"Your life is all about a kingdom, and true prayer is all about a kingdom. And this kingdom is not your kingdom, but Christ's kingdom being established in your very body. And the secret of David must become your secret: remove the enemies of Israel from your life, show them no pity, and destroy them and preserve your body for your rightful King. And thus, you will become a house of prayer for all nations."
~an excerpt from Eric and Leslie Ludy's Wrestling Prayer
Lately the fullness of Christ's life has become so clear and evident to me. We celebrate the resurrection of the Savior we sing "He is risen," but do we really understand the truth and entirety of it? I would always nod my head and shout that Jesus is alive and do the same when I was taught that He lives inside of me, but it was never something that I actually even thought to comprehend until recently.
The Gospel of John begins with "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Then verse 14 goes on to say, "The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us."
Jesus Christ is the total and pure essence of God's word. Just really take a second to think about that--He was God on Earth; a pure, incomprehensible power. And in the midst of such holiness, He loved enough to wash His disciples feet... wow. It just keep thinking back to those two words: power and holiness.
Then as He ascended to Heaven, He put His spirit inside of us. He lives inside of me. It's incredible to think that I serve the living God, and that this living power and holiness is housed inside of my body. And because of this, I feel like there is a vast range of emotions inside that I cannot adequately express--and this why I worship. That's why I thank Him, cry, and continue to pray. Prayer is so so necessary.
But just as the Ludys have illustrated in Wrestling Prayer, we have to keep in mind that we are in "hostile territory." As we are the dwelling place of God's presence, we cannot allow it to be defiled. As you may recall, in Mark Chapter 11 Jesus enters the temple to find merchants buying and selling, so He goes on to throw tables and chairs to rid His courts of such a travesty. Christ then asserts, "Is it not written: 'My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations?'" (Mark 11:17).
Let us not allow His temple to be defiled. I want nothing more than to please the One who gave me life with the utmost holiness. And this reminds me that prayer is key--it'll take a deal of prayer to maintain such holiness, and ought to always result in prayer. Prayer is a cycle, and a crucial aspect to living.
Wow Sonia, that is so true! I love how u worded this! Something told me to go to your page this morning,this really spoke to me. Reminds us all that prayer is an essential part of our lives and must keep in habit.
ReplyDeleteOh that's so true! It's so easy to slip out of the habit of prayer when it's very much the essence of life! I just read recently about God living inside of us... maybe He's trying to get through to me. When He lives inside of me, I have to keep Him alive!
ReplyDeletethank you so much for your comment! I really couldn't have said it better myself, that it's one of those statements we don't normally take the time to see the depth in but it's one of those statements that when you do, it shows you how unreal God's love is for us! It's pretty amazing! I'm so glad you like that and I hope you do pick up his book because it is AMAZING! Just about each line is marked up, it's so good!
ReplyDeleteAnd your post is something I've been thinking about lately too! To know, and somewhat grasp, that I am housing the God that moves mountains and calms the seas is such a humbling fact. Thank you for writing this because it just reiterates these feelings!