In the last post, I introduced three short prayers that I’ve had taped to the wall of my prayer closet for at least a year. I don’t really know how long, but at least that long. They are:
- Show me what it means to be faithful in prayer.
- Teach me to regard You as holy.
- Teach me to take possession of all that You are giving me.
I talked around the first one in part 1 and it sort of sums up to: faith is letting ourselves come to an honest and firm trust in God’s goodness despite temporary evidence to the contrary, and that faithful prayer is when that trust permeates our words and actions. We become a pure message of hope.
Today I look at the second:
2. “Teach me to regard You as Holy.”
I confess I’ve struggled with this one. Lord, help me to say it clearly.
Psalm 25:14 is one of my favorite verses. In the Passion translation it says, “There is a private place reserved for the lovers of God, where they sit near Him and receive the revelation secrets of His promises.” I love that. A private place, secrets shared between lovers! Some things are private. Some words are only meant for those closest to us. They are intimate and delicate, even fragile. This is the kind of holiness that God is showing me. Lovers are tender with one another. They keep each others confidences. They feel each others hearts. They thrive when the other thrives and break when the other breaks.
In Christian circles God’s holiness is often described in terms of His purity, the inability for sin to abide in the presence of God. Some say, “God cannot tolerate sin.” This thinking keeps people away from God, afraid of God. I think it is more that sin cannot tolerate God. Sin is the part of each of us that doesn’t care what God feels. It’s the part of us that only thinks about what we feel, with no thought for the other. It’s the part in each of us that pulls away and guards what is ours, fights for our own way, craves more power and control over the other. It’s the part of us that cannot and will not love any other.
I pray that the Holy Spirit will help you see the truth of this next statement. Even though God is Holy, and terrifyingly brilliant and powerful, everything He does is not to set you apart and keep you at a distance, but to draw you close to Him. He desires to know and be known by you. Jesus says, “I call you friends.” And that is what God has always sought from humanity.
He presented Himself to the Israelites in Exodus, but they said, “No, we will stand at a distance. Moses you go and tell us what God says. You go be His friend, we’ll stay here.” Jesus said the kingdom is like a man who found a pearl of great price and sold everything to have it. When you see what a Precious Thing the Lord is you move toward Him, not away. You sacrifice to be near Him. I used to think that God should do more miracles. Blow people away, then they’d have to believe, right? But no one saw more or bigger miracles than they did in Moses day. It’s not miracles that show us how truly remarkable God is. It is the Secret Place. It is the walk in Eden. It is the meal under the tree in Mamre. It is the hours of silence as the sheep graze. It is the nights of prayer on the shores of Galilee as all your worldly friends sail away.
It is this choosing to draw near, time and time again, that brings a love and intimacy that is truly holy. It is here that a relationship and trust, a faithful prayer, is cultivated. It is here that one learns to tread lightly on the Lord’s heart, to treat Him as precious and holy. This is how we who are so unloving on our own, learn Love.
In a world where balance and harmony are so hard to achieve, the paradox is that all that is needed is a well placed obsession! Those who chase Him and pursue Him like He is pursuing them, become His friends! They hear His secrets! The revelation secrets of His promises!
