God’s in the Details: Praying in the Heart of Scripture
Most mornings, my walk takes me past Bernadette. She stands watering the rose bushes dotted around the front lawn of her apartment building. I’m not sure if she owns the building with its lush lawn and beautiful roses. All I do know is that Bernadette is present, tending to the plants with care and greeting me with a joyful “Good Morning my Sweet Dominic! How are you today?” To me, this is much more than a courteous nod from a neighbor. Bernadette’s words are as genuine and deep as the care she gives to the roses. She invites me into conversation and genuinely wants to hear my reply. She does this from the heart; as a friend seeking to deepen a relationship with her neighbor.
Most mornings my devotion takes me on a walk through the Scriptures. There they stand, ready to water my soul; words dotted around the chapters and verses of the Bible. My temptation is to own what I see, to dig in and know the words and their meanings; context, and theology that will justify my own thoughts and actions. I often feel I’m having to squeeze out each drop of wisdom as if the resource is so scarce that God isn’t willing to give it up without my effort. I confess that I easily overlook the details, forgetting that God has given his Word as a conversation starter; a Holy “Good Morning, my sweet child? How are you today?”
We know our God in relationship. God is Father to His children, encountering us by the Spirit and guiding our relationship through our brother Jesus Christ. God is One who gives the Word in an act of generous and open conversation with His beloved children. The prophet Isaiah heard the LORD speak of the gift this way:
“The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth. They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry. It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it. You will live in joy and peace.” Isaiah 55:10-12 NLT
When we slow down and even pause in the midst of God’s encountering us in the Word, we often discover a unique experience of His Presence buried in the details. Here we meet God on our walk. We’re greeted by the One who stands generously pouring Living Water upon His Creation. Just as hydration causes growth to the seed and harvest for the hungry, so the soul is soaked by the Living Water and sent out by God to produce spiritual fruit. Every utterance of God, every syllable of every word has a purpose: to communicate in conversation pure joy and peace, even in the midst of dryness and struggle. Praying with God in the Word is a discipline that is taught and learned on our walk with Jesus; the voice of God is heard in the details of scripture and heeded in our lived experience.
“Learning to pray with God in the Word begins with a willingness to both hear and listen to His voice.”
Learning to pray with God in the Word begins with a willingness to both hear and listen to His voice. This may sound a little “woo-woo” but trusting that we have a God who speaks is among the foundational elements of the faith. From the very first creative words found in Genesis to the continued vocal interaction between God and those who bear his image and likeness, Scripture reveals that we have a God who speaks. Our God wants to communicate in the plainest of terms, in ways that we can hear and understand rather than in coded messages and enigmatic symbols. We are created with ears to hear and hearts to listen. What makes the sound faint and the heart rigid are the other words we have heard and accepted. Like weeds, these words are sown by an Enemy who whispers loudly, “Did God really say…?”. In our desire to hear and listen to the voice of God we can take a lesson from Jesus. His interaction with the very same Enemy as he walked in the desert for forty days gives us a picture of what we can expect to experience on our own journey:
“During that time the devil came and said to (Jesus), “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread.” But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Matthew 4:3-4 NLT
Often the first words we hear in a time of prayer throw us off or cast doubt. Whenever we try to speak with God the enemy tries to sneak in the lies that make us believe that God is not really present or will not give us the life-giving words we seek. Letting the Spirit lead us in speaking out loud, believing in our heart that in and through the authority of Christ we can call out the enemy and demand silence in the Presence of the Living Word. Taking three deep cleansing breaths with a prayer for God’s grace in our hearing, we prepare our hearts and minds for God’s encounter through His Word.
“We are created with ears to hear and hearts to listen.”
Here’s where God speaks in the details. The Scripture we engage sounds different in the mind and heart of each believer, largely dependent upon current and past life experiences. None of us come to the Word as a blank slate. As we read and meditate on the Words of Scripture, different words and ideas will capture our attention at different times and seasons in our lives. We note these as the Spirit’s unique invitations to prayer. The Apostle Paul notes that often we cannot come to God in prayer on our own, but
“The Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will.” Romans 8:26-27 NLT
If it were the text above being contemplated the Spirit might lead us to reflect on our own weakness in prayer. Or maybe we’d be led to focus on the role and power of the Holy Spirit itself. Thoughts of our loving Father, who knows and hears our heart, may be the Word that provides entry into the time of actual prayer. Several readings of the text, with silent reflection in between, helps to confirm what we are hearing. God’s voice, present in all the details, becomes ever clearer in our hearts and minds.
From here our prayer becomes a conversation with God. The term for this conversation is a colloquy, which is a dialogical prayer that always begins and ends in gratitude. We begin giving thanks to God for his Word and asking that the Spirit help us in listening to the Word within the context of our lives. As Jesus Himself says “Ask, and it shall be given you”, and the colloquy prayer uniquely blends asking questions of God and listening for His answers. What does it mean to accept my own weakness in prayer? Listen. Note what’s heard in the heart and mind. What does the Spirit’s groaning tell me of God’s nature? Listen. Note. How does the heart of the Father know and shape my own heart? Listen. Give thanks to God for the gift of his voice speaking with you as a father speaks to his dear child, or friend to a dear neighbor.
As I reflect on the momentary colloquy I have most mornings speaking with Bernadette, I give thanks for our God who invites us into the same type of conversation; genuine interest in sharing the details of one another’s being and great joy as our hearts unite in mutual love and friendship.