Soaking Up Understanding - An Answer to Prayer
Hello friends and welcome back to 'Understanding', a series here on my blog about my word for 2024.
{This is the fourth installment, so if you are new, I want to catch you up to speed and provide a little context:
For the past few years, at the beginning of the year, I have been praying and asking God for a word. You could call this word a landmark, something that I can keep coming back to to reflect on throughout the year. I never hear these words from God audibly. Instead, God intercedes my thoughts. This experience comes with a fullness, or a warmth, that seems to radiate straight from my heart. It is hard for me to explain, but not hard for me to notice. It overcomes me out of the blue and in a way that leaves me without a doubt that it's God, truly God, and not just my own thoughts. Long story short, my 'word of the year' has always summed up the year beautifully and in ways that I could never imagine or guess beforehand.}
Last time we got into some of the things that reveal the posture of the heart, one of which being the way we look at things - our prospective. We also talked about the conversion of our prospective that takes place when we are seeking God's ways; how He transforms the way we think so that we view things more akin to the way He does.
While discussing this topic, I mentioned how, in my experience, this transformation requires me to be open to correction and requires me to actually desire to be transformed. If I don't want to be transformed and refuse to view things the way He does, then 'my stubborn will' takes over and God's will for me gets pushed out of my mind completely. Reflecting Christ, which is my ultimate goal, actually requires the embracing of God's will no matter what, which is exactly what Christ did on the cross. Through embracing God's will, I learn, grow, and continue to be transformed 'from glory to glory' (2 Corinthians 3:18).
Of course, embracing God's will isn't easy. It requires dwelling richly in God, being rooted and stationary, like a seed in the ground. Lately, I have imagined myself as such - a little seed, abiding richly, soaking up all the nutrients (understanding) for a future season of producing fruit for His glory. He is enriching me in this season, pulling me deeper into the knowledge of who He is. My understanding can only deepen this way when I am earnestly seeking Him; it cannot happen apart from Him.
I recently rediscovered my kneel diary. This diary came about after a challenge of kneeling before God everyday for 30 days and documenting it on my blog. When I finished this labor of love, I created the diary, not wanting to lose the habit that I had gained. On day 49 of kneeling, which was typed up almost 2 years ago now, I mentioned 'understanding' and my desire for it:
"So, I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." Luke 11:9
I could almost see myself knocking on a large wooden door and it opening onto endless possibilities. But, I realize, what I want to see behind the door the most is understanding.
The path to understanding is work, but I know He will give me the tools.
The path to understanding is trials, some conclusions couldn't be drawn otherwise.
The path to understanding is growing, which means I've got to bear the growing pains.
The door that opens unto understanding is a hard one, but in it are wonders never ceasing. The door is heavy and impossible for us to pull back, we can't do it on our own, nope, only God can open a door as big as this. And when He does, we see just how much of a blessing it is.
The path to understanding is dedication. And sometimes it's dropping to your knees with surrender, a willing heart, and arms outstretched.
But understanding is one of the best gifts of all.
After reading this, I remembered something - I had asked for understanding! It was ingrained in a prayer that I said before opening God's word throughout my kneel challenge. "Help me to understand..." I had uttered on those 30 days, possibly even longer. And this year, where I am understanding God's word on a deeper level than ever, is this... is this the formation of fruit from that very prayer?
If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire and it shall be done for you.
John 15:7 ESV
Ask. That's all we have to do. Will He answer right away? Not always. I realize now, He wanted my desire for understanding to grow so that, when He did answer my prayer, I wouldn't take it for granted - I would appreciate it. The waiting for understanding made me realize the importance of seeking, abiding, dwelling, and being enriched, just like our metaphor of the seed.
Don't be afraid to ask, my friends, and get ready to receive an answer according to His will. Sometimes that means waiting so that you will receive it with the right heart and prospective, which might require some transformation you have yet to undergo. Sometimes that means putting it in His hands, leaving it there, and walking away from it. Either way, know that the Lord understands YOU. He knows your heart and what you need and don't need. Through answered prayer, His goal is for you to know Him in more of His fullness, not to give you something that will draw you away.
Ask.
Seek.
Knock.
I realize while typing this out now, the asking was never really my idea. God had planted the concept. All I did was bring it to Him. What joy the answer has brought me!
