith. It held the mystery of a Chesterton novel, the beauty of a rainbow trout in a sun-lit stream, and the hypnotic power of young love. That simple picture portrayed a depth of faith and relationship to God that I am still striving for these many years later.

The Apostle Paul regularly referred to his prayer life throughout his writings. Rarely does e actually describe his prayer life; rather, he simply lives his prayer life out before the recipients of his letters. Paul understood not only the importance of prayer, but also its distinctive beauty and exceptional power.

The beauty of prayer lies in the world that it opens to us. As the old saying goes, ‘reading is the window to the imagination’. Even more so, prayer is the window to the very glory & presence of God. Hebrews 4:16 calls on believers to boldly “draw near to the throne of grace” (ESV). The prophet Isaiah, who in prayer was ushered before this very throne, says, 'In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple’ (6:1). Can you imagine the scene of this wonderful throne? The biblical writers, struggling for words to convey the limitless majesty of God, use terms like light (Ps 27:1), ‘a rainbow like emeralds (Rev 4:3), ‘a crystal-clear sea like glass’ (Rev 4:6), and ‘the perfection of beauty’ (Ps 50:2). When we bow the knee in prayer, we enter into the presence of beauty itself. Once seen, God becomes the precious jewel that we will give up all to possess. The puritan John Dod once said that “a man that has the spirit of prayer has more than if he had all the world”.¹ When we see the beauty of God—possible only in a life marked by prayer—the wonders of the world become little more than mud and clay.

Yet prayer also holds exceptional power. In it we are granted God’s strength and wisdom. Through it our spirits are fortified, and because of it our fears are abated. When we bow the knee before God the Redeemer strikes a death blow against the sin that has entangled us. Dod also says that “Either prayer will make a man give over sinning, or sin will make a man give over prayer.”

Distinctive beauty…exceptional power…and one remarkable, life-giving, wondrous God.

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1 Old Mr Dod’s Sayings (London, 1671).