Prayer That Makes Room in Your Life

Practice — talking to God Pattern — talking with God posture — listening to God presence — being with God

Today is the last in a series on prayer. In the past weeks we have looked at several modes or styles of prayer. We have considered prayer that is talking to God, prayer that is talking with God, prayer that is listening to God, and prayer that is simply being with God. Last week I talked about what it looks like to make room in your life for prayer. And now to wrap it up today I want us to consider what it looks like for prayer to make room in your life.

making room in our lives… to listen and respond to the Holy Spirit to cultivate meaningful relationships to nurture the wellbeing of our community

This idea of making room is a vision of discipleship that we are working with here at this church. We say that we want to be disciples who make room in our lives for listening and responding to the Holy Sprit; we want to be disciples who make room in our lives for cultivating relationships with other people; and we want to be disciples who make room in our lives for nurturing the wellbeing of our community. Those three key activities of discipleship do not just happen. We make room in our lives for those things to take place. And making room in our lives is not something that just happens either. There are some things that we can do as followers of Jesus in order for this room to open up in our hearts and in our lives.

prayer is something that we can all do as disciples of Jesus which brings about the direct result we desire to achieve

This is where prayer comes in. The faith practice of prayer is something that we can all do as disciples of Jesus which brings about the direct result we desire to achieve as followers of Jesus. Prayer helps move us towards being the kind of people who make room in our lives in all three of those ways for which we strive. I want to land this series of messages there by making the connection between the faith practice of prayer and a life of discipleship that makes room in your life. To do that we are looking at a passage in the New Testament from the apostle Paul written to the church in Corinth. But in order for this passage to make sense, we need some background information from the book of Exodus in the Old Testament.

background information from the book of Exodus

In Exodus 33, Moses goes up onto Mount Sinai to receive the law of God. This is actually the second time Moses must do this. The first time Moses went on the mountain to receive the law, the people of Israel rebelled and made a golden calf which they began worshipping as an idol. When Moses came down from the mountain that first time and saw the people worshipping an idol, he threw the tablets of the law on the ground and smashed them. In chapter 33 Moses ascends Mount Sinai a second time. Moses pleads with God to forgive the Israelites and remain present with his people. Moses is bold enough to ask God to reveal his glory for Moses to see. God passes by Moses and reveals his glory for Moses to see, and gives Moses the law for a second time to write down on stone tablets.

In Exodus 34 Moses comes down from the mountain carrying the new tablets of the law after being in the presence of God’s glory. Here is what Exodus 34 says about that moment.

Exodus 34:29–35 (NIV)

Exodus 34:29–35 NIV

29 When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the Lord. 30 When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him. 31 But Moses called to them; so Aaron and all the leaders of the community came back to him, and he spoke to them. 32 Afterward all the Israelites came near him, and he gave them all the commands the Lord had given him on Mount Sinai. 33 When Moses finished speaking to them, he put a veil over his face. 34 But whenever he entered the Lord’s presence to speak with him, he removed the veil until he came out. And when he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, 35 they saw that his face was radiant. Then Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with the Lord.

This is the story to which the Apostle Paul is making reference in the passage we are looking at today. It is Paul’s intent to show a comparison between the glory of God which was revealed to Moses in the Old Testament along with the law of the old covenant, and the glory of God revealed through Christ in the new covenant.

2 Corinthians 3:7–18 (NIV)

2 Corinthians 3:7–18 NIV

7 Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, transitory though it was, 8 will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? 9 If the ministry that brought condemnation was glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness! 10 For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory. 11 And if what was transitory came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts! 12 Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. 13 We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to prevent the Israelites from seeing the end of what was passing away. 14 But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. 15 Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. 16 But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

Moses covers his face with a veil so that the people are shielded from seeing the glory of God

We should remember that in Exodus, the people of Israel knew that they had sinned when they made the golden calf, they received the consequences of their sin, and they became afraid of God because of it. This is why in Exodus 34 Aaron and the Israelites run away from Moses when they first see the radiance of God’s glory showing on Moses’ face. People who are sinners cannot possibly be in the presence of God’s glory and survive. And so, Moses covers his face with a veil so that the people are shielded from seeing the glory of God as it shown from the face of Moses.

tabernacle and temple also shield the glory of God

This exact same pattern followed in the religious practices of the Israelites from that time forward. The tabernacle was built with a central room called the holy of holies which no one was ever allowed to enter expect for the high priest once a year to give the sacrifice of atonement. The temple in Jerusalem also had an inner room of the same nature. A thick heavy curtain covered the doorway to this inner room—the same veil language we see covering the face of Moses in Exodus. At the crucifixion of Jesus we read in the gospels that this curtain in the temple is torn in half. In others words, the veil is taken away because of Jesus.

Exodus — only one person (Moses) experiences communion with God

In the Old Testament story of Exodus, only one person—Moses—experienced communion with God. Exodus puts it this way.

Exodus 33:11 (NIV)

Exodus 33:11 NIV

11 The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent.

“The whole reason why we pray is to be united into the vision and contemplation of him to whom we pray.” —Julian of Norwich

we now all have access to this kind of communion with God because of Jesus

We have over the past several weeks been framing the faith practice of prayer in this kind of language. Every week I have been repeating that quote from Julian of Norwich, “The whole reason why we pray is to be united into the vision and contemplation of him to whom we pray.” The very thing that Paul is saying to the church in Corinth is that we now all have access to this kind of communion with God because of Jesus. It is Christ who removes the veil which separates us from the glory of God. And it is prayer which places our hearts into communion with God.

being in communion with God produces a very specific result

Now then, here is where I want to focus our attention today. The two verses that come at the end of our passage today point to an outcome. Being in communion with God produces a very specific result.

2 Corinthians 3:17–18 (NIV)

2 Corinthians 3:17–18 NIV

17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

because of the Holy Spirit we are given freedom to be in communion with God

Because of the Holy Spirit, we are given freedom to be in communion with God. I think that we need to be careful when we read verse 17 to keep our definition of freedom within the context of Paul’s message. Paul is pointing back to a time in the Old Testament in which the people of Israel were not free from the bondage of their sinfulness. The entire reason Moses needed a veil over his face was to shield the people away from having the same communion with God that Moses experienced. It is not that God lacked the desire to be in communion with his people, rather it was the sinfulness of the people which excluded them from this communion. We should keep this narrow understanding of freedom in mind when reading verse 17.

because of Christ we have unveiled faces which contemplate/reflect the Lord’s glory

Greek katoptrizo = reflection, meditation, contemplation

through communion with God we become reflections of Christ through communion with God we dwell upon the glory of God

The next result we see is Paul’s assertion that we all now have unveiled faces which contemplate the Lord’s glory. If you have the older 1984 version of the NIV Bible it says we reflect the Lord’s glory. It is the Greek word katoptrizo which carries nuanced meaning. I cannot decide which English word I prefer as more appropriate to catch the meaning of this passage—reflect or contemplate. They both belong; I would want to take them both. That we would reflect God’s glory through Christ fits the story of the passage. After all, Moses literally reflected God’s glory as it shown from his face for others to see. And Paul says that this reflection we bear because of our communion with God is visible in us as the ever-increasing image of Christ in us. That much is true; through communion with God we become reflections of Christ. The other nuance is equally as true. This same Greek word has reference to contemplation or meditation. (We sometimes use the English word “reflection” to mean this as well.) Communion with God is experienced as times of meditation with God—that we dwell upon the glory of God’s presence. This is what prayer brings about.

because of the Holy Spirit we are being transformed into the image of Christ

the main objective of our prayers should be for God to change us

And the third outcome is transformation—that we are being transformed into the image of Christ with ever-increasing glory. Prayer changes us, the ones doing the praying. I have given mention to this more than once throughout this series. It should not be the main objective of prayer for God to change our situations and circumstances, or for God to change our world around us to what we want, or to change other people around us to what we want. The main objective of our prayers should be for God to change us. Or to say it more precisely using the language of Paul in this passage, that we would be transformed into the image of Christ with ever-increasing glory. Our prayers, which are communion with God, bring this about.

In 2019 I had surgery to remove a section of my lungs where cancer had spread. Part of my recovery which I began doing right away even while I was still in the hospital was breathing exercises to help clear my lungs and increase lung capacity. They had me use something called an incentive spirometer to practice breathing. You know how sometimes when you order a milkshake it is so thick it feels like to have to suck on that straw with all your strength just to get some of that milkshake to go through the straw? It is kind of like that. I would have to suck on a straw that would cause a plunger to begin rising in a measured cylinder. The doctor set goals for me every day to get that plunger to rise up higher and higher in the cylinder by inhaling deeper and deeper breaths. It was a breathing exercise that was gradually expanding the capacity of my lungs to be able to take in more and more air. With repetition it was an exercise that kept gradually creating more room in my lungs.

the faith practice of prayer—like a deep breathing exercise—to expand the capacity of our souls

Prayer is a faith practice which places us in communion with God. But a faith practice is also an exercise of discipleship. And prayer is an exercise, like breathing deeply, which over time begins to create more and more room in our hearts. Prayer does in fact make room in our lives because prayer causes our lives to be transformed into the image of Christ with ever-increasing glory. Through our increasing practice of prayer, we learn how to breathe the Spirit into the lungs of our soul with grater and greater capacity.

join a prayer group

And now for the part that comes next. I do not want us to spend all this time over the summer hearing messages about prayer and learning about prayer, and then just walk away without doing anything to actually become more complete disciples. We do have a next step forward that we are inviting everyone take. Beginning in September, there will be several opportunities to join a Prayer Practice group using guided material which follows the exact same four modes or styles of prayer that we have studied over the course of this sermon series. The groups are designed to meet five times throughout the fall in September, October, and November. There will be groups forming that you can join. We will also make the material available so that any of you who are currently in a small group can incorporate it into an already existing group. Or perhaps along with a few others you would like to form a new group on your own. The material we are using is not a curriculum or a class; it is meant for a small group of people to engage in the practice of prayer together. A group size between five and seven people is the most ideal. But you could do it with just two, or up to ten. The logistics are flexible; the most important thing is that we just do something about taking this faith practice of prayer to the next step together.

Jesus has taken away the veil and invited us into communion with God; all we have to do is take that next step forward

Registration is open now. I invite you to be thinking into the month of August how you can best make a prayer practice group fit into the rhythm of your discipleship. Jesus has taken away the veil and invited us into communion with God. All we have to do is take that next step forward.