Jesus Christ obviously present and actively in charge is our promise for life’s ultimate fulfillment, because our life is replaced by His life (Jesus at the table—Revelation 2 and 3).
Every one of us could chuckle at the ways we have looked for fulfillment. My list of notable “fulfillers” starting with childhood would include: playing with my dog “Ring,” sandbox farm implements under the big maple by the well, driving a team of horses, riding my pony pretending to be Roy Rogers (the king of cowboys) or Zorro, or running out to warm up before grade school basketball games. Later it was getting my driver’s license, having a car and a girlfriend. On the farm, it was driving heavy equipment, watching the diesel smoke roll, and smelling freshly plowed soil or fresh cut hay.
As life goes along, fulfillment becomes having a wife and children and enough money to pay bills and finally retirement. Even in gospel ministry, we can seek satisfaction from big audiences or busy programs with the hope that something’s happening. All of these can become subtle substitutes for the one thing that really satisfies and that is being transformed in the presence of Jesus. I love Psalm 16:11, “Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.”
Transformed
For those readers who may think I am a hopeless mystic, this part may encourage you. Those who know me know that I love expository preaching that presents a clear message from the interpretation of a scripture in its context. I am not a mystic, but I am trying to understand the mystery of Christ in us the hope of glory. So, take heart and let me rush to the believer’s ultimate privilege in the presence of Jesus.
First of all, let me say, prayer will always be boring and powerless if it’s only a monologue, i.e., us talking to God. Oh, the dread of my early experience in prayer meetings. After a Bible study, prayer requests, mostly outer man needs, would go on and on. We would break into groups—men with men and women with women. The men would pray around the circle basically repeating all the same requests with varying clichés. They talked and repeated and informed God of all these things that He evidently wasn’t aware of—all with our heads bowed and eyes closed! I still don’t like it to be that way. Prayer is meant to be a dialogue where listening to God becomes as much a part as talking to God. Praying for the strength of the inner man is always better than just praying for the healing of the outer man. “The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity, but a wounded spirit who can bear” (Proverbs 18:14).
Secondly, the best way to listen to God is through His written Word. We pray best with our Bibles open—and maybe with our eyes open! Why not? Let’s say our church is praying about the marriages of our families. Why not open our Bibles to classic passages on marriage and formulate prayers from the verses in front of us?