Prayer: A Conversation with Jesus

Finding renewal and healing through prayer is a grace Jesus offers us. Prayer is a critical grace in rebuilding your marriage. Healing prayer is especially needed for deep emotional hurt.

The Gospel of John is a welcoming book to read. It comes across with an inviting simplicity, and yet as you pause over the stories, you find yourself drawn deeper into John’s thinking. There is profound depth to John’s perception of Jesus. John’s warmth and love for Jesus catch you off guard. You find yourself included in a prayer as a conversation with Jesus rather than ‘reading about how to pray.’ Moreover, as John’s ‘new friend’ you are included in Jesus’ Conversations with His Father.

Why Pray?

Why start a conversation with Jesus? We pray to God because we value our relationship with Him. Conversing with Jesus stands out in John 4:1-28 which is a conversation between Jesus and a woman from a small town in Israel.

Jesus came into Sychar, a Samaritan village that bordered the field Jacob had given his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was still there. Jesus, worn out by the trip, sat down at the well. It was noon.
A woman, a Samaritan, came to draw water.
Jesus said, “Would you give me a drink of water?” (His disciples had gone to the village to buy food for lunch.)
The Samaritan woman, taken aback, asked, “How come you, a Jew, are asking me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?” (Jews in those days wouldn’t be caught dead talking to Samaritans.)
Jesus answered, “If you knew the generosity of God and who I am, you would be asking me for a drink, and I would give you fresh, living water.”
The woman said, “Sir, you don’t even have a bucket to draw with, and this well is deep. So how are you going to get this ‘living water’? Are you a better man than our ancestor Jacob, who dug this well and drank from it, he and his sons and livestock, and passed it down to us?”
Jesus said, “Everyone who drinks this water will get thirsty again and again. Anyone who drinks the water I give will never thirst. The water I give will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
The woman said, “Sir, give me this water, so I won’t ever get thirsty, won’t ever have to come back to this well again!”
He said, “Go call your husband and then come back.”
She said. “I have no husband,”
Jesus; “That’s nicely put: ‘I have no husband.’ You’ve had five husbands, and the man you’re living with now isn’t even your husband. You spoke the truth there, sure enough.”

This is certainly a remarkable moment. Can you capture the tone of this conversation, the respect and warmth in Jesus’ words to this woman? In a culture that prohibited a Jew from speaking with a Samaritan, the woman was struck by His merely asking for a drink of water. “The Samaritan woman said to him,  “You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)” (John 4:9). As the conversation proceeded, the woman knew that here was a man who could well be the long promised Messiah as in fact, He was.

My point here is the importance placed upon this conversation by the woman and then her town. They clearly desired to converse with Jesus to the point where He felt He needed to spend more time with them. What then was the value these ancient people found in their time with Jesus? He says Himself: “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (John 4:13-14).

There are two aspects of this story that stand out to me.

• Jesus will go to any length. He will cross any barrier to converse with us.
• Jesus knows us in ways we do not admit to ourselves: He knows the dark recesses of our lives and behaviors. “He told me everything I ever did.” (John 4: 29)

Renewal in Prayer

These two realities are what leads Him to promise a vital, energetic relationship with Him if we but enter into a conversation with Him. ”Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (John 4:13). In John’s Gospel, the word ‘eternal’ is not a reference to the longevity of our life but to the quality of our life so empowered it will last for eternity. The life He gives will not depilate us. It is a dynamic, empowering life that leads us from the darkness into light. ‘Light’ is another metaphor of power. “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” (John 1:5). John uses a word ‘comprehend’ that has two meanings. The context determines the definition. In this sentence, we want to read this as the darkness did not ‘overcome’ the light. However, we need to read this in the larger context of the passage John 1:9-13 and John’s disclosure of the role Jesus plays in history as The Word made flesh (John 1:1-5). The One to disclose the very truth of the Father to us. Using the other meaning which is to ‘comprehend’ shows the underlying struggle between the forces of darkness and light. It is a contest for the mind, the soul of humanity. In this ancient battle, the light shows such vitality, such power that the darkness cannot win over our minds, our choice. The darkness cannot fathom the truth of God. In fact, as John develops this contrast between darkness and light we find that the darkness is antagonistic to the light. “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light, for their deeds were evil.” (John 3:19).

These two realities are what leads Him to promise a vital, energetic relationship with Him if we but enter into a conversation with Him.” Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (John 4:14). In John’s Gospel, the word ‘eternal’ is not a reference to the longevity of our life but to the quality of our life so empowered it will last for eternity. The life He gives will not depilate us. It is a dynamic, empowering life that leads us from the darkness into light. ‘Light’ is another metaphor of power.  “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” (John 1:5). John uses a word ‘comprehend’ that has two meanings. The context determines the definition. In this sentence, we want to read this as the darkness did not ‘overcome’ the light. However, we need to read this in the larger context of the passage John 1:9-13 and John’s disclosure of the role Jesus plays in history as The Word made flesh (John 1:1-5). The One to disclose the very truth of the Father to us. Using the other meaning which is to ‘comprehend’ shows the underlying struggle between the forces of darkness and light. It is a contest for the mind, the soul of humanity. In this ancient battle, the light shows such vitality, such power that the darkness cannot win over our minds, our choice. The darkness cannot fathom the truth of God. In fact, as John develops this contrast between darkness and light we find that the darkness is antagonistic to the light. “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light, for their deeds were evil.” (John 3:19 ).

What then did this distressed woman find in her conversation with Jesus? Why would it be wise and right for us to enter into such a conversation with Him? “Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (John 4:14).  For this woman, a relationship was established from this conversation. For those of us who have a relationship with Jesus continuing a dialogue with Him, a conversation with Him, we will find renewal welling up within us. Water refreshes us when thirsty. Water restores the functioning of our bodies when we are dehydrated from the effort we exert. Here Jesus is saying by being in conversation with Him this living water will continue to refresh and restore our energies. Why pray? The answer is as simple as why drink a glass of water. We are spiritually renewed, refreshed even as we are with a glass of water. A sign of the vitality of this renewal, this living water is seen in Jesus’s miracles: there is joy when He turns water into wine at a wedding. The head waiter addressing the bridegroom “Every man serves the good wine first, and when the people have drunk freely, then he serves the poorer wine; but you have kept the good wine until now.” (John 2:10); a frantic father’s son is restored to life “Go: your son lives” (John 4:50); a man incapacitated with illness for 38 years is healed “Get up, pick up your pallet and walk.” (John 5:11). In each of these miracles, someone asked Jesus for what they needed. They saw in Him someone they could hope in. They discovered in asking Him they received far more than they could imagine: Vitality, empowerment, renewal.

Hindrances to Prayer

Time and again someone says:

• I used to think I prayed, then I lost my job, and I discovered just how important it was to turn to Christ.
• I prayed every day when my Mom was sick. No more! My Mom died painfully. Why didn’t God do something!

Confidence and doubt characterize the reception of the miracles in John’s Gospel. John’s concern is we do not lose sight of the value of pouring our heart out to Him, asking Him for what we need remains a theme throughout the Gospel. In John 15 Jesus speaks of the need for ‘branches’ to remain in the vine the source of their vitality. Jesus says “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.” (John 15:1-2). John’s use of the word ‘true’ or in other places ‘truth’ is not so much on the veracity of Jesus. John is not stressing that what Jesus says is valid or can be objectively proven as dependable. John assumes this. John is emphasizing the idea that Jesus is real. Jesus the Christ as John loves to call Him; is reality itself. “In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him, nothing came into being. In Him was Life…” (John 1:1-4). In these words, we find the simplicity of John’s prose to slip easily into the most profound words in literature. Nowhere else will we discover the power, vitality of these ideas. Jesus who wants to converse with us. Jesus who meets us wherever we find ourselves: out of work and struggling with self-esteem; raging because He left us down; or as John filled with love for who He is. Jesus meets us there and listens to our despair, our rage, our devotion. Jesus is the creator of all existence. Jesus who brought into life all that we know as life. Here in John 15, we see Jesus and His Father portrayed with the patience of a wine grower. Tending his vines across years waiting for them to come to fruition.

Jesus in speaking to His disciples. He wants them to have confidence as He prepares to leave them that the vitality, the life they knew they had while He was here with them on earth would remain with them. Since He is the vine, the source of life; since He was in the beginning before time; He can continue to give them life, a well of water springing up and enduring throughout their life and into eternity. This hope draws us into conversation with Jesus. He gives us this reason for being in dialogue with Him. This conversation reminds us of the life, the vitality He has created within us as the Vine gives fruitfulness to the branches. The relationship we have with the Creator of new life, the renewal flowing from the Vine to the branches.

Evidence is the answer for the hindrances to prayer: A proof for the heart.

One rejoinder to the evil-god hypothesis lies in our own desire. Just as Augustine famously prayed, “Our heart is restless until it rests in you,” some have found in their own desire for God evidence that God exists. This reasoning helped persuade “Narnia” author C.S. Lewis to believe in God, and he used it often to convince others of the reasonableness of Christian faith: Our desires for food, sex, and friendship all point to something that can satisfy them, so why not the desire for God? This isn’t an argument one finds discussed by many hard-headed philosophers these days, but one professor, Peter Kreeft, finds that it works really well at a music school where he teaches. “They were bored with everything in the course until they came to this,” he told me. “The mind of the poet or the musician is attuned to that argument. Even though half of them were on drugs, they loved it!” (Nathan Schneider, “Thank You, Anarchy” and “God in Proof”, Huffington Press)

These then are some reasons to be in dialogue, conversation with Jesus. We can see how important it is in His absence to remain confident of the vitality, the energy He created within us. And yes, there are hindrances to this confidence: ‘why did my mother suffer?’ ‘where was Jesus when …’

The answers begin even as Jesus arose from the grave.

Thomas declares: “Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.” (John 19:25-29)

Here is a record of a difficult conversation with Jesus.

What is our Lord’s response?

“After eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.” Then He said to Thomas, “Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing.” Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus told him, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.” (John 20:26-29)

The evidence is the answer to the courage of the martyrs. And Jesus’ attitude towards those who seek that evidence as Thomas’ did. Christianity is not afraid of the tough questions. We have a Lord who is the seeker of truth being the Truth Himself. He wants us to push back on Him. Ask! Demand! Be like Thomas hold out for answers. Please bring your question to Jesus; He asks. Let’s talk them over. Let’s find out what is on your mind. God’s people have wavered between welcoming, honest, tough inquiry and blind, unquestioning belief. It is our philosophers, theologians, and scientists who push back upon established opinion and digs into the evidence searching as Jesus encouraged Thomas. Look for the evidence. Develop your life on rock hard facts. From this scientific attitude and the determination of the Thomas’ in our midst is where the energy, dynamic of Western civilization has come. What would you expect when in conversation with the Creator, the First-Born of all creation, The Word made flesh: He who arose from the grave? Rejoice in the facts. Celebrate for inquiring minds are the seedbed of the courage we need to live life in an antagonistic, materialistic age.

Healing Prayer is a Grace

Healing prayer is an “Joy Unspeakable” (David Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Shaw Books). As we turn from the hindrances in conversing with Jesus, let us now ask ourselves how healing prayer can heal our emotional hurt. We affirm that we follow in the path of the Great Physician. We take seriously our Lord’s response to His beloved Messenger sent before the Messiah to announce His coming: John the Baptist.

“Now when John, while imprisoned, heard of the works of Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to Him, “Are You the Expected One, or shall we look for someone else?” Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and report to John what you hear and see: the blind receive sight and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who does not take offense at me.” (Matthew 11:2-6)

This power, this vitality is the refreshing water bringing inner healing to our bruised and injured hearts. It is significant that the ministry of Jesus is marked by great compassion towards the weakest, the rejected, and the ‘poor’ in heart. In this way to each of us. We may not be blind. We may not be lame. But as faith has deepened with love; we proclaim loudly we are like all those who stumble without sight, those who are so sick they need a powerful Physician, we are sick with a disease unto death: we are sinners in need of a Righteous One to bear our sins before the face of a Holy God. We need Jesus to bear the displeasure of God our sins demand. And with John and Thomas, we proclaim: Jesus, My Lord and My God! Savior from all our sins have blinded us to, crippled by our departure from all you require.

“O Lord Thou hast struck my heart with Thy word, and I loved Thee.”  (St Augustine 354-430)

Healing prayer is a grace offered to the people of God and all those seeking Him. This grace is included in the great acts of Jesus Christ in redeeming us from the broken covenant between Adam and God. This grace is offered to all who come in faith trusting in the Risen Lord with no other conditions. It is with a humble attitude and the faith Jesus has energized us with, the vital life-giving faith He has filled us with. Jesus offers to you the healing from the physical and inner turmoil of your life, to strengthen you to face whatever path Christ has called you to walk. Healing is offered to all who come in need of relief from whatever disease of body or soul.

For further reading

“Embracing the Love of God“, James Bryan Smith

“When God Doesn’t Answer Your Prayer“, Jerry Sittser