Prayer Transforms Us
Believers in Christ are to have a deep, continuous, and transformative communion with God through prayer
This follows up on the last post which took a brief look at three of the nine times that Luke records Jesus prayed. Today we take a look into Luke 9:28-29, in which we are told of what has been called The Transfiguration.
About eight days after Jesus had said these things, He took with Him Peter, John, and James, and went up on a mountain to pray. And as He was praying, the appearance of His face changed, and His clothes became radiantly white.
To get insights into this remarkable encounter, we are studying what pastor and commentator Andrew MacLaren writes.1 In his exposition, he points out that:
Many followers of Jesus have a narrow view of prayer as merely asking for things, but prayer to our Father should be a continuous, conscious conversation and connection with God.
True prayer, he says, involves the attitude and exercise of devout contemplation of God and heartfelt communication with Him in mind, will, and spirit.
Maintaining communion with God requires effort and we can certainly be challenged by daily tasks and responsibilities. So, it is essential we set aside periods of solitude and rest to deepen our connection with our Lord and receive His guidance.
Do this with regularity and purpose to establish and maintain continuous communion with God, which allows us to be influenced by His character and helps us grow in righteousness and holiness.
This communion with the Lord changes and transforms a person, making them better and more like Him.
The full article encourages believers in Christ to have a deep, continuous, and transformative communion with God through prayer, and it emphasizes that authentic Christianity leads to personal growth and increasing likeness to Jesus Christ.
We invite you to get the details and not just our summary, so please listen in to the short podcast below which reads MacLarens’ full text on Luke 9:29
By way of introduction, MacLaren writes: It is to be remembered that this is the only time at which others were present while He prayed, and perhaps it may be that when He entered into closer communion with His heavenly Father, that radiance shone from His face, though no eye beheld and no tongue has recorded the glory.
‘As He prayed the fashion of His countenance was altered’; and as we pray, and in the measure in which we truly and habitually do hold communion, shall we, too, partake of His Transfiguration.
The one great lesson which MacLaren seeks now to enforce from this incident is, that communion with God transfigures:
Until Monday, grace and peace…
https://biblehub.com/commentaries/maclaren/luke/9.htm
Photo by Asael Peña on Unsplash