“[Where Prayer Becomes Real] is an invitation to embrace God’s love in the truth of who you really are. Embracing God’s love is allowing that love to guide you in prayer and trusting that even though you don’t know how to pray as you ought, God knows and understands.”- Kyle Strobel and John Coe
“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes with groanings too deep for words.”- Romans 8:26 (ESV)
In their Introduction to Where Prayer Becomes Real: How Honesty with God Transforms Your Soul, Kyle Strobel and John Coe admit that, for a good portion of their Christian lives, prayer failed to make sense. However, their main problem centered on their lack of honest about that failure. Thus, Kyle and John pretended that prayer made sense.
Certainly, the authors found it fine to pray at meals. Or to offer a quick prayer on someone’s behalf. But Kyle and John likened being with God in the daily realities of life to wandering in the desert. Oddly, though, the authors never considered telling god how alienating prayer seemed.
Yet, there’s good news! As Romans 8:26 tells us, God wants us to know this about ourselves. That we don’t know how to pray. But this isn’t a reason to despair – or stop praying. Rather, this truth = an invitation to embrace God’s love.
Therefore, Kyle and John underscore, like all journeys, we must start the journey of prayer where we actually are. And one cannot overstate this simple fact. As a result, the key here involves openness to the truth. Because knowing where you’ve been enables you to follow where the Lord leads you now. This marks the beginning of prayer.
In conclusion, the authors exhort:
“It is not enough to learn about prayer; we want you to bring these ideas to God. On this journey of prayer, we have to pray and take our experience of prayer to God. . . . This is an invitation into love; to speak the truth of your soul to the God who loves you in the deepest places of your heart.”
Today’s question: What most helps you accept the invitation to embrace God’s love? Please share.
Coming Monday: the July Short Meditation – “Stuffing your ears with cotton”
Tomorrow’s blog: “Deep prayer – from our heart’s honest place”
