Mom’s Prayer that Invites God’s Transformative Love

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[from Gift a faithful, praying mom who walks in the Spirit by Katherine Bell]

Introduction

Some weeks back, I asked Mom to share the secrets of her oh, so close bond with the Lord. I had noticed over the years the way she had become more and more like Christ and walked out union with Him in heart, soul, mind, and strength. I knew she had sought out many anointed teachers and had received lots and lots of prayer from believers with strong prayer lives. And I had observed her many hours of soaking up the Word and mining it for spiritual and practical treasures. Mom is often found declaring out loud the promises of God which the Word tells us are all ours to receive. God says “yes” to every one of them.

2 Corinthians 1:20-22 The Message

20-22 Whatever God has promised gets stamped with the Yes of Jesus. In him, this is what we preach and pray, the great Amen, God’s Yes and our Yes together, gloriously evident. God affirms us, making us a sure thing in Christ, putting his Yes within us. By his Spirit he has stamped us with his eternal pledge—a sure beginning of what he is destined to complete.

But those things I knew. And they all have had a very important part. But the secret she shared with me that she said was a real, breakthrough key to experiencing deeper and deeper, closer and closer fellowship with the Holy Spirit, Jesus, and the Father—all three Persons of the Godhead that are in us by the Spirit—the key to letting God be her very life and flow out to others consists of daily praying the prayer below. This prayer positions you to receive God’s transformative love. [Listen to the prophet Graham Cooke’s short, YouTube video on God’s unconditional love titled “Love Encounter,” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6wlClByBG8 .]

1 John 4:16 The Message

This is how we know we’re living steadily and deeply in him, and he in us: He’s given us life from his life, from his very own Spirit. Also, we’ve seen for ourselves and continue to state openly that the Father sent his Son as Savior of the world. Everyone who confesses that Jesus is God’s Son participates continuously in an intimate relationship with God. We know it so well, we’ve embraced it heart and soul, this love that comes from God.

Mom’s Prayer

I come before You, the God Who is love, to know You and to behold You in Your glory, beauty, and majesty. I humble myself in awe of You. I thank You that You are within me in the garden of my heart—the Eden within where I meet with You. I open my heart up fully to You. You passionately desire me to know and be known of You. You welcome me just as I am. 

Revelation 3:20 The Passion Translation

Behold, I’m standing at the door, knocking.[a] If your heart is open to hear my voice and you open the door within, I will come in to you and feast with you, and you will feast with me.[b]

Footnotes

  1. 3:20 The Aramaic can be translated “I have been standing at the door, knocking.” Jesus knocking on the door points us to the process of an ancient Jewish wedding invitation. In the days of Jesus, a bridegroom and his father would come to the door of the bride-to-be carrying the betrothal cup of wine and the bride-price. Standing outside, they would knock. If she fully opened the door, she was saying, “Yes, I will be your bride.” Jesus and his Father, in the same way, are knocking on the doors of our hearts, inviting us to be the bride of Christ.
  2. 3:20 This is likely taken from Song. 5:1–2, where the king knocks on the door of the heart of the Shulamite, longing to come in and feast with her.

James 4:8 The Message

Say a quiet yes to God and he’ll be there in no time.

James 4:8 The Passion Translation

8 Move your heart closer and closer to God, and he will come even closer to you.[a] 

Footnotes

  1. 4:8 The Aramaic can be translated “and he will be touching you.”

I bring everything of myself to You. I repent or change my mindset over anything that has not been of faith, Your love, or Your perfect will—anything that has not been aligned with Your heart. I thank You for Your forgiveness. I open myself to You for the continual restoring of my soul. Work out the restoration of all things in my life. 

Isaiah 53:5 The Passion Translation

5 But it was because of our rebellious deeds that he was pierced[a]
    and because of our sins that he was crushed.    He endured the punishment that made us completely whole,[b]    and in[c] his wounding[d] we found our healing.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 53:5 See Zech. 12:10; John 19:31-37; Rev. 1:7.
  2. Isaiah 53:5 This is the Hebrew word shalom, meaning “peace, prosperity, wholeness, success, well-being.” All of these have come to us through Christ’s sufferings.
  3. Isaiah 53:5 The Hebrew word could be translated “among his wounds (bruises)” or “in his wounds (bruises).” See the split-open rock of Song. 2:14.
  4. Isaiah 53:5 The Hebrew word for wounding (“scourging”) is chaburah and means “blueness of the wounds.” But chaburah is taken from the root word chabar, which means “to join together, to unite, to have fellowship, to become a couple.” A nuanced translation of Isaiah 53:5 could be “In the fellowship of being one with him is our healing.”

I give me to You as a living sacrifice. Search me and know me and try me and see if there is any path of pain I am walking on. 

Romans 12:1-2 The Passion Translation

The Transforming Power of the Gospel

12 Beloved friends, what should be our proper response to God’s marvelous mercies? To surrender yourselves to God to be his sacred, living sacrifices. And live in holiness, experiencing all that delights his heart. For this becomes your genuine expression of worship.Stop imitating the ideals and opinions of the culture around you,[a] but be inwardly transformed by the Holy Spirit through a total reformation of how you think. This will empower you to discern God’s will as you live a beautiful life, satisfying and perfect in his eyes.

Footnotes

  1. 12:2 Or “Don’t be squeezed into the mold of this present age.” Paul uses the Greek word aion which means “spaces of time” or “present time.” The Aramaic word carries the same idea but it is much deeper in meaning. The Aramaic word is ‘alma, which means “to surround” like being surrounded in time. Paul is warning us not to be conformed to this world surrounded by time, this temporal world coming to an end. We are not to be squeezed into the mold of this world system that is falling apart.

Psalm 19:12-14 The Passion Translation

12 How would I discern the waywardness[a] of my heart?    Lord, forgive my hidden flaws whenever you find them. 13 Keep cleansing me, God,    and keep me from my secret, selfish sins;
    may they never rule over me!    For only then will I be free from fault    and remain innocent of rebellion. 14 So may the words of my mouth, my meditation-thoughts,    and every movement of my heart be always pure and pleasing,    acceptable before your eyes, Yahweh,    my only Redeemer, my Protector.[b]

Footnotes

  1. 19:12 The word waywardness is taken from the Hebrew word for “errors.”
  2. 19:14 Or “my rock [of protection].”

I take captive any thoughts (including motives) not of You and bind and call to nought all words, attitudes, emotions, and expressions that have come from me, to me, or about me. These I declare null and void and powerless to come to pass or have any further effect ever. I pray in a blood cleansing of my person and a blood cleansing of the atmosphere around me. [This is so the enemy has no ground to use spoken words against me. The blood silences the accuser—satan.]  Blot out the transgressions, and cancel the memory of them.

 Wash me with Your Word until I am without spot or wrinkle. Uproot and destroy any holds of the enemy and any sin structures or tendencies.  Impart Your character and nature into me in fullness. Put in me what I need to be conformed to Jesus Christ’s image and likeness. Transform me into Your  glorious bride. I entwine my heart with Yours. I desire to be Your bondslave as You are the true Lover of my soul. May I please You as Your eternal companion and partner. May I bring You gladness of heart and give You joy in my cooperation with Your work in my heart and life. May I experience enjoyment in friendship with You.

Now I become still and quiet before You letting You do anything in me or say anything to me. I come boldly before Your throne of grace. I wait upon You until You release me. Remove anything that hinders the flow of love between us. I yield to You and surrender all. And I pray all these things in Jesus’ name. 

Isaiah 49:23 The Passion Translation 

Then you will know that I am Yahweh,    and I will never disappoint those    who entwine[a] their hearts with mine.”

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 49:23 Or “whoever waits on me.”

Thank You for making me beautiful. Circumcise my heart to love You. [Cut away the flesh.] Cause me to fully recover the rich, satisfying full life in the Spirit lost in Adam and regained in Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:17 The Passion Translation

17 Now, if anyone is enfolded into Christ, he has become an entirely new person. All that is related to the old order has vanished.[a]Behold, everything is fresh and new.[b]

Footnotes

  1. 5:17 This would include our old identity, our life of sin, the power of Satan, the religious works of trying to please God, our old relationship with the world, and our old mind-sets. We are not reformed or simply refurbished, we are made completely new by our union with Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
  2. 5:17 Or “Behold, a new order has come!”

2 Corinthians 3:18 The Passion Translation

18 We can all draw close to him with the veil removed from our faces. And with no veil we all become like mirrors who brightly reflect the glory of the Lord Jesus.[a] We are being transfigured[b] into his very image as we move from one brighter level of glory to another.[c]And this glorious transfiguration comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.[d]

Footnotes

  1. 3:18 Or “We all, with unveiled faces, behold the glory of the Lord as in a mirror.”
  2. 3:18 The Greek verb metamorphoō is the same word used for Jesus’ being transfigured on the mountain (Matt. 17:2; Mark 9:2) and for our transfiguration through the renewing of the thoughts of our minds (Rom. 12:2).
  3. 3:18 The source of our transformation comes from Christ’s glory, and the destination we are brought to is more glory. The transforming glory is the result of gazing upon the beauty and splendor of Jesus Christ.
  4. 3:18 Notice the ten aspects of New Testament ministry given by Paul: (1) It is based on the triumph of Christ over every power of darkness (2:14). (2) It diffuses the fragrant aroma of Christ everywhere (2:15–16). (3) It refuses to water down the Word of God (2:17). (4) It produces living letters of Christ (3:3). (5) It is not based on the clever abilities of men but God’s empowering presence (3:6). (6) It imparts life (3:6). (7) It flows from the Holy Spirit (3:8, 17–18). (8) It imparts righteousness (3:9). (9) It contains a greater glory than the law (3:10–11). (10) It brings the transfiguration of believers into greater levels of glory (3:18).

Postscript

The Holy Spirit was given once Jesus was no longer physically present on earth. Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father now. The Holy Spirit functions to reveal Jesus in all His glory, and when we’ve seen Jesus we have seen the Father. The Godhead are one, so through the Spirit within, we have access to the Father and Son. There is the closest possible intimacy to be explored with the Holy Spirit as He lives right inside us. (Intimacy = into me You see). The Holy Spirit reveals the Godhead in intimacy as it’s also “into God You see.”

I have prayed Mom’s prayer to great profit. The Holy Spirit is changing me from glory to glory as I stay fully surrendered.

 

John 14:16-17 The Passion Translation

16–17 And I will ask the Father and he will give you another[a] Savior,[b] the Holy Spirit of Truth, who will be to you a friend just like me—and he will never leave you. The world won’t receive him because they can’t see him or know him. But you know him intimately because he remains with you and will live inside you.[c]

Footnotes

  1. 14:16–17 The Greek word allos means “another of the same kind.” As Jesus is the Savior from the guilt of sin, the Holy Spirit is the Savior who saves us from the power of sin by living through us in fullness.
  2. 14:16–17 The Greek word used here is paráklētos, a technical word that could be translated “defense attorney.” It means “one called to stand next to you as a helper.” Various translations have rendered this “Counselor,” “Comforter,” “Advocate,” “Encourager,” “Intercessor,” or “Helper.” However none of these words alone are adequate and fall short in explaining the full meaning. This translation has chosen the word Savior, for it depicts the role of the Holy Spirit to protect, defend, and save us from our self and our enemies and keep us whole and healed. He is the One who guides and defends, comforts and consoles. Keep in mind that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Christ, our Savior. The Aramaic word is paraqleta, which is taken from two root words: (1) praq, “to end, finish, or to save,” and (2) lyta, which means “the curse.” What a beautiful word picture: the Holy Spirit comes to end the work of the curse (of sin) in our lives and to save us from its every effect! Paraqleta means “a redeemer who ends the curse.” (See Strong’s Concordance, Gr. 6561 and 6562; A Compendious Syriac Dictionary, p. 237; and Oraham’s Dictionary, p. 250.)
  3. 14:16–17 Jesus is prophesying about the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, who will indwell every believer. See Acts 2.

James 1:1 The Passion Translation 

1 Greetings! My name is James, and I’m a love-slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Recommended Reading

Iniquity The major hindrance to seeing the glory of God manifested in your life by Dr. Ana Mendez Ferrell

Dying to Live by Jessie Penn-Lewis

The Cross of Calvary by Jessie Penn-Lewis

The Normal Christian Life by Watchman Nee

The Breaking of the Outer Man and the Release of the Spirit by Watchman Nee

Biblical Foundations of Freedom by Dr. Art Mathias

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