May 15, 2018
Genesis 1:3-5
3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.
CONSIDER THIS
What is prayer?
A prayer is a word or a series of words spoken in the power of the Spirit. We think of prayer as bringing our requests to God. I am growing to believe God sees prayer as learning to speak like God speaks.
Into the midst of the formless, empty, darkened depths God speaks words. Here we witness the Bible’s first prayer. We will see it repeated several times in this opening chapter. It comes in at a whopping three words: “Let there be.”
The essence of these three short words can be distilled into a single word: Amen. Amen means yes, we agree, let it be so. Isn’t it just like God to begin the prayer in the way we typically end it?
“Let there be light,”
Amen, light!
Yes, it is like God to do this. Twenty-five times we see Jesus begin what he says with, “Amen, Amen I say unto you.” Here’s a fitting example:
In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. John 16:23 (ESV)
This would mean prayer is less pleading and more calling forth.
Prayer, or speaking like God speaks, begins with incorporating these three words into our praying vocabulary: “Let there be . . .”
The world around us desperately needs people with the audacity to speak like God speaks; to speak words in the power of the Spirit into the formless, empty, dark and deep situations. The world needs the followers of Jesus to become schooled and skilled with the creative speech of prayer.
Think of a difficult situation in your life right now. It could be in your family or at work or with a friend or colleague’s life. I’m thinking of my 12 year old son, Sam. He’s out of school for the summer. And he’s already a bit lonely. He feels isolated. He came to give me a hug before bed last night, and he said, “Dad, I just want something to look forward to.”
I’ve told you my tendency. It is to wade around in the formless, empty, dark depths of a situation. I want to learn to speak like God speaks instead. So I come before God, in the name of Jesus, embracing Sam and saying, “Amen! Amen! Let there be light. Let there be new friends. Let there be simple fun. Let there be flourishing faith. Let there be joy-inspiring plans for days ahead.”
This challenges me. It might be a good challenge for you, too. Give it a try.
Father, in the name of Jesus, in the power of the Spirit, as it comes to this situation ________________________ I say, “Amen! Amen! Let there be _________________________ .
Speaking like God speaks. We may be onto something!
THE PRAYER
Lord Jesus, you are right here, right now. I confess the gravity of formless and empty hold me down. Darkness clings to me like a comfortable blanket. I want free of it, and I know it begins with learning to speak like you speak. Let there be awakening to the new possible. Right here, Jesus. Right now Jesus. Amen.
THE QUESTIONS
- What do you think about this notion of prayer as learning to speak like God speaks?
- How does this challenge your present conception of prayer? How are you challenged by leading with Amen and “Let there be” ?
- How might you experiment with this approach? How might your intent to “pray for someone” become a practice of speaking like God might speak concerning them?
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J.D. Walt, is a Bond Slave of the Lord Jesus Christ. jd.walt@seedbed.com.
One Response
It was so courageous and helpful to me.