7/20/25 Many people are fascinated with the idea of praying and reaching God; and rightly so, because He has definitely prepared a place for us. “And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me, that you also may be where I am” (John 14:3). I wanted to share an excerpt from a book I am working on, and many thoughts I had lately were wrapped up in this passage, so here it is. I am referring to the saint of God from Spain: Teresa of Avila; it is her and her writings that often help guide me when I align rightly the parts of Scripture to what she was trying to say. Here is a passage I’ve been working on, that discusses the view or idea that developments in prayer show the grandeur of God! I’m attempting to write it, aiming to help people who spend a good deal of time in prayer.

At times you may notice yourself to be super strict of God’s ruling your communication (prayer), and at other times you may feel as free as a bird. As you study the Lord’s Word and ways, you will find “this considering” is what brings Him great pleasure, and you great peace. Psalms 119 of David speaks of this concept many times, in phrases like: “teach me your statutes”, “I rejoice in following your statutes”, “your statutes are my delight”,…etc. The implication is clear that the Lord Himself was David’s teacher. It seems, at least, King David viewed it that way. I have always assumed this concept of “statutes” to be personalized teachings that mostly only your soul is aware of. This can be found paralleled along Teresa’s work. That reason that I am mirroring what she has said is because: she has written on this without prior personal teacher but mostly by inspiration, and she is a woman, and uses much experience to guide her to the love of God, and ultimately Union with the Lord. She didn’t have ready access to the Scriptures because of the time era; but the ones that she had, she taught on. And though I don’t “consult” her as she’s in Heaven, but do her works, I feel that she does teach me often. In saying that, I might as well say that I do not believe in practicing spiritism or any sort of consulting the dead. I do, however, wholeheartedly support the idea of current communion of the saints (Hebrews 12:22-23). No one could explain thoroughly enough all the inner workings of their own soul and communications with God, but Teresa does try! How much harder it is to coach others about what will come about in their prayers! Only God in His grace can help us to talk about these things with any true meaning and understanding between one other. Teresa begins to mention how people give too much attention to their physical bodies, and pay little to no attention to their soul and its workings. And on top of this, those who don’t value their souls in the first place could hardly handle their upkeep honoring the spirit-man. Focusing only on our bodies is like focusing on the shell of a nut, or on the paneling that covers the house, sort of like only making sure the bricks match all around a structure. This does little to help us to enter in; we have to “make it into” the dwelling of the Lord, or “enter in” to be with the Lord. It can be a beautiful thing when we finally realize how much of a treasure our soul is, rather than viewing ourselves only in light of having bodies. If we are led of the spirit, we will not get confused, though. Jesus teaches us different lessons in different seasons. “Because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God” (Romans 8:14). Is it paradoxical to value the soul so highly, while at the same time knowing that we are needing to hate our own life?[1] (John 12:25). No, I don’t think so. The thief joined Jesus “in paradise” (Luke 23:43). (This is because such a humble view creates a knowledge of who He created us to be in Him.) How does this realization happen?                   

Knowing that we are sinful from birth (Psalms 51:5), can theoretically come as knowledge through reading Scriptures; but Jesus Himself communicates the dose of understanding needed for our own salvation. In part, I am convinced that the MOST effective way to see the Lord at work and feels its closeness is by what the bible calls “a demonstration of the Spirit’s power” (1 Corinthians 2:4). The apostle Paul spoke to believers in Corinth and what gripped so many of them, was the fact that this man (formerly called Saul) had been changed from Christian murderer to zealous converter, totally moved over from darkness to light; not a minister of condemnation any longer, but a minister of heaven. Even more than this, he was facing MAJOR persecution for his teachings, and that zeal for knowing the purpose in his own life got a lot of attention! His own conversion story is wild: something about being knocked off a horse, seeing a great light, then going blind, and then hearing from Jesus Himself! Whoa! God IS THAT REAL! Many people open the Bible without the inkling that God’s law is to be written on our hearts. That’s where the real king shows His ownership and dominion and power. Knowledge of Christ in His power and light does boost our own confidence exponentially, to see the stark opposite of the darkness dispelled by the pure light. We have come from all that “stuff” and brought unto Christ, who took us from having no being to being in His being. His grace can literally knock the stink of sin off us if we would let it. We have to set our gaze on Him and praise Him for His wondrous works. What a gracious and deserving God, who would beseech our permission, so that we could have glimpses of Heaven with Him!

[1] “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters, yes, even his own life, he cannot be my disciple (Luke 14:26).

If you would like to read more about Teresa’s teaching on prayer, here is a good free pdf link to her book https://www.scribd.com/document/548764835/Teresa-of-Avila-The-Interior-C-Kieran-Kavanaugh. I would like to say as a disclaimer don’t read the one written by Mirabai Starr, because its on the edge of universalism teachings. Universalism is the belief that “all human being will ultimately be saved, no matter their beliefs or actions during their lifetime”. Honestly, the Scriptures in the bible do NOT teach that at all.