After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless .... And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.
And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness. And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon. And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not. And when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away. And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him. And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; and also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance. And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces. In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram
For when God made a promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself (Gen 15:1-6,9-18, Heb 6:13)
How different this is
Normally both parties involved in making a covenant would walk between the severed pieces. They each would make an oath one to another saying something like, "I promise to you ..... and if I don't fulfil my promise let it be done unto to me ....."
However here Abraham never walks between the pieces. Instead Christ does and He does so twice, once for Himself and once for Abraham. The Bible says, "a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces." What a picture this is and I can only imagine such symbolism as it represents the Father and Son, Son and Holy Spirit or whomever. And my heart even leaps to think that it is not beyond belief that the "whomever" might even be a couple of sons filled with the fullness of the eternal glory of God.
The greater lesson I care to light on is that it is God by whatever form that walks this covenant for He will uphold both ends: both Abraham's and His. This covenant did not rely on Abraham for fulfilment but it was totally God's part and He took the whole. Abraham didn't even enter into laying out the terms of the oath. Instead God maintained the privilege of defining the terms and parameters of the oath and most importantly God would fulfil these everlasting promises of this covenant relationship.
What a great illustration this is for us that have tasted the GOODNESS of God, mixed with His SOVEREIGNTY, to make up that which we know as GRACE. And as it was with Abraham I do believe God cuts covenants with us even as we sleep. As we surrender all our petitions at His feet in prayer God is taking them up and laying out the terms that end in a YEA and AMEN. Just as with Abraham His terms and fulfilment are greater than we can even imagine. As the infinite number of stars in the night sky are compared to the single son Abraham yearned for, so are our yearnings, compared with that which God grants us. Father grant us, that we should ever REST in your overwhelming goodness and Your ability to perform your love, beyond our greatest dreams. Oh my! Our God's Love toward us runs deep and if there be but one lesson I care to share in these next blogs it would be how we must learn to carry nothing of ourselves into prayer where I believe most covenants are made. If we are to realize the deeps of His Love we must bring nothing to know His All.
Prayer
For such a long time I have wanted to share a series of blogs on prayer. I hope to even tell of how Jesus taught me to pray and why it is the most important part of my walk. Augustine might have gotten alot of things wrong however I believe he hit the mark with this quote.
"He that loveth much prayeth much and he that prayeth much loveth much"
Along with Augustine's words I have found this quote by an unknown, as a most beautiful description of prayer.
"Prayer is casting itself upon power; it is misery seeking peace; it is unholiness embracing purity; it is hatred desiring love. Prayer is corruption panting for immortality; it is the eagle soaring heavenward; it is the dove returning home; it is the prisoner pleading for release; it is the mariner steering for the haven amid the dangerous storm; it is the soul, oppressed by the world, escaping to the empyrean, and bathing its ruffled plumes in the ethereal and the divine."
Some years ago Jesus began to teach me to prayer. In a matter of a few weeks I went through some of the most horrendous experiences and also the most glorious.I was left bewildered and quite confused. Then, as only our faithful God can do, He confirmed my experiences in prayer by introducing me to the writings of the old contemplative prayer warriors of centuries past known as the "Quietists." As their title alludes these dear saints knew above all that to know God deeply one must be "quiet" and even moreso bring nothing. Please, take note of that ...... "BRING NOTHING" .... as that I believe, is the key to entering into the deepest realms of God through prayer.
In closing I want to share an old forum post of mine from a few years back. Following that is a beautiful writing by one, San Juan de la Cruz, whom probably has been most used of God to confirm my deepest prayer experiences.These two messages echo my thoughts here and even enlarge them. And lastly please continue with you comments as you have in our previous messages. Your words are even more than that which I share. I believe the comments portion of our blog have become the great fire of His love that is but sparked by the posts we write. I only wish more could read the rare and beautiful thoughts that everyone has been sharing of late.
A lesson by Guyon
But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
Jhn 4:23,24
We must learn how to come into the very presence of God, naked in our words and abilities but clothed only in the priestly garment of Christ. There is a place we can come to where we know we have entered the throne room of God and that our petitions are not ours but Christ's that dwells within. It is a place where we know, without doubt, that the Father is touched by our petitions and His reply is "yea and amen."
For some time I have been studying about prayer and have poured over the writings and accounts of many older saints of centuries gone by. I have gleaned much from these contemplative souls that truly knew the value of prayer and were consequently given over to the spiritual awakening of a supernatural prayer realm.
These succinct words of Madame Guyon speaks to the truth of our stature and from which we must bring forth the pure and perfect petitions of Christ within.
"This is the prayer of truth; It is worshipping God in spirit and in truth (Jn 4:23). In spirit, because we enter into the purity of that Spirit which prayeth within us, and are drawn forth and freed from our own carnal and corrupt manner of praying; In truth because we are thereby placed in the great Truth of the All of God, and the Nothing of the creature.
There are but these two truths, the All, and the Nothing; everything else is falsehood."
This Guyon quote would be applicable also with regard to our daily life. Truly we must walk in the "All and nothing" realm to perform God's perfect works. This realm is almost entirely a vision for me now, but I am sincerely reaching for it. Every once in a while I believe I even touch it.
Self-forgetfulness in prayer
"........ soft and savoury sleep of nothingness;" where the soul is content to fold its hands, and wait in dreamy musing till the message comes; meanwhile it will think, do, will as little as it can.
You are a hidden God. Neither is the sublime communication nor the sensible awareness of His nearness a sure testimony of His gracious presence, nor is dryness and a lack of these a reflection of His absence. A person who wants to find Him should leave all things through affection and will, enter within himself in deepest recollection, and regard things as though they were nonexistence. God is hidden in the soul. You yourself are His dwelling and His secret chamber and hiding place. God is never absent. In order to find Him you should forget all your possessions and all creatures and hide in the interior, secret chamber of your spirit. And there, closing the door behind you, you should pray to your Father in secret. Remaining hidden with Him, you will experience Him in hiding, and love and enjoy Him in hiding. God is the substance and concept of faith, and faith is the secret and the mystery. Faith and love are like the blind man’s guides. They will lead you along a path unknown to you, to the place where God is hidden. Pay no attention to anything which your faculties can grasp. You should never desire satisfaction in what you understand about God, but in what you do not understand about Him. Never stop with loving and delighting in your understanding and experience of God, but love and delight in what is neither understandable nor perceptible of Him. Spiritual wounds of love are very delightful and desirable. The soul would desire to be ever dying a thousand deaths from the thrusts of the lance, for they make her go out of herself and enter into God. The wounded soul, strengthened from the fire caused by the wound, went out after her Beloved Who wounded her, calling for Him, that He might heal her. One goes out from oneself through self-forgetfulness.
......... a sweet and admirable Tranquility, arising from the conquest of Fightings within, and frequent Prayer; and this, very, very few have Experience of. Here the abundance of Joy, and Peace is so great, that the Soul seems to be in a sweet sleep, solacing and reposing it self in the Divine breast of Love. "
San Juan de la Cruz
O Lord bring us to the place in prayer that our soul is content to be silent and do nothing. Teach us to forget our self, and plunge into perfect submission to your Spirit,
Jack/John
PS. Lord willing in either the comments portion of this blog or the next post I hope to be able to share how such submission in prayer brings forth benefits in the conscious realm of our walk. Truly that which is sown in prayer is reaped in myriads of ways of which, as we grow into Him, we are made more aware of. The result being, the more we become aware of, the more we desire to pray. What wonders to behold as our soul looses itself in God. This surely must be the ever increasing circle of earth and Heaven met!
Whew! There are not many things that surprise me any more as I write. But I kept seeing the word "" highlighted when ever I typed it this morning and also to see the same word highlighted in the side bar of this blog. I was taken me aback. That quote in the sidebar has been there for ages and it became highlighted in yellow as I wrote this post. I believe I get the message Lord!
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