The fruit and the ultimate end of a life of prayer is transformation in love.
It is in prayer that we are increasingly transformed into the very likeness of the one in whose image we were created.
Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness. (Genesis 1:26)
And Scripture is very clear about the nature of this image.
God is love. (1 John 4:8)
Perhaps the best Scripture verse on the effect of prayer on the human person is this one from 2 Corinthians 3:18.
But we all, with unveiled faces, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.
This accurately describes the effects of a lifetime of prayer.
Now, it is not likely we will see evidence of this transformation in glory revealed to us daily. The best way for us to see progress in our prayer life is to look backward over a long period of time.
But what are the best circumstances for making this progress in our daily prayer life? And, more importantly, how can we be confident we have prayed well? In other words, what is the experience of knowing we have entered into the process of transformation through our prayer?
We can find the answer in Jesus’ own words to His Apostles.
And He said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a while.” (For there were many people coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.) (Mark 6:31)
We all desire to eliminate anxiety, fear and worry from our life, and to find and experience rest. But do we know how to seek this rest and peace in our life? Do we have a routine for doing this? If we take the time to pray, do we experience Jesus’ promise of rest?
Rest must be the end point of our daily prayer; we should desire it and pursue it with great hope and expectation. Rest here does not mean drowsy sleep or lying back on a beach. Instead it means we come to experience Christ lifting our daily burdens from us.
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid. (John 14:27)
There are two images that can be helpful in our learning how to enter into this rest.
The first is of a Child simply resting in the arms of their parent.
Let the little children come to me. (Matthew 19:14)
The second is the image presented in the Gospel of John, where the disciple whom Jesus loves is seen reclining on the bosom of Jesus during the Last Supper.
We adults are not easily drawn to adopt these images of vulnerability, we prefer to tell the Lord what we need in frank terms and then hope He will respond. But Christ made clear what He most want to reward us with for our efforts in prayer.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. (Matthew 11:29)
We will know we are advancing in prayer when we find rest in our prayer, and this happens when we allow ourselves to become like little children in our Father’s arms.
We might all pray to find and experience the humility to simply rest in our Father’s arms.
Copyright © 2024, Deacon Mark Danis
Image credit: “The Last Supper,” unknown, Museu Nacional de Belas Artes, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons