Living in Prayer’s Transition Zone
Ruth Ann Stites, Staff Writer
Growing up in Benton County, Arkansas in a family interested in nature introduced me to many aspects of the natural world. While we lived on a mountain, much of Benton County, especially the western part, was composed of gently rolling hills and prairies. Our region is called a savanna or prairie parkland by natural scientists, and it is a transition zone between forests and tallgrass prairies. While true well beyond the boundaries of Benton County, I am most familiar with the local attempts to preserve some of the original elements of this landscape. Years ago, I was acquainted with a local woman, Anna Mae Searles, who donated her small area believed to be a virgin (never plowed), native prairie to the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission as a conservation easement back in 1988. It is located on West Hudson Road in Rogers, so I have been able to watch its progress over the years as I drive past.[1] It is encouraging to be reminded of the prairie parkland transition zone in the midst of the urban sprawl along this busy road.
One of the most interesting aspects of a prairie parkland is that it is a transition zone between the forest and the tallgrass prairies. And transition zones are immensely interesting places to be. In one sense all of Christianity is a transition zone uniting the things of earth with the business of heaven. But, most specifically, prayer is the great transitional “province” between the two.[2] Prayer is the place where worship (the business of heaven as described in Revelation and the Psalms) and petition (the work of earth as seen in the Pauline Epistles as the Great Apostle encourages his readers to pray for each other).
In an early attempt to reform the Church of England in Great Britain the Long Parliament convened the Westminster Assembly in 1643. Out of this meeting came, among other things, the Westminster Shorter Catechism and its first question: “What is the chief end of man? Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever.”[3] Have you ever given thought to the meaning of “forever”? Ordinarily we think of this as a future directed word. But it also has a present (now is part of forever) and a past (our forever connects to all that came before us). In one of his “snapshots” of Heaven in Revelation, John writes, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come’” (Rev. 4:8b). Worship is the “forever” business of heaven and we are invited to join in it through prayer.
But prayer, as a transition zone, doesn’t stop with worship. It also addresses the business of earth. Recall Jesus’s model prayer in Matthew 6:9-13. Here the business of earth is as important to the Master as that of heaven. Thus, even as worship is directed to heaven, earth’s concerns should be our “ordinary frame of mind” as we pray even for the inconsequential things of life.
The ordinary frame of mind is one of the blessings we must pray for, not a fancy-dress we must put on when we pray.
And perhaps, as those who do not turn to God in petty trials will have no habit or such resort to help them when the great trials come, so those who have not learned to ask Him for childish things will have less readiness to ask Him for great ones. We must not be too high-minded. I fancy we may sometimes be deterred from small prayers by a sense of our own dignity rather than of God’s.” C. S. Lewis[4]
Transition zones are important even if they are sometimes demanding or uncomfortable. As Psalm 27 encourages us, we are free to come to “Seek his face!” (ver. 8) with both the business of heaven and the business of earth.
Reflection Questions:
- What transition zones do you identify in your experience? Do they encourage you to better understand how prayer is a spiritual transition zone? Why?
- Look again at the Lord’s model prayer (Matthew 6:9-13). Look for the business of heaven in it. Now look for the business of earth. What insights did you get from viewing this passage from these two viewpoints? Did you discover anything new?
- Are you encouraged to be sure you address both the business of heaven and that of earth in your prayers? What are some practical steps you can take to make transition zone prayer stronger in your prayer life?
(Photo description and credit: The sunflower is native to the Arkansas prairie. I took this photo some years ago in the Rogers, AR, area.)
[1] Searles Prairie Natural Area
[2] Province: “Ecology An area of land, less extensive than a region, having a characteristic plant and animal population” Province – definition of province by The Free Dictionary
[3] Question 1 of the Westminster Shorter Catechim see The Chief Ends of Man? How Westminster Weds Glory and Joy | Desiring God.[4] C.S. Lewis in How to Pray, ppg 39-40
