Pray This Way. With Dr. Hal Green Harold Green

      Augustine of Hippo (354-430), famously said: “Understanding is the reward of faith. Therefore, seek not to understand that you may believe, but believe that you may understand.” And Anselm of Canterbury (1033-1109) added, “I do not seek to understand so that I can believe, but I believe so that I may understand; and what is more, I believe that unless I do believe, I shall not understand.” 


It is as if belief opens up an inner treasure-trove of understanding impossible to attain without prior faith. The writer of the letter to the Hebrews said, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1 NKJV). And the Christian philosopher Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855), wrote about the necessity of taking a “leap of faith,” with understanding coming after the faith-risk of leaping. 

      In the middle of his setting forth the gifts of the Holy Spirit, Paul turns to the highest gift of all: love. But not just any form of love; rather, the love which comes down from heaven. The Greek term for this love is “agape.” It appears almost exclusively in the New Testament in the Greek speaking world of this time. It refers to God’s own love, which we are first to seek receiving, and then to share it with others.


           Perhaps the best analogy of agape love is that of pouring water from a large pitcher into an empty glass. If you do not stop pouring, the water will eventually overflow the glass. That is the point at which love becomes agape love: when you have received more love than you can take it, when your heart is overflowing. Like the best of all possible news, you will simply have to give it to and share it with others. 

      Many persons think that being a Christian is about what you have to give up, rather than what treasure you might receive. Yet the truth is, what may appear as a sacrifice from the outside, will in fact be anything but a sacrifice from the inside, for the persons making it. Does God seek sacrifice from us? Are we supposed to get rid of all our possessions, so that we may possess the kingdom of heaven, whatever and whenever that is? God says through the prophet Hosea that God desires “steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings” (Hos 6:6). Jesus slightly amends this, telling His listeners, “Go and learn what this means, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice’” (Matt 9:13).  

God is not only our Father. God is also our Mother. God is in truth, our Single Parent. And we learn right away in Genesis 1:27 that both male and female are made equally in God’s image: “So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” That means the one God functions as both our Mother and Father. Through Isaiah, God says:


           “Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing! For the LORD has comforted his people and will have compassion on his suffering ones. But Zion said, ‘The LORD has forsaken me, my Lord has forgotten me.’ Can a woman forget her nursing child, or show no compassion for the child of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. See, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me . . . As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you; you shall be comforted in Jerusalem” (Isa 49:13-16; 66:13). 

      A great spiritual issue, right after “Where is God?”, is “Where is the kingdom of God?” This exchange between Jesus and the Pharisees addresses that question:


           “Once Jesus was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was coming, and he answered, ‘The kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed; nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’' or ‘There it is!’ For, in fact, the kingdom of God is among you’” (Luke 17:20-21).


           It is significant that the Greek preposition Jesus used to indicate the place of God’s kingdom, (entos), means both “within” and also “among” or “between.” Both. Not one without the other. God’s kingdom, which includes heaven itself, is not only “there” and “then”; but it is also “here” and somehow, “now.” 

      The Apostle Paul offers us a remarkable step-by-step process for how to gain “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding.” These inspired words present a pathway to the protective peace of Jesus Christ:


           “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:4-7).