When Jerry and I married, I moved into his tiny house with my 2 boys, 2 cats, and a dog. Jerry already lived in that small space with his 2 children and all of their stuff. There was barely room for us – there was definitely not room for my belongings – so it all went into storage until we could find a larger house. That house never really felt like mine – and it certainly didn’t look like mine. I merely hung out there until we found a place where we could all dwell.
Scripture tells us that we should abide or remain with Jesus – I talked about this in last week’s post about pausing. The word he uses is “meno” in greek and it means to hang out just like I did at Jerry’s house. We are not meant to redecorate or make Jesus look more like us. Instead we should draw from His love, His strength, His ways.
Ephesians 3:14-21 discusses the power and strength that God gives us when we approach Him in prayer.
“So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith…”
Ephesians 3:17
Did you notice that word “dwell” – doesn’t it seem similar to abide and remain? I thought so too, until I discovered that it is not at all the same word in the original Greek. The word Paul used here is “katoikeó” and it means something entirely different from hanging out like “meno”. Paul is saying that Christ will inhabit – permanently move in – and make my heart His home.
When I pray, and Christ dwells in my heart, He renovates it to look like His own. Where I have anxiety, He replaces it with peace. When I display fear, He removes the fear and displays courage through me. He lights up my dark corners and cleans out my dirt. He makes my heart reflect His!
Friend, I hope you have experienced that kind of renovation as well! Let’s continue to remain (meno) in Him, and as we enter into prayer, may Jesus dwell (katoikeó) in us!
Here are some ideas for Praying to encourage yourself in the Lord:
Pray Scripture
Read the prayers of David and others in the Psalms. Make those prayers your own by praying the verses as they are written or writing them in your own words.
Journal your Prayers
Write out your prayers like a letter or journal entry. Read back over previous prayers to offer praise and thanksgiving for answered prayers!
Pray with a Partner
Join a prayer group or ask someone to partner with you in regular prayer. Pray for each other, for friends and family, for the church, and for our community, nation, and world.
Develop a Prayer Strategy
Create a list of things to prayer about and people to pray for. Use index cards or pieces of paper to keep a record of answered prayers and new requests. Follow Jesus’s model of prayer (The Lord’s Prayer) to guide your different types of prayer.
“In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.”
Ephesians 3:12