The Praying Life

"God takes everyone He loves through a desert. It is His cure for our wandering hearts, restlessly search for a new Eden. Here's how it works.

The first that happens is that we slowly give up the fight. Our wills our broken by the reality of our circumstances. The things that brought us life gradually die. Our idols die for lack of food. The still, dry air of the desert brings the sense of helplessness that is so crucial to the spirit of prayer. You come face-to-face with your inability to live, have joy, to do anything of lasting worth. Life is crushing you.

Suffering burns away the false selves created by cynicism or pride, or lust. You stop caring what other people think of you. The desert is God's best hope for the creation of an authentic self.

Desert life sanctifies you. You have no idea that you're changing. You simply notice after you've been in the desert for a while that you are different. Things that used to be important no longer matter. After a while, you notice your real thirsts. While in the desert, David writes,

O God, you are my God. Earnestly, I seek You;

my soul thirsts for You;

my flesh faints for You,

as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. 

Psalm 63:1

The desert becomes a window to the heart of God. He finally gets your attention because He's the only game in town. 

You cry out to God so long and so often that a channel begins to open up between you and God. When driving, you turn the radio off just to be with God. At night you drift in and out of prayer when you are sleeping. Without realizing it, you have learned to pray continuously. The clear, fresh water of God's presence that you discover in the desert becomes a well in your own heart. 

The best gift of the desert is God's presence. We see this in Psalm 23. In the beginning of the psalm, the Shepherd is in front of  me-- "He leads me beside still waters" (v.2); at the end He is behind me --"goodness and love will pursue me." (v. 6); but in the middle, as I go through "the valley of the shadow of death" He is next to me-- "I will fear no evil, for You are with me" (v. 4). The protective love of the Shepherd gives me courage to face the interior journey. "

An excerpt from "The Praying Life" by Paul Miller