The Three Essential Movements in the Life of Every
Christian
Part I - The inward journey
'Seeking the Transformation We Need'
To pray is to change. This is a great grace. How good of
God to provide a path whereby our lives can be taken over by
love and joy and peace and patience and kindness and
goodness and faithfulness and self-control.
The movement inward comes first because without interior
transformation the movement up into God's glory would
overwhelm us and the movement out into ministry would
destroy us.
Nothing is more crucial to our lives or more central to
the heart of God than the transformation of the human
personality. Paul, that great advocate of human
transformation, once spoke of being 'in travail until Christ
be formed in you' (Gal. 4:19 RSV). And in another letter he
says, 'those whom God foreknew them he predestined to be
conformed to the image of his son' (Rom. 8:29). We must see
it as our highest, most holy task - this being formed and
conformed and transformed into the likeness of Jesus Christ.
Unfortunately there is an abysmal ignorance today about the
most elemental spiritual ingredients involved in character
formation.
A disciple once came to Abba Joseph saying 'Father,
according as I am able, I keep my little rule, my little
fast, and my little prayer. And according as I am able I
strive to cleanse my mind of all evil thoughts and my heart
of all evil intents. Now, what more should I do?' Abba
Joseph rose up and stretched out his fingers to heaven, and
his fingers became like ten lamps of fire. He answered, 'Why
not be totally changed into fire?'
Richard J. Foster, Prayer - Finding the
Heart's True Home, London. Publisher, 1992, p.5
'The deepest desire of our hearts is for
union with God. From the first moment of our existence our
most powerful yearning is to fulfil the original purpose of
our lives - 'to see him more clearly, to love Him more
dearly, follow Him more nearly.' We are made for God, and
nothing less will really satisfy us.' Brennan Manning
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