“Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends, if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.”- John 15:13-15
As John Eldredge concludes Chapter 4 of Moving Mountains, he writes that we need to listen to Jesus as He reframes out understanding of prayer. referencing the father in the Parable of The Two Lost Sons (Luke 15), John asks:
“Do you come to prayer knowing that God is already expecting you, looking for you with longing?”
Being sons or daughters of God comes with privileges (Galatians 4:4-5). John doubts that any of us have tapped into the full rights of a son or daughter of God. The author notes that Dallas Willard said we ought to look at our life with God as a partnership in a shared mission.
Mr. Eldredge notes the relationship the disciple Ananias had with Jesus. Told by the Lord to “go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul,” Ananias was comfortable enough in his relationship with Jesus to voice his extreme discomfort with Jesus’ plan.
While it is human nature to look at the problem or crisis before us, the problem is exactly the thing we should not be looking at. John observes that C. S. Lewis had only one picture on his bedroom walls- a photo of the image of Jesus’ face from the Shroud of Turin. Lewis would gaze on the photo as he prayed.
As Pascal once said, “It is the heart which experiences God.”
Today’s question: What helps you fix your eyes on Jesus rather than your problems? Please share.
Coming Monday: the new Short Meditation, “What does love look like?”
Tomorrow’s blog: “Our present life”
