By Hal Green
Pondering Prayer
Among the most comforting words that Jesus Christ ever spoke were those uttered shortly before his arrest and crucifixion. In my years as a pastor, I have said these words at nearly every funeral I conducted. Thinking of us rather than himself, Jesus said:
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:1-3).
I have mostly considered these words as referring to Christ coming to meet us after we pass over to the other side. Yet I recently suggested to a spiritual woman that she meditate on these words in an effort to sense Christ’s presence right now. As I said this, the Spirit firmly informed my heart that these words also mean, “Christ is coming for you now.”
That means you and Christ can become one in Spirit in both this life and the life to come. That would make salvation “a now event,” which includes a vivid sense of current connection. Communion with Christ would be available today, all the way into eternity. The possibility raises the question: Why put off until death entering into this endless relationship that Christ offers now? Why not let tomorrow and today merge together with Christ, in Christ?
The problem is, most Christians focus on the earthly Jesus who once walked among us, rather than the mystical Christ who promised to be with us now and forever (Matthew 28:20). Nor do we absorb Paul’s extraordinary instruction:
“From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!” (2 Corinthians 5:16-17).
As persons and as a people, we very much need to encounter the mystical Christ of John and Paul. To know this Christ is to love Christ. As Jesus declared, “Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them” (John 14:23). That means a home with you now, not just then.
In prayer, invite the Christ who has already come back for you into the home of your heart. Do not put off until tomorrow Christ’s availability today. Take as operative truth these pressing words of Jesus: “Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with me” (Revelation 3:20).
(Hal Green, Ph.D., is author of Pray This Way to Connect with God. You can contact him at drhalgreen@gmail.com.)
