Journey of the Heart
The Lord is here! He is showing us his glory! These two amazing truths belong in our future ‘Home-with-the-Lord’ picture, but he’s made them happen for us now! How can we know his glory more? God doesn’t hand us a list of dos and don’ts, but he shows us what’s important for making this journey of the heart.
I’ll share two of those lasting values, but first, a quick rewind to Paul’s prison song.
I want to know Christ wasn’t a lost man’s cry for salvation. It came from the heart of the apostle imprisoned for Jesus’ sake. Paul had worshipped Christ for decades, boasted of him wherever he went, done miracles in his name, written epistles by his Spirit, suffered for his sake, and experienced visions of the heavenly throne room. Yet, his heart-cry was still: I want to know Christ (Phil 3:10).
Jesus Christ has launched us on a journey of the heart, in an ocean of beauty and mystery that is the glory of God. He is the radiant display of God’s glory (Heb 1:3). Our view of glory grows with our knowing of Christ.
Paul knew him intimately, but there was so much more of the ocean to explore.
Through the centuries, hearts hungry to know God’s glory have echoed the same loud cry. If we’re among those stepping towards prayer for revival, then this journey of the heart will be ours too.
Two values that will shape our journey of knowing God’s glory are: Prayer That Admires His Glory, and Change That Displays His Glory.
PRAYER that ADMIRES GOD’S GLORY
‘Worship’ is a word used broadly today, so instead I use ‘admiration’1 to refer to the heart’s wonder and response to the beauty of God’s nature.
When Christ returns, he will be marvelled at among those who have believed (2Thes 1:10). That constant wow at breath-taking views of unveiled glory will fill our eternal future. But it isn’t on hold, waiting to be opened on the final Day. The Spirit makes it possible for us to see2 his glory and respond as his admirers now!
Prayer life isn’t defined mainly by ASKING God to do things, but by ADMIRING who he is. Living from this core – responding as his admirers – deepens both our knowing of his glory and our hunger to know him more.
CHANGE that DISPLAYS GOD’S GLORY
The Spirit not only makes it possible to pray (and live) as admirers of Glory, but he changes us to become like the One we admire most.
And we all, with unveiled face, continually seeing as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are progressively being transformed into His image from [one degree of] glory to [even more] glory, which comes from the Lord, [who is] the Spirit. (Amplified Bible) 2Cor 3:18
We’re too fragile to face the direct, unveiled glory of God. So, he gives us a reflection, a mirror image of his likeness.
The mirror is the Word – the living Word, Jesus Christ, revealed to us by the Spirit through his written Word. Christ is the exact representation of God’s glory.3 We take in the view of glory by training our heart’s eyes to continually see Christ.
The journey of the heart changes us. The Spirit was involved in the pre-creation plan to conform every believer into Christ’s image (Rom 8:29), so our transformation journey from glory to glory is his priority.
The changes – sometimes painful and inconvenient, but always adding to our experience of freedom4 – grow us in knowing the Lord and displaying his glory. For many, we might be the only mirror in which they see the Lord’s beauty reflected.
An earlier post, TOWARDS Prayer for Revival, gave a 5-stone pathway for moving towards praying for revival. This post and the previous one, Put It into Words, mainly focus on the 4th stone, the glory of God. That’s because love for, and hunger to know his glory are the purest and strongest motives for moving towards prayer for revival.
A fresh revival will spotlight God’s glory at levels most of us have not experienced and, possibly, beyond what we’ve read of past revivals.
I encourage you, as you move along the pathway, to spend unhurried time on stone #4.
- Speak with the Lord about your longing to know his glory more.
- Focus on one aspect of his glory, e.g. his great power. Pray as an admirer of his power – draw in relevant passages and stories from Scripture, and exalt Jesus’ displays of that glory.
- Declare your love for God’s glory and your wholehearted YES to being changed for a clearer display of his glory through your life.
1From a Latin root meaning ‘wonder’ 22 Cor 4:6. Eph 1:18 3Heb 1:3, Jn 14:9, Col 1:15 42 Cor 3:17,18
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