prayer

An Anxious Heart

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by Linda Rex

I’ve notice in the past few weeks as I have been making a transition in my life there is sometimes a sense of underlying anxiety in my heart. This creeps in here and there as I am facing the changes and decisions which come with the closing of one church and the need to move closer to the other.

It is easy to get caught up in the decision-making and the concerns about what to do, how to do it, and when to do it. And to get caught up in it to the place where I become anxious or worried about what to do next, or whether everything is going to be all right. When I feed this anxiety, it can get to the place where I’m afraid it is all going to fall apart and I’m going to be left destitute and on the streets. This isn’t healthy.

This anxiety never presumes God isn’t there in the midst of my problems. But I do believe there is a subtle unbelief which drives it, which says, “I know God is love and all that, but he doesn’t really care about these little details in my life.” It questions God’s heart—does he really love me? Does he really care that I am struggling or that things are getting hard for me? Does he know and understand my heart and my feelings?

We are instructed in the Word of God to take all our anxieties to God and to rest in him. Peter, who wrote this passage, instructs us at the same time to be on our guard, for the evil one seeks out the weak and the stragglers, hoping to find someone to prey upon. This is why it is so dangerous to feed our anxieties rather than casting them upon God.

Focusing on our anxieties rather than turning them over to God keeps us in that place of unbelief where Satan would like us to stay. Staying in unbelief, in not trusting God to care for us and to love us, in believing God’s heart is evil and not good toward us, opens the door for Satan to go to work in our hearts and lives, twisting us into tighter and tighter knots of anxiety, despair and unbelief. We can even get to the place where we stop trusting in God at all because we no longer see God for who he really is, the God who loves us and wants what’s best for us.

The thing is, we sometimes expect God to be a person who only does fun, happy things in our lives. We figure if he’s a good God, then he never allows bad things to happen. Our God-concepts are a little immature, I believe. At least, I find mine often are. I want a god who does everything I want him to do when and how I want it done. And that’s not Who the Triune God is. He is not my flunky who waits on me hand and foot and gives me everything I want when I want it. And my carnal humanity doesn’t like that.

The writers of the New Testament over and over remind us there will be suffering in this life, especially for those who choose to follow Christ. Bad things will and do happen. Life can be quite difficult and painful at times. But none of these things alter Who God is. And none of these things alter God’s love and care for us in the midst of what we are going through in our lives.

What these struggles and difficulties in our life provide are opportunities to trust God. These are opportunities to once again believe the truth about Who God is and how much he loves and cares for us. These are opportunities as we trust and walk with Christ by the Spirit through them for God to form Christ in us, to transform our hearts by faith. These struggles and difficulties become opportunities for God to be glorified by healing, restoring, renewing, or just sustaining us in the midst of them. God loves us through our struggles and pain.

I think this is why Satan looks for people to prey upon when they are at their lowest. He knows when we trust God in the midst of difficulty, struggles, and pain our relationship with God deepens. We end up closer to God than when we began. And we grow in our Christ-likeness. And those are the things the evil one seeks to destroy—relationship, community, love, and the restoration of humanity in the image of God in which he was made.

So as anxiety is creeping around the corners of my mind and heart, I keep turning to Christ. He is the one who holds in my place, and in yours, the perfected peace and trust we need in the midst of all these things which are happening in our lives. We can cast all our anxiety upon God, because God in Christ came and shared in our humanity, and knows and understands all we are going through. God knows our hearts and cares for us. His heart toward us is good.

As we turn to Christ in the midst of all we are going through, God works to perfect us, to restore our true humanity, to strengthen us and plant us with a firm foundation in Jesus Christ. God draws us closer and closer to himself into deeper relationship with him.

And God also works in community to strengthen and help us. God places us within a spiritual community, the body of Christ, so there are others to come alongside and help us through our difficulties, whether through prayer, support, encouragement, or physical help.

One of the greatest blessings for me has been the gift of a new family here in middle Tennessee through the churches I have been blessed to pastor. I am comforted by those who pray for me and my family. And I am encouraged by all those who have offered physical help and support. This reflects the Triune life and love in our humanity, and demonstrates God’s unconditional love in tangible ways in my life. And this also helps to ease the anxiety which is a natural part of our human response to change.

It is good we are learning how to show love to one another in healthier and more tangible ways as the body of Christ. It is through this loving one another in the midst of difficult times we demonstrate the love of God, and enable others to experience a taste of the Triune life and love. May we continue to grow in Christ by the Spirit so others can experience God’s love and grace more and more as time g

oes on.

Abba, thank you for your gracious love and grace. Thank you we can turn to you in all our anxiety and distress, and you care for us and lift us up. Grant us the grace to turn to you and to trust you in the midst of every difficulty, struggle and joy, and to provide support and love to one another as well. We give you praise and thanksgiving for your faithful and abundant love, through Jesus and by your Spirit. Amen.

“Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world. After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.” 1 Peter 5:6–10 NASB

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A Citizen’s Prayer

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by Linda Rex

One of the concerns I have as I watch the political debate and the community of faith’s response to it is the constant appeal to Christians in this nation to work through prayer and righteous living to make America great again. There is a subtle message beneath all of this rhetoric which says that somehow we are a special nation, the Israel of God, the chosen people, and if we just repent and turn back to God, everything will all be better. What I’m hearing is, all of this upheaval is just because America has turned away from God, so if all the Christians in America would humble themselves and pray, God will fix everything.

The main text used to defend this position of calling the nation (or the Christians in the nation) to prayer is 2 Chronicles 7:14: “[If] My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” (NASB) I have some real concerns about the way this scripture is being used to promote what are, in my opinion, some very nationalistic agendas. I also believe the way it is presented forces us back upon ourselves as the means of getting God to change our circumstances and to remove the consequences of our choices.

The desire to have America great again I assume must be because we want to live freely and abundantly in this nation we call home. It would indeed be a good thing to be able to practice our faith and to enjoy our freedoms without fear or oppression—and for the most part, we’ve been able to do that in this country. But there are forces at work which are making it more and more difficult for us to do this in this country, and that is what drives this need to ensure our domestic felicity, so that our “happy home” will continue to be just that.

Whenever I hear the statement “Make America great again”, I cringe because I am reminded of how post-WWI Germany sought to make Germany great again. This was the cry of the Nazi’s which enabled them to gain political power, and enabled them to promote many of their agendas which otherwise may have been rejected by the German populace. Sadly, the German church at that time also got caught up in this nationalistic momentum to the point they gave the leadership of their church to Hitler himself, and began to promote his faith rather than the truths of the faiths as established by the early church. It was this battle Dietrich Bonhoeffer chose to fight by remaining in Germany when he could have stayed safely in America.

The point is, we need to get rid of our nationalistic focus and turn back to Jesus Christ as being the central “Who” of this whole matter. Looking at this particular passage honestly, through sound exegesis, would help us to do that if we were willing. So let’s begin by reading the passage in the context in which it was originally written:

“Then the LORD appeared to Solomon at night and said to him, ‘I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice. ‘If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people, and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to the prayer offered in this place. For now I have chosen and consecrated this house that My name may be there forever, and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually.’” (2 Chronicles 7:12–16 NASB)

The first thing we see is this was a statement God made to King Solomon after his prayer at the dedication of the temple he built in Jerusalem. God was explaining he had chosen the temple as a place for sacrifices to be offered to him just as Solomon had asked him to. The Lord would hear and answer the prayers of his people Israel when they would humbly seek his face in prayer and turn away from evil. The God, whose Name is Father, Son and Spirit, placed his name upon that house and affirmed his eyes and heart would be there as well.

This whole conversation took place within the covenant relationship of God with his people Israel. This was a reaffirmation of that covenant in which God included this house of worship in his relationship with Israel out of his gracious love toward them. Nowhere in this conversation do we read anything about the nation of America—it did not exist back then, nor was it included at that particular moment in this conversation. The whole discussion was with regard to God’s covenant relationship with his chosen people, Israel, and his desire to love them and to receive their worship and prayer.

When we read the continuing story of God’s children Israel, we find they did not honor their part of their covenant with God, and in time even Solomon’s temple was overrun and destroyed. They did not have the heart and will to love and obey God. They did not humble themselves, repent and pray, or the destruction of the nation would have been delayed as it was in the time of King Hezekiah and King Josiah, who led God’s people into a place of repentance and renewal. Instead, Israel and Judah ended up losing everything God had given them in his gracious love.

This passage, we’ve seen, was a conversation God was having with the king of the nation of Israel with regards to a temple which was eventually destroyed and replaced with another one many years later. Some exiles made their way back, thanks to the Persian king Cyrus, and the temple and the city wall of Jerusalem were rebuilt. In time, a baby was born in Bethlehem, who was the true Son of God and would fulfill in his life, death, resurrection and ascension, all the promises made to Israel, for he stood in their place.

Jesus Christ came as the Israel of God, the Son of God, Abba’s Word, who was both God and man. We see Jesus, who had no sin, repenting and being baptized for his people Israel, and for us, and we see him sharing in Israel’s wilderness wanderings by facing the evil one during forty days of fasting in the wilderness of Judea. Jesus lived the life of obedience, humility and prayer Israel was called to live, but never was able to. In his life, death, resurrection and ascension, Jesus fulfilled all of the covenant God had made with Israel—he did what they never were able to do.

Ultimately, we see Jesus after his resurrection, standing in the presence of God as high priest of Israel and of all humanity, bearing in his being the names of all people before Abba in the Spirit, being the One who is truly humble who prays in the Spirit and in truth for each and every person in our place and on our behalf. It is Jesus’ prayer which Abba hears and answers, and each and every prayer we give is caught up in Christ’s prayers and made acceptable to the Father.

In this same Christ, the barriers between human beings were and are torn down. We learn in Acts the early church had to face the reality God did not distinguish between Jews and Gentiles when it came to having a relationship with God or each other. All nationalism was thrown out the window and replaced with the reality we are all a part of the body of Christ by the Spirit. All were included in God’s grace when it was given, and all are called to faith in Christ and offered eternal life—knowing Abba and his Son whom he sent.

The life we live, no matter our race, ethnicity, nation, tribe and tongue, is bound up in Christ and is held in him in God. Whatever good deeds we do, whatever repentance we may muster up, all comes first from God through Christ in the Spirit. It is Christ’s prayers and intercession which will bring about change in America.

But Christ is concerned about a whole lot more than just this nation. He is concerned about all of humanity. And he is a whole lot more concerned about our spiritual transformation and the furtherance of his kingdom than he is about whether or not America is the most prosperous, paradise on earth. This world is passing away. But our relationship with God, whatever it is, transcends this physical world and will last beyond it. And this is what God wants us to invest our effort, time and energy in.

Abba has work he is doing through Christ in this world. He’s sent Christ on a mission of reconciliation with God and man to be worked out into every part of life by the Spirit. We can participate in this through our humility, repentance and prayer—but apart from Christ and the work of the Spirit, our humility, repentance and prayer is worthless. It’s just a bunch of hot air and will not change a thing, except to make us exhausted, and to fill us with disappointment when things don’t go as we expect.

In a nation obsessed with nationalism and power of the state, the apostle Paul instructed his people to pray for their leaders so they could live and preach the gospel in peace. He also reminded them their loyalty was to God first, and not to the nation. We are citizens of heaven, he said. These are words we can take to heart today, because we also are citizens of the kingdom of God, and are seeking a peaceful environment in which to preach and live out the gospel of Jesus Christ.

But we need to see this as our participation in what Jesus Christ is doing in the world today as we share in his mission of reconciliation. It is his work as our intercessor and high priest which will make the difference in the world today. It is his Spirit who calls us back to him, to repentance and faith. It is Abba who pours into us and our world a different heart and mind. We share in the work of the Trinity as God brings about healing and change. In my mind, this is the heart of this passage, and how we should read and apply it today.

“First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” 1 Timothy 2:1–4 NASB

“For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.” Philippians 3:20–21 NASB

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Savoring the Moments

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By Linda Rex

A late night, early morning and little sleep is par for the course lately. Anxious questions and urgent concerns that have already been addressed and readdressed try my patience. A prayer wafts from my heart that I will have the grace to cherish the moments rather than ruin them with self-pity or frustration.

Another concern is raised. What can I answer other than the truth—we don’t know the day or the hour. We just know that the end is near. You will be going home to Jesus and I will be staying.

Out of my mouth, the Spirit speaks the words of comfort: “Mom, this is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.” She nods with a smile and says, “Yes, we will.”

After a while it is time to take the dog out back, so I wander out, my bare feet in the cold, wet grass. I feel for a moment as though I’m walking in the Garden of Eden, with the presence of God near me, offering me his comfort and peace. I hear the echo in my mind and heart of the Spirit’s word, “This is the day the Lord has made…” and I feel a sense of gratitude for God’s comfort and encouragement.

Sitting again at her side, we talk about life and death, family and the things that really matter. We make sure there’s no unfinished business between us. These are precious moments—sacred moments, really. I choose to drink them in rather than just let them pass me by.

After an hour or so I go to my room to take care of something and pause to read today’s devotion out of a book on my desk. I smile as I read the familiar words: “This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.” I think I know what God’s word is for me today.

Thank you, Lord, for another moment and another day with the people who mean the most to us. Thank you for the relationships you have given us in which we know others and they know us. We are especially grateful that you know us down to the core of our beings and have brought us to this place of knowing you. There is an indescribable joy in this knowing and being known. We anticipate the time our time in eternity with you through Jesus our Lord. Amen.

“This is the day which the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Psalm 118:24 NASB

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Prayer as Participation

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By Linda Rex

Last night I watched one of the episodes of “A.D.” in which the disciples were gathered together praying on Pentecost. The movie showed them repeating over and over the words of the prayer Jesus gave them.

I found this quite disturbing because I have a really hard time believing after walking and talking with Jesus for three years they had nothing else to say to God other than this. Surely they witnessed many conversations between Jesus and his heavenly Father. And the intimacy in that relationship could not have been hidden from them, especially when Jesus spoke about how the Father was in him and he was in the Father.

Inherent within this prayer though is the one lesson Jesus taught his disciples over and over: The kingdom of God was not going to be the kingdom they expected it to be. In other words, the kingdom to come would not be a restoration of the human kingdom of Israel, but rather a kingdom formed without hands—God’s kingdom of heaven established on earth through the Messiah Jesus, an eternal kingdom of divine rule, of God’s will being done, in every part of our human existence.

Sometimes when it is hard to find anything to say to God, it is helpful to be able to recite a prayer from memory. This is why these written prayers, or the prayers given to us in the Bible, are helpful. They provide a way for us to reach out to God in some way, even when our hearts are resisting the relationship.

In truth, prayer is an integral part of our relationship with God. Praying, in whatever form it may take, is our conversation with God. It can be as natural as breathing, as we go through our day and include God in every moment. It can be a spiritual discipline, being expressed in many forms both privately and publically, in which we take our concerns to God and intercede on behalf of others.

But in prayer, we must always remember the direction Jesus gave us—it is God’s kingdom and God’s will we seek to be done here on earth. In other words, we release our personal expectations and desires and allow God to do whatever he believes is best in the situation we are praying about.

God has a lot of unique ways in which he deals with problems. We tend to take a pretty direct approach, asking God to fix things and fix people. But often instead of changing the thing we think needs to be changed in a situation, God opts to change something completely different. And in doing so, he succeeds in bringing about what really matters—the transformation of human hearts and the restoration of relationships.

God’s heart is expressed through and in loving relationships. It is his nature to build, heal and restore. Sometimes God will tear something down so he can build it up again in a new way, or so he can build something entirely different. His wisdom surpasses us so much—we need to trust him to do the right and loving thing in every situation. We need to believe that he is indeed good and that his heart is full of everlasting love and grace for us.

The main thing that the disciples were doing that day of Pentecost was waiting. They were waiting on God, on Jesus to send the Holy Spirit from the Father. Their participation in what God was doing through Jesus was prayer. They prayed and they waited. When the Holy Spirit came and Jesus began to give them direction, then they acted.

Because they were living and walking in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, the empowering, transforming Holy Spirit was made evident in a dramatic way whenever the disciples prayed. Their prayers were effective as they were prayed in accordance with the will and purposes of God. They prayed as Jesus directed them to pray and as they were led by the Holy Spirit to pray. So when they prayed, awesome things happened.

When we pray today in agreement with God through Jesus and in the Spirit, things happen—God works in new ways. Through prayer, we participate in God’s work in the world. We are included in his missionary work of bringing his kingdom to earth and accomplishing his will in the world. May we each be diligent in prayer, participating by the Spirit in Jesus’ perfect relationship with the Father, and seeking God’s will to be done in all things through Jesus our Lord and by his Spirit. Amen.

“Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.]’” Mt 6:9–13 NASB

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Eucharistic Prayer

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By Linda Rex

It seems that so many of us go through life trying to fill some deep emptiness within our soul. We are driven by our needs, our hurts, and our losses. We live like we are poverty-stricken and as if we have to beg and plead with God to get him to do anything to help us. It’s as though we feel that we’re all alone in the universe trying to sort out and fix everything on our own.

But the truth is that this isn’t about us at all and never has been. We’re busy striving to fill this emptiness, trying to make life work, thinking we’re starving, poor orphans, when reality we are wealthy adopted children of God Almighty.

But God is calling us to rest, not to striving. God has given us rest in Jesus—all we need for life and godliness are ours. We’ve been given the “two hands of God”, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, and by doing so, God has given us his very self.

It’s not about us, but about the will of the Father worked out through his Son Jesus and in his Holy Spirit. We are bound in union with God in Christ and we share in the family relationship in the communion of the Holy Spirit. We are seated at the heavenly table of communion sharing in Christ’s intimate relationship of love with his Father in the Spirit. So we participate in the life and love of Father, Son and Spirit.

Our response to this rest in Christ is gratitude. Here in Colossians 4, Paul uses the word eucharisti which is translated “thanksgiving” in the NASB. Our attitude in prayer is one of thanksgiving or eucharist. We participate in the thanksgiving, gratitude of sharing in the heavenly life and love.

So our prayer isn’t done in a desperate plea, begging God somehow to consider possibly helping us—as though he was indifferent to our suffering and needs. We can ask, but we do so in an attitude of gratitude, resting in the reality that we are God’s beloved adopted children who he cares deeply for and is protectively watching over. Instead of seeing the world through the eyes of need and suffering, we see it through the eyes of gratitude, knowing we have nothing to fear.

Our life of prayer flows, then, out of gratitude. To live in gratitude requires faith, dependency upon God, living in relationship with God. We grow in our relationship with him, coming to know him more and more intimately and so coming to trust him more and more. We come to see his heart toward us is love and grace. We come to see and admit that we are not the center—he is.

This Eucharistic prayer reflects gratitude that God in Christ has freed us from sin, self and Satan and has given us his gifts and calling in the Spirit. We learn to trust God to do what is needed in each situation in our lives. We find ourselves thanking God more than asking him for things. We live in a relationship with God that is so meaningful we want to share it with others.

He has welcomed us to his table which is full and overflowing. So we are motivated then to invite others to come to the table to eat with us. We begin to pray for others to share in the Triune life. We are moved to share the good news of life in Christ, desiring others to share in the family circle with us. Our gratitude for God’s awesome gift motivates us to share the truth that we have new life in Christ—we are forgiven, accepted and beloved.

Thank you, Father, for your great love for us. Thank you for sharing your very self with us in Jesus your Son and in the Holy Spirit. Grant us the grace to live in gratitude, offering our prayers in an attitude of thankfulness, and inviting others to share in our abundant blessings through Jesus and in the Spirit. Amen.

“Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving; praying at the same time for us as well, that God will open up to us a door for the word, so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ, for which I have also been imprisoned; that I may make it clear in the way I ought to speak. Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person.” Col 4:2–6 NASB

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Who is God For You Today?

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by Linda Rex

There is a way of reading and meditating on scripture that informs our knowledge of God. It also informs our relationship with God by bringing to our minds the attributes and will of God in relation to each of us as his children.

For example, when I read a particular passage, I first ask myself this question: Who is God in this passage?

If I were reading Hebrews 2, the answer would include the following:

  • God speaks and his Word is unalterable
  • He exacts judgment
  • He provides salvation
  • He testifies to us through signs, wonders, various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit
  • He made humans lower than the angels but destined them to be crowned with glory and honor

Included in our observations about who God is in this passage would be these (abundant) truths about Jesus:

  • He was made lower than the angels just as we are
  • He suffered and died for everyone
  • He was crowned with glory and honor just as we as humans are destined by God to be glorified
  • All things are for him
  • All things are through him
  • He is the perfected Author of Salvation through whom many sons will be brought to glory
  • He sanctified all those who are being sanctified
  • His Father is our Father
  • He is brother to all humanity
  • He proclaims his Father’s name
  • He trusts in his Father
  • He shares all this with humanity
  • He partook of flesh and blood along with God’s children
  • Through death he rendered the evil one powerless and freed all who were enslaved
  • He was made like us as humans in everything
  • He became a merciful and faithful high priest or mediator in things that pertain to God and to us as humans
  • He was tempted in suffering, and so came to the aid of all who are tempted

If we stop now and give some thought to what we’ve learned about God so far in this passage, we’ll find that God is deeply involved with us as humans. He cares about us so much that he actually came to share in our human existence with the expectation that one day we will share in Christ’s glory. In Jesus we have an intimate brother and friend who is for us and with us in every situation.

So going on with our reading and meditation of this passage we can ask: Who is God for me today in this passage? Here are some thoughts that came to my mind in answer to this question:

  • God speaks to me through his Son and his Word is unalterable and just
  • God witnesses to me through signs, wonders, miracles and gifts of his Spirit
  • Even though I am lower than angels, in Christ God has raised me up and crowned me with glory
  • God is working to sanctify me and has perfected my salvation
  • God in Jesus has shared my humanity and purified it
  • God has set me free from Satan’s grip and the chains of sin
  • Jesus speaks God’s Word to me and stands in my place to offer my perfected praise and service to God
  • God in Jesus has gone through everything I’ve gone through and upholds me in the midst of it all

As we approach the scriptures beginning first with God, and God in Christ at the center, we find that there is much that we can learn. With God at the center, we learn how much we are loved and cared for, and the tremendous significance of our God taking on our humanity and providing for us in Christ all we need for life and godliness.

There are many ways to read and study the scriptures. My prayer is that as you read the written Word of God you will encounter the Living Word in a real way that is healing and life-transforming. May God bless you in your studies.

Lord, as we read your Word each day, open our eyes to see you, and our ears to hear you. May we come to fully understand who you are, and who you are for each one of us at every moment of each day. Thank you for being for us, with us and in us by your Spirit, through Jesus our Lord. Amen.

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An Emptying Place

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by Linda Rex

I’m sure most people have heard the argument as to whether or not a glass of water is “half-empty” or “half-full.” A person’s temperament often determines how they see the glass. An optimistic person may view the glass as being half-full, expressing gratitude that at least there is something in the glass to drink. A person with a more melancholy temperament will tend to see the glass as half-empty, being concerned that there may not be enough in the glass or that the water will run out before their thirst is quenched.

Having a “half-empty glass” mentality is often seen as a bad thing. “Be more optimistic!” people say. It’s a good thing to be optimistic, but in kingdom of God terms, being empty is actually considered a better state of being than that of being full. For example, Jesus said that it would be the “poor in spirit” who would be the ones who inherited the kingdom of God. (Matt. 5:3) He said it would be those who lost their lives who would find their lives. (Matt. 10:39; 16:25) It would be those who left everything behind and followed Jesus that would find real life in him. (Matt. 16:24-26). These are not our everyday modern life values—these are kingdom values, God’s values.

Jesus spoke these values out of the heart of who he was as the Son of God. As the Son of God and the Son of man—in other words, as the divine Word who became human flesh—Jesus knew and understood that God (Father, Son, and Spirit) lives in love and has for all eternity. By the Spirit the early church fathers came to see that God was revealed by Christ’s incarnational (God in human flesh) ministry to live in relationship, a relationship of being they called “perichoresis” or “circumincession.” They worked for centuries to find the best way to describe how it is that the Father, Son and Spirit are each distinct and yet are one—they are God. They live in self-emptying, self-giving oneness where there can be no division between the Persons of God, and yet they are each unique in their Being and in the relation they have with one another.

What is important to understand about this? Well, if you see the key concept I’m talking about in this blog—it is their self-emptying, self-giving oneness. It is the nature of God’s Being to be self-emptying. By definition “perichoresis” involves each Person of the Godhead “making room” or “making space” for the other. They fully indwell one another. Their nature is to make room for one another, and to make room for us by creating us and drawing us up into relationship with God in Christ by the Spirit.

So is it better to be half-full or half-empty? From what I’ve shared so far, I’m seeing that there is real value in being less than half-full and more than half-empty. It sounds like the real value is in being fully empty of self and self-concern. For when we are fully empty, God moves to fill that space with himself in Christ by the Spirit. It is in pouring ourselves out to God and to others that we find true fullness.

One of the places in which we can pour ourselves out is in the place of prayer. This is an excellent “emptying place” because prayer is our communication with the One who has and will pour himself out into us and for us in Christ through the Spirit. C.H. Spurgeon once wrote:

“…a true prayer is an inventory of wants, a catalogue of necessities, a revelation of hidden poverty. While it is an application to divine wealth, it is a confession of human emptiness. The most healthy state of a Christian is to be always empty in self and constantly depending upon the Lord for supplies; to be always poor in self and rich in Jesus; weak as water personally, but mighty through God to do great exploits; and hence the use of prayer, because, while it adores God, it lays the creature where it should be, in the very dust.” 1

The blessing of walking in a daily, moment by moment attitude of prayer is that we participate in the Holy Trinity’s divine self-emptying love and life. In pouring ourselves out in prayer for other people and about the problems going on around us, we participate in God’s work of changing other people’s hearts and lives and transforming the world we live in. As we do this we may find ourselves being more optimistic about the water in that glass, thanking God that it is half-empty so that he can fill it to the brim and overflowing.

Holy God, thank you so much that you are always pouring yourself out into us and for us moment by moment as we go through our lives. Grant us the grace to pour ourselves out into and for others as you do. It is your nature, your heart of love we need. We praise you for it, Father, Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit, in your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

1 Spurgeon, C. H. Morning and evening: Daily readings (Complete and unabridged; New modern edition.). Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 2006.

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