I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised Him from the dead. I want to suffer with Him, sharing in His death, so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!” (Philippians 3:10-11 NLT)
While the words above weren’t, in their original context, a prayer, they were nonetheless a revelation of Paul’s heart that no doubt had been poured out to God. Prayer isn’t the recitation of prescribed words or phrases to accomplish a defined end. Prayer, in its purist form, is opening our heart to the heart of God, waiting patiently before Him with expectation and anticipation.
When Paul says he wants to “know Christ,” he’s not speaking of a casual acquaintance, but an intimate friendship that shares deeply and sacrificially. To invest yourself in another person is going to cost you dearly, that’s why most people have few, if any, deep, meaningful relationships, not even within their family.
To know Christ is essentially to turn our back on ourselves, to determine that to know Him is more valuable to us than anything or any other relationship, in the sense that no other relationship would rival the depth of our friendship and fellowship with the Lord. Most relationships have a cost, either in time, money, effort, or emotional investment.
Especially unhealthy relationships will drain us of desire to know God, because they demand such a claim on our own soul. They rob us of the needed focus to center our thoughts on the Lord by demanding we direct our attention to someone or something else. And here’s the deal, the Lord will never vie for position in our heart or life.
He offers us a gift. It’s ours for the taking but once accepted it will demand everything we have to give. To give part of ourselves will never work. It’s like trying to water ski without holding onto the rope. We’re going to sink without the power of the boat, as we do apart from, as Paul describes it, “the mighty power that raised Him (Jesus) from the dead.”
We don’t like to think of it in these terms, but when we yield our life and allegiance to Jesus, we’re signing ownership of our lives over to Him. Think of it like this. Let’s say you have a house you want to sell, so, you get a buyer, the funds are deposited in your account, and you sign over all rights to the house. Do you dare believe the new owner’s going to be fine with you continuing to live in the house?
When we invite Jesus to take up residence in our heart, He cleans house. He takes over and the only acceptable response to His requests is: “Yes, Master!” Perhaps there are those who would think or say: “Then why on earth would I ever do that? Why would I give up rulership of my own life?”
Having walked with the Lord for more than 60 years the answer for me is very simple: I traded my life for His! Yes, I gave up rulership of my life to Him, but the fact of the matter is, He does a lot better job running my life than I did. But here’s the best part. Yes, he gets all of me, but the best part is, I get all of Him. David Mathis gives us insight into this when he wrote: “The heart of prayer is not getting things from God but getting God.”
Paul understood, as we must, that there is literally nothing this world offers that can take the place of knowing, loving, and being known and loved by Jesus. He’s the prize! He’s the Treasure which we’re all seeking. He’s the heart of prayer!
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 