08/18/2024
This morning let’s explore an important truth... Prayer and consecration are inseparable. These two attributes of a faithful life go hand in hand. I can imagine a scenario in which a person dedicates their life to God, but how long can that ideal be continued without having a personal conversation with God; without prayer? Such a dedication without the relationship that goes along with it is purely infatuation, and destined to fade away. Prayer is action; it is intimate, and strengthens us in our faith.
“” Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.””
Matthew 26:41 ESV
If you're having trouble visualizing this, think about a famous movie star; now think about those fans who follow them without ever knowing who they truly are. Their entire perception of that star is based on their ability to act, and the characters who they have pretended to be... But that is not who they really are. God doesn't pretend to be something He is not, but we often think of Him in ways that turn out to be inconsistent with how we should actually view Him. God is open about who He is, and also tells us who He is not.
“God is not man, that he should lie,
or a son of man, that he should change his mind.
Has he said, and will he not do it?
Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?”
Numbers 23:19 ESV
We typically come to the Lord based on a very shallow understanding of who He actually is; we think we know, but as time passes and our conversations deepen (prayer) we come to realize that we really didn't know Him as well as we thought we did.
I have watched young people enter into a marriage without taking the time to really know their future spouse, only to find out after the honeymoon was over that they didn't know this person at all. To a degree that is our initial relationship with God. The difference is that God is good in every way and we are not discovering skeletons in the closet, but hidden gardens of great beauty.
“I will give you hidden treasures,
riches stored in secret places,
so that you may know that I am the Lord,
the God of Israel, who summons you by name.”
Isaiah 45:3 NIV
So prayer is inseparable from consecration; it molds our faith and gives life to our devotion. Dedicating ourselves is something we can do, but changing who we are at a very basic level is something that only God is capable of. Our walk of faith is more than just watching Him from afar or reading about how we should live our spiritual lives; it is walking and talking with God every minute of every day and letting Him teach us what the words we read in the bible actually look like in practice.
I pray that we have eternity to sit at the feet of the Lord and learn more about who He is and who we are becoming in Christ. I pray that none of us consecrates ourselves and then neglects the prayer that provides the relationship we so desperately need. I pray that our prayer life places our hand in God’s as we walk through His hidden gardens of beauty.
Prayer:
Father, we thank you for giving us prayer, and showing us who you are through it. Thank you for entering into relationship with us that we might know your goodness, and be strengthened in our faith. Thank you for the heavenly treasures that our prayers allow us to find hidden in the secret garden of your Word, and for the depth of faith and prayer that leads us to them through your Holy Spirit. Help us Abba as we kneel and prostrate ourselves before you; seeking to know you better, and to love you more. Let our hearts gently fall upon you like spring showers to water your garden, and hold us close as we consecrate our lives to the ground where your Word is rooted. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God whose garden holds all that is righteous and holy, and who’s Holy Spirit opens our eyes to its beauty. Holy are you who hears our prayers and embraces us in them as we come to you in our secret places, and weep before you in the silence of our prayer closets. Merciful and full of grace are you who washes us clean with the blood of Christ as we enter into your presence, and wonderful is your heart that loved us so much that you sent Him to redeem us while we were yet sinners. Hear our prayers today Father, and lead us through them into eternity with you where we can come to know you and seek you without end, and where you can bestow the hidden secrets of your garden, the delights of your character, and shine the glorious light of yourself, upon us forevermore. Hold us gently in your arms as we lay still and at peace… knowing that you are our God, Father, Abba, our all in all, and sufficient in all things..
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, be still my beating heart, and praise Him oh my soul. Amen
Rich Forbes