Jan 29, 20217 min read

In the Garden of Prayer

Updated: Mar 4, 2021

In the garden of prayer, we are safe. We are known. We are loved. When we talk with God in the garden of prayer, he hears us and longs for us to listen to what He has to say. We hear Him as we meditate on His Word. His Word goes out to the Earth and does not return void. Just as the water He sends goes deep into the ground to water the seed, the Lord plants supernatural seeds in us that He waters with the living water of Jesus, who is the Word of God. We will not run dry when we soak in and meditate on God’s Word. We will be filled to overflowing and our words will overflow with joy, gladness and love in spending time in His Presence in the garden of prayer. He is in the garden.

“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”

-Jeremiah 29:13 (NIV)

As we open our hearts to God in the secret place with Him in prayer, He weeds out the things that are not of Him and fills us with His love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness and self-control. He breathes His Spirit- Rafa- into us. The breath is like the wind among the trees in the garden- all kinds of trees. Trees planted in good soil. In the garden of prayer we get to know Jesus. We get to know the Protector of the garden of our hearts.

“Guard your heart with all diligence, for out of it is the wellspring of life.”

-Proverbs 4:23 (New Heart English Bible)

Life that comes from Jesus. We enter into prayer with all of our hearts because that is where Jesus dwells. He longs to sit on the throne of our hearts. Jesus, our Prince of Peace guards our hearts with His peace as we surrender the throne of our hearts to Him in a posture of humility in prayer.

“...in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

-Phillipians 4:6-7 (NIV)

In the garden of prayer we are free to dance with our Jesus, to walk and talk with Him as good friends, and as a bride and groom. Jesus is our Prince of Peace, our hero, our rescuer, who longs to share His love with us in the garden of prayer, to place a crown of beauty, a garment of praise and a robe of righteousness on us and to anoint our heads with the oil of gladness.

Thank you, Jesus, for meeting us in the garden of prayer and reminding us of our identity. You know us by name, and You have redeemed us. You tell us that we are loved, cherished and beautiful- you make everything beautiful in its time.

The Lord sends His rain of mercy into our hearts to water the seeds of love, peace and joy that He plants from His Word of Life.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." -John 1:1

Jesus is the Word of Life.

In the beginning we see there was the tree of life in the Garden of Eden. Have you ever thought about if Adam and Eve had turned to the tree of life rather than the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? It seems interesting to me that these two trees are mentioned specifically. After the resurrection, there was life again in Jesus. In heaven, there will be a tree of life that bears much fruit. In Revelation, it talks about returning to this tree of life. Is Jesus this tree of life?

“On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.”

-Revelation 22:2 (NIV)

Jesus promises through John in the book of Revelation that,

“To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.” -Revelation 2:7

Praise God! Jesus also promises us life abundant through Him

“I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

-John 10:10 (NIV)

“I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live.”

-John 11:25 (NIV)

Today, I believe we partake of the life of Jesus as we pray. His Spirit breathes life into us as we surrender to Him in prayer and receive His grace, mercy, love, forgiveness and life in the Spirit.

“The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life.”

-John 6:63 (NIV)

“In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

-John 1:4-5 (NIV)

Jesus died on the cross for our sins, and the Spirit raised Him from the dead after three days so that we would have eternal life with God. After his burial on the third day, one of Jesus' followers, Mary Magdalene, searched for Jesus' body, and He encountered her in the garden.

He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”

Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”

Jesus said to her, “Mary.”

She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).

-John 20: 15-16 (NIV)

Imagine a time when the Lord comforted you. Imagine Him asking you, “Why are you crying?” Pause, tell Him your pain and ask Him to meet you there. Then, imagine Him saying your name with tender care in His voice. Let Him embrace you with His love. He sees you, and He longs to comfort you. Give Him your whole heart.

I find it really interesting that the risen Jesus Christ, both Savior and friend, met Mary back in a garden and called her by name. He knew her. In the same way, His resurrection removed the barrier between us and God and has made a way for us to reenter enter communion with God. In the beginning, we see in Genesis that God created mankind to walk with Him and talk with Him freely in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve could hear God talking to them in the garden. He knew them and called them by name in the garden.

When they sinned, they felt the pain of being cut off from that close connection with God. He was still there, but not in close communion.

The Bible is a love story of God pursuing mankind with His love to redeem this broken relationship.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

-John 3:16 (NIV)

We are welcomed back into the garden to walk and talk with God in prayer because we have our High Priest, Jesus Christ, interceding for us.

“Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

-Hebrews 4:14-16 (NIV)

Just like Adam and Eve, we have turned away from God and sinned, but if we turn around and repent, we will see His outstretched arms and receive His grace. Do you believe this?

Be washed anew with His love, with His grace.

If you have surrendered your heart to Jesus, be washed anew in the waters of baptism and receive His love and promise.

"Peter replied, 'Repent and return to God, and each one of you must be baptized in the name of Jesus, the Anointed One, to have your sins removed. Then you may take hold of the gift of the Holy Spirit.'"

Acts 2:38 (TPT)

Then, hold onto your new identity.

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!"

-2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)

"For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins."

-Colossians 1:13 (NIV)

Praise God that He is merciful and gracious and that because He loved us he sent Jesus to provide a way for us to be back in communion with Him. Jesus makes us right before God so that we can become oaks of righteousness. We can talk directly with God again in the garden of prayer.

Dear Lord, thank you for your love. Thank you that you are Love and that you know how to reach the inmost parts of our hearts. Lord, reign in us, reign in your power, over all our dreams. I desire to know you with all of my heart as I seek you. Thank you for never giving up on us but pursuing us with your great love. Thank you for bringing us deeper into your love through a touch of your love and in worship. Even when we do not feel worthy, you still love us and meet us where we are at. In Christ we are made new. We are brought into your kingdom. We return to the garden of prayer to commune with you. Thank you, Jesus. Your love is a gift. Thank you for the cross. Thank you for the peace that we have through Jesus. Thank you that we are healed at the cross. Thank you that we have life in you.

In Jesus name,

Amen

In the Garden of Prayer

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