“Here we touch the heart of prayer since here it becomes manifest that in prayer the distinction between God’s presence and God’s absence no longer really distinguishes. In prayer God’s presence is never separated from his absence and God’s absence is never separated from his presence.”
Logically, one cannot both be absent and present at the same time. Nouwen’s comment that in prayer this distinction between God’s presence and absence “no longer really distinguishes” raises the question of whether the distinction between his presence and absence is only apparent.
It is true that God is beyond our merely human experiences, as Nouwen states at the outset of this passage. We know from the Creation story in Genesis that God made us. God must have necessarily come before and been beyond human experience in order to create human life. God tells us that he is greater than us in Isaiah:
“Indeed, my plans are not like your plans, and my deeds are not like your deeds, for just as the sky is higher than the earth, so my deeds are superior to your deeds and my plans superior to your plans.” (Isaiah 55: 8-9)
Yet, we also know that God wants to be and is present and working in our lives:
“For the LORD your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon or destroy you or forget the covenant with your forefathers, which he confirmed to them by oath. ” (Deuteronomy 4:31 NIV)
“For who is God besides the LORD? And who is the Rock except our God? It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect. He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he enables me to stand on the heights.” (2 Samuel 22:32-34 NIV)
"In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express" (Romans 8:26).
Prayer is the path to experiencing God’s presence: “Draw near to God and he will draw near to you.” (James 4:8). God is faithful and he will make himself available to us. Whatever we ask in the name of his Son, Jesus; Jesus will do in order to bring glory to the Father (ref. John 14:13-14).
I agree with Nouwen that prayer is the key to experiencing God’s presence. However, I will add that the mere act of praying may not bring us into the presence of God. When we pray, our hearts must be disposed to hearing and doing God’s will. I recall times when I prayed and felt nothing and heard nothing. Although I mouthed the words and seemed to pray with good intention, I noticed that I was really afraid to hear what God had to say and was not willing to do his will. When I surrender my reservations and selfish requests, I find I am truly open to his presence. When I truly ask for things in his name and not in my own name, I see the Lord working in my life in awe-inspiring ways.
1 comment:
I didn't become a christian till age 40. What I have found is that lack of trust has been the greatest hindrance to God's presence. I am so grateful, looking back to see how the Lord's persistant gentle tenderness has drawn me (and continues to draw me) into a place of trust.
That being said, it can be very hard when your whole world is crashing in on you, to see God in the midst of it. When there seems to be no way out - no solution - to know God is there.
On more than one occasion, I had to choose to trust. I can't say I felt trusting, I just had to make a choice to. I have, at times, experianced God's wonderful workings in my life and those around me in ways I could never have imagined. And yet, there are still times when my trust seems to waver.
So, I have a couple of questions to throw out there for those who have been christians all their life and those who, like me, became christians later in life.
Do you ever struggle with the issue of trust? Have you struggled with it in the past, if so what helped you? Are trust and faith the same thing? If not, how do they differ? Can you have one without the other?
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