Embrace Prayer: Renewed Love

We began this series putting forth the question, why should we pray? And for nine weeks, we’ve explored the Jesus Prayers tucked within the four Gospels – words Jesus prayed aloud for those who follow Him to hear, to learn, to pray. In doing so we’ve pulled away the proverbial curtain to peer at the Man-God who walked this earth fully reliant on the Spirit’s power and God’s wisdom. In other words, we have observed our Savior as One to be modeled. His life demonstrates how we are to live here on earth.

And that includes developing a life of prayer. Not only have we been given His nine prayers to return to, but the Gospels themselves reveal the rhythms of Jesus’ life, allowing us to see that Jesus got alone to pray a lot – as Paul would say, without ceasing. Jesus would go off by Himself to be with His Father:

• to speak words (Luke 5:16) and to listen to God’s words (Matthew 14:22-25)
• to receive spiritual and physical refreshment (Luke 4:40-43)
• to pour out grief (Matthew 14:10-13)
• to praise His Father for great miracles and mercies (John 6:14-15)
• to prepare (Mark 6:45-46) and discern (Luke 6:12-16)
• to cover His followers with protection (John 17:9-11)
• to speak His dread and lay down His will (Mark 14:32-34).

Jesus led a life devoted to doing His Father’s will (John 4:34), and the sustaining practice He employed to remain one with the Father was prayer (John 17:20-21). The Word-Made-Flesh showed us what it looks like to abide with the Father and Spirit. Such Trinity unity is only achieved when the relationships are strong. And that means those relationships must have investment and intentionality. Not legalism. Not striving. But a loving, growing sense of oneness that comes with time…together.

So when we ponder the purposes of prayer, all we have to do is look to Jesus – He showed us just how important a life of prayer is. It’s our connection – our way to awareness of the Spirit in us, our mode of being with the Father, our means of joining in the work of the Lord. 

Above and beyond all that, the practice of prayer does an internal work of shaping us to become more and more like the One we model. The more we pray about humility, the more humble we become. The more we pray to God, the more we grow in confidence of Him and begin speaking for Him. The more we pray for forgiveness, the better able we receive it and extend it to others. The more we seek our Father’s will, the more we are able to set aside our own.

Jesus shows us how significant a life of prayer is, as well as how such praying will transform us! And perhaps nothing shapes us as we pray more than immersing ourselves in God’s love. 

Rooted in God’s Love

Jesus tells us that loving God and others are the top two commands to live by (Matthew 22:37-39).

Paul says that love is the greatest gift. It’s what gives purpose to our own spiritual gifts, and it sources our actions and attitudes. It’s what God freely gives to us so that we’ll then share it with others (1 Corinthians 13).

Peter tells us that love covers a multitude of sins. And that it’s because of love we can be hospitable and extend grace to others. Love is the source of our strength to do everything for God’s glory (1 Peter 4:7-11). 

John speaks of God’s love over and over and over. God is love, and to remain in God’s love is to remain in God (1 John 4:16). The more we live for God, the more our love is perfected and made complete among us (v.17) All that perfect love of God, it casts out all our fear (v.18). And we can love because He first loved us (v.19).

Friends, we’re meant to keep ourselves in the love of God (Jude 1:21), to root ourselves in God’s love (Ephesians 3:17). 

The image of rooting myself in God’s love has become a sustaining picture of abiding in the Father to me. Like a plant settled into fresh soil that’s full of nutrients and water, we can allow all our roots to grow deep in the love of the Father – roots like faith and desire, strength and hope, knowledge and ability.

For many years, I have leaned into this metaphor of being rooted in God’s love as a means of living in love instead of fear – and it’s incredibly transformative. But recently, I’ve been sensing God asking me to lean into His love as a source of growth and maturity – and not just for my own benefit. He desires that I allow His love to grow me up in faith so that I can help others do the same. Love isn’t meant to be hoarded but shared. And didn’t Jesus model that, as well! It’s why He came (John 3:16). It’s why He chose death (1 John 3:16). 

Paul prays that we will root and establish ourselves in God’s love so that we’ll be able to comprehend the depths of God’s love – and be filled with all the fullness of God (Ephesians 3:17-19).

This is not fluffy stuff, my friends! This is holy, heavenly love packed with a power that can transform people and change the world – no hyperbole at all! The thing is, sometimes we resist such love. Maybe because we’ve learned to expect conditions with ‘love’. Or we think we don’t need love. Or that love makes us weak. Or that we aren’t worthy of such love. Or…fill in the blank. 

Like those seeds Jesus taught about, we can root ourselves in all types of soil. But it’s only in the soil of God’s love that we’ll find the strength in our inner being to do this life on earth as Jesus did. And I’m more and more convinced that without the practice and rhythm of regular prayer, we will root ourselves in the wrong soil…

• When we depend on our knowledge, we root ourselves in pride. 
• When we rely on other people to give us what we ‘need’ to know about Jesus and the world, we root ourselves in actual ignorance. 
• When we avoid all the hard things or let the overwhelm of them guide us, we root ourselves in fear. 
• When we hide behind past mistakes and discount ourselves, we root ourselves in shame. 

But when we rely on the Holy Spirit and read the Word for ourselves, we’ll discover we have hearts that yearn for more of God – and we’ll root ourselves in His love. It’s this beautiful, symbiotic cycle – not too unlike photosynthesis – where we root ourselves in God’s love and grow, mature, and bear fruit of love, which then extends our roots deeper in God’s love. 

So, what do we do when we don’t feel God’s love or feel very much like being His love to the world? You guessed it. We pray.

Renewed by God’s Love

I globbed onto this phrase of being renewed by God’s love after hearing Pastor Jon Tyson speak on Annie F. Downs’ podcast recently. It captured my imagination. It’s been lingering in my heart. These words are doing a work in me.

I’ve been pondering how easy it is to think of love as purely emotion – that fiery feeling that motivates and drives us toward God and others. And that’s good and holy. The image of the burning bush in Exodus (3) comes to mind, in fact. But if we exclusively think of holy, godly love as only emotion, what happens when we lose that loving feeling? Seriously.

We fizzle and fade. 
We lose all momentum. 
We begin to doubt what we felt – and God Himself.

But. When we see the agape love that finds its source in our Father as what He is, our understanding of His love expands. God is love. We grasp His love really is unconditional and undying, not dependent upon us and ever-lasting. God is love. We comprehend love is much more action-based than emotive. 

Love connects. And Jon Tyson would say that’s the goal of prayer – connection. Prayer isn’t meant to be fueled by feelings or dependent on experiences. It’s getting into the presence of the Father and connecting; it’s a renewal of love!¹ 

Prayer is getting into the secret place of the Father and dwelling there with Him (Psalm 91:1).
It’s going to our secret places and meeting with the Father (Matthew 6:6 NKJV). 
It’s being in God’s presence “as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace” (Matthew 6:6 MSG). 

Pastor Tyson describes prayer as “entering into a communion of joy with the Lord,” and we’re meant to keep cultivating it; “it doesn’t have to be dramatic, but it will be deep.”¹ Our prayers don’t have to be full of words, but what we do speak is to be as honest and earnest and full of worship as possible. This isn’t about earning God’s love; His love is our inheritance!¹ 

So, when we’re in that secret place, we confess that we’ve taken for granted all that He is and does. We ask God to renew His love for us – to fan the love that already smolders within us into flame. Then we return and respond to the love the Father has for us, saying, I love You because you first loved me!¹ 

As the Holy Spirit ignites the flames within us, faith and hope and love come to life in us. This is how we turn up the heat on our lukewarmness and overcome our apathy.¹ It’s how we stop moving through life with halfhearted faith!

This is us being shaped by prayer and growing in spiritual maturity. This is us learning to live hidden with Christ in God, established in Christ so that we flourish in Him and for Him! This is us living rooted in the soil of God’s love – a love that is renewed each time we go to God in prayer.

Lord, teach us to pray!

Father God, we kneel before You with great humility and gratitude. We confess that we take your love for granted. We lose sight of the fact that You. are. love. We forget that You loved us first – that this love of yours is never earned. It’s freely given. It’s ours through Christ. We realize how easy it is to lose the feeling of love, so we step into this secret place with You and ask that You would renew your love within us. Fan your love into burning flames so that we remember our first love of You, so that the heat of faith will rise within us and we no longer live as lukewarm Christians. We pray that out of your glorious, unlimited resources, You will empower us with inner strength through your Spirit. Then Christ will make His home in our hearts as we trust Him, and our roots will grow down into your love and keep us strong. We desire to be rooted and firmly established in your love so that we may be able to comprehend the length and width, height and depth of your love – so that we may know Christ’s love personally, beyond head-knowledge, but deep within our hearts and souls. Grow within us a comprehension that your love is who You are and that when we root ourselves in such love, we grow and mature; we become more like Jesus. Show us what soils we tend to root ourselves in, and by the power of the Holy Spirit help us uproot out of the unhealthy soil and plant ourselves in the soil of your love. Help us to believe that when we are renewed by your love, when we live rooted in your love, we become filled with your actual fullness. Help us to absorb every ounce of your love to the point of overflow so that we can then pour your love out to everyone we meet. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen. 
(Inspired by Jon Tyson,¹ 1 John 4:16-19; Matthew 6:6; Revelation 2:4, 3:16; Ephesians 3:14-19)

Resources: I love sharing with you the books, podcasts, articles, and anything else that has inspired, encouraged, or taught me. These are humble offerings with no expectations.

• 1 – Jon Tyson on Annie F Down’s podcast That Sounds Fun, episode 973
• Love is a theme that runs throughout our playlist, Embrace Prayer, quite unintentionally. 😉 But as I’ve listened and re-listened to this playlist over the last few months, I’ve recognized the way love is woven throughout Jesus’ story — and isn’t that a testament to everything He is and does. This week, we should all listen once again to this playlist and allow the love of Christ to soak into our bones. XOXO
• Each Wednesday I upload a “Teacup” teaching video that carries on the topic here. You can find all the videos on my Facebook Author Page, Instagram, and YouTube.
• Many of you have already found me on Substack! Thank you so much! While you’re on Substack, check out the ministry I’m blessed to be part of, the Devoted Collective.
  
  AND…don’t forget if you’d rather listen to these weekly posts, you can now do so on Substack — it’s easy to see and use the audio bar across the top of each post.
• My monthly newsletter, The Abiding Life, goes to email inboxes of those who have subscribed on my website, and I post them on Substack — usually within the first week of the month. My most recent edition can be found there, and you can subscribe for future newsletters on Substack, here.

Rhythms: As my newsletter’s title infers, we seek to develop an abiding life in this space — a place where we can get informed but also be transformed as we learn to abide in God’s presence throughout our days. I like to think that developing rhythms is one way to aid us in our desire to become more Christlike. This Lent, we’ve put our focus on the rhythm of prayer.

• For nine weeks, we’ve been building a prayer library in our Prayer Bibles. This week we don’t have any more Jesus Prayers to highlight, but we can go to that Ephesians 3:14-21 prayer, highlight it, tab it, and make it our own!!
  
  For this reason I kneel before the Father from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named. I pray that he may grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power in your inner being through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. I pray that you, being rooted and firmly established in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length and width, height and depth of God’s love, and to know Christ’s love that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us—to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. [Ephesians 3:14-21 CSB]
• We’re all called to share the truths about the work of Jesus. One way you can do that is by sharing this site and telling others your own stories of faith experiences. Maybe, just maybe, God will even give us opportunities to pray for people He puts in our paths. I’d love to hear about it when He does!

Featured Photo by Sixteen Miles Out on Unsplash. “All the Bits and Pieces” photo by Aleksandra Sapozhnikova on Unsplash.
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