Our whole life as Christians is a looking to Jesus. Our life is this prayer and this prayer, this looking to Jesus is our life.
The Lord wants a deeper place in our life and that of our church because Christianity is always about getting more of Jesus Christ into our lives and shedding self-interest.
This thinking is evident in this morning’s epistle from Ephesians Chapter 3. For this cause I bow my knees before the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith.
In Christian prayer repetition of the name of Jesus as part of seeking his indwelling has had very special significance and power all through the ages. Writing in the 4th century St. John Chrysostom had this advice about the indwelling of Christ in the hearts of Christians: Abide constantly with the name of our Lord Jesus, so that the heart swallows the Lord and the Lord the heart and the two become one the saint advises but he also warns that this work is not done in one or two days; it needs long effort and a long time. For much labour and time are needed before the enemy is cast out and Christ comes to dwell is us.
A quotation from another early Christian writer, Hesychius of Jerusalem captures something of the positive, joyful goodness that seems to flow from the repetition of the name of Jesus in prayer. The sun, passing over the earth, produces daylight; the holy and worshipful Name of the Lord Jesus, constantly shining in the mind, produces a measureless number of sun-like thoughts.
For this cause I bow my knees before the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith.
Seeking that Christ may dwell in our hearts is warfare against the fear that counters love, against the deadening spiritual impact of the world, the flesh and the devil.
Prayer is warfare because Jesus calls us to a fullness of humanity that involves our shedding constraints, shaking off what Hebrews calls the weight and the sin that clings so closely (12v1b).
In prayer we see ourselves in a true light and take action against the dark forces that impel us. Hesychius of Jerusalem writes: As it is impossible for the sun to shine without light, so it is impossible for the heart to be cleansed of the filth of wicked thoughts without prayer in the Name of Jesus…let us utter this Name as often as we breathe. For it is light, and those others (wicked thoughts) are darkness. And He (the Jesus we invoke) is God and Almighty Lord, whereas the others are servants of the demons.
As today’s epistle implies the indwelling of Christ through prayers counters malevolence with benevolence, the capacity to enter the good will of God for all people, especially in intercessory prayer.
Christianity is not merely a doctrine or a system of beliefs Thomas Merton wrote, it is Christ living in us and uniting people to one another in His own life and unity. For Merton a hermit monk there is only one true flight from the world; it is not an escape from conflict, anguish and suffering, but … flight from disunity and separation to unity and peace in the love of other [people].
We look to Christ to be with us now and with all those for whom we pray in the Holy Communion Service. He lifts us up into His Perfect Offering and as we come before the Lord with people and needs on our hearts they are entrusted to him with confidence.
In this service we also receive in Holy Communion itself empowerment as an inner gift from Jesus in these holy mysteries…the spiritual food of the most precious Body and Blood of…our Saviour Jesus Christ.
For this cause I bow my knees before the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith.
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