Prayer: the Shekinah Glory

Human beings are spiritual creatures capable of possessing the presence of the life-giving God. However, to be spiritual means more than capable of receiving God into our lives. It is knowing God in an intimate way that is full of meaning . This certainly involves all your body, strength, heart, mind, soul and spirit. It positively involves all your relationships as well. On way to illustrate the act of knowing is to say that to be spiritual is to be a hearer of the Word of God.

Without a shadow of doubt, the Bible clearly teaches families and individuals of this planet earth to witness that God communicates Himself to us and we can receive that communication. How we receive this communication is an important question. It is God's initiative

That Nicodemus came to Jesus by night (John 3:2) is more likely due to fear than by any desire for uninterrupted conversation. Night has symbolical overtone ( John 11:10 and 13:30); it hints of the darkness in which Nicodemus stood. Jesus in conversation with Nicodemus said, 'The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit' (John 3:8). The power of the God of heaven is at work in the world below. The parabolic saying of verse 8 exemplifies the reality yet also the incomprehensibility of the work of the Spirit in man. The wind is invisible and mysterious, yet known in experience. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.

God's conversations with Abraham also reveal that God took the initiative. Through out his demanding long life it was God who connected with Abraham. We often read, that Lord said to Abraham, with no explanation whether God spoke in an audible voice or in the stillness of Abraham's heart. One time God spoke in a vision (Genesis. 15:1); on another occasion he appeared to Abraham (Gen. 17:1). The important point to grasp is that each time communion between the two is mentioned, God started the conversation. God spoke and Abraham responded.

The Word of God has consequences for your life. What happens, you might ask, when we receive God's communication? The outcome is growth into a warm-hearted relationship through the power of the Spirit. God invites us into an abundant life relationship with him. We are unfinished human beings, but as we cheerfully listen and obey, when the Holy Spirit speaks to us from God's Word, we are drawn into wholesomeness of life with God. Do you desire an exciting journey with your creator who loves and cares for you? The air we breathe, the energy of the sun, the singing of the birds, the lovely flowers and forests, are all God's beautiful free gifts to his creation communities.

When we ran away from Him, and became guilty of abusing His creation and turning to our own ways, He had pity and devised the new and living way to save us. He died to pay for our guilt, and rose again from the dead. Are you wondering, what it is like to be drawn into relationship with the Lord? All those who journey with the Lord, say it in unison, this relationship between God and His people involves what we call prayer.

For us, to pray is to intend to hear God and respond to God. God is present to all people. Prayer does not make him present. Prayer is not a work. It begins with our response to God's call who invites everyone. As God's people we have holy expectation that God speaks to us and we can hear. This expectation is called faith.

Human beings are not only spiritual beings but also historical. To be historical means that by virtue of our reflection on the past we are aware that as humans we live within a flow of time in an finite world of movement and change. We always hear the Word of God within our historical context with all its beauty and challenges. God dwells with us. Listening and responding must be a natural habit of a believer in Christ. What does the Scripture teach us about God dwelling with his people?

The Shekinah Glory

Shekinah means the dwelling of God with His people. He dwells among His people (Ex 25:8). The emphasis is not on loftiness but of nearness and closeness. God having created the world did not leave it to run like a watch. The Bible emphasizes over and over again the dwelling of God with his people. Shekinah is perceived as the rays of sun coming from behind the dark cloud. It is the manifestation of God. It is the presence of God in the Holy of Holies of the temple; or where two or three meet to meditate on the Word of God, or where a righteous judge makes a decision. As the psalmist writes, "In thy light do we see light" (36:9). The Shekinah is the presence of the holy in the midst of the profane. But the metaphor of Shekinah is like the sun it is everywhere. God is present in the totality of his creation. He can appear in the burning bush as much as the Holy of Holies.

In the gospel of John the glory which is the Shekinah, the presence of God, is Light of life. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. We beheld his glory, glory as the only Son from the Father? (John 1:4-5, 14). Jesus the Word pitched his tent into the condition of human weakness and revealed his glory-Shekinah. The language is suggestive of the revelation of God's glory in the Exodus by the Red Sea, on Mount Sinai, and at the tent of meeting by Israel's camp (Exodus 33:7-11; 40:34-38). We need to hear and obey the truth of the revelation that is in Jesus Christ.

The Cross of Jesus is an important image of Glory. Jesus was lifted up on the Cross and so lifting up is exaltation. Further more the goal of spiritual life is agape love. It is the love exemplified on the Cross, the washing of feet, and the caring for the unlovable. Our life must reflect the Calvary love, as the manifestation of the presence of God in our life, open to his grace. God invites us to an exciting journey of love with him in our historical context. Only when we journey with him that we begin to practice the presence of God. By hearing and responding, God is calling his people to pray.