Mystery & Prayer

Mystery. That’s a word to think about. It’s easy to forget that this whole thing started as a mystery…the invisible coming into visible. The intangible become tangible. The wonder of it all.


Mystery
1 a : a religious truth that one can know only by revelation and cannot fully understand
2 a : something not understood or beyond understanding : enigma b obsolete : a private secret c : the secret or specialized practices or ritual peculiar to an occupation or a body of people
3 : profound, inexplicable, or secretive quality or character

In our society today, it is so easy to lose sight of the mystery. We are in an age where we must
explain everything.


One of the frustrating things for Christian Artists in the 80’s was they felt they had to write a 3 minute song that expressed all the answers to life. Some of these artists left the Christian Music fold in order to have creative freedom to express themselves in such ways that would honor the fact that life is full of mystery. Because they did this, they were ostracized. They were called unbelievers.

We have been taught through religious systems, whether verbally or by actions that to be thinkers is wrong. To question the system was heresy. I believe that this is a great disservice. I believe it’s time to allow God out of the box we’ve tried to put Him in.


The Apostle Paul described for us that there is a mystery. He even told us what the mystery is. He didn’t bother to go any further in that thought. The mystery is simply “Christ in us, the hope of glory.” How can we explain this thought? Christ in us.

The first thought that comes to me is, “why”?


Why did Christ come to fallen man as a Man Himself?

Why did He die on a wooden cross?

Why did He take our sin upon Himself who knew no sin himself?


Why did God breath into man and he became a living soul?

Now, this simple question of why, causes the church to go into a frenzy. You’re never to ask why. That thought is absolutely absurd. Some have said that to ask why is to doubt. I don’t see it that way at all.


The word why is a mystery question. Why should be a question that we need to learn to embrace rather than shun.

Christ in us. Isn’t that what the purpose was? Christ was and is known as Immanuel… God with us. Not only is God with us. He is within us. His Spirit was left to dwell in us. Jesus called Him the comforter.


So how does this mystery play out in context to our subject of prayer? I find prayer to be very mysterious. I don’t fully understand its operations. You can be going along in your day when all of a sudden this drive and desire rises up within you to pray for a particular person.

As quickly as that desire rises up, it leaves and you carry on with your day as if nothing happened.


What does one say in prayer? What happens when you don’t know anything about the person or the situation? How do you pray?

This is where we must learn to trust the Holy Spirit within us. Christ within. The Word within.
Then there is the thought that the Apostle Paul made: pray always in the Spirit. How is that even possible?


I realize that there have been times that deep within my heart and spirit I’ve been praying and didn’t realize it. There is a deeper form of prayer than our mere words. Silence can be the deepest form of prayer of all. In the quiet, our spirit is able to pray in ways that words just won’t do.

There is a higher form of word. That is thought. When our thoughts are centered and zeroed in on a situation, we will find ourselves in a state of prayer that only Spirit can understand. Spirit is word. It’s Thought. Word comes from thought. Word is formed through thought.

Being a person who loves to talk, it is very difficult for me to quiet myself and allow my thoughts to come into a unity with my spirit so I can pray effectively.

Words…my words…tend to clutter up the Spirit world. God isn’t asking for my words of intelligence (or lack thereof). He’s not asking for my intellect. He’s asking for me to listen so I can catch the wave of His Words, His heart, His mind, His emotion, and His tone.

The question in prayer then becomes this: What is God’s intention in having me pray? What direction does He have in mind? When I find that direction, then what is His heart concerning the situation? What is it that He wants to speak into that situation?


Jesus said, “I only speak what I hear the Father is saying.” I certainly need to take the time and learn this. When I take the time to speak what is in His heart, I will be able to effectively minister to the situation. Before I can get to this point, I need to learn to listen first.

A lot less speaking…and a whole lot of listening. If this is what we need to do in the natural when ministering to people, how much more do we need to do the same in the Spirit.

Mysterious isn’t it?