Rediscovering Prayer

by Addison Bevere

March 10, 2024

Separator Words with God by Addison Bevere
Praying Through Fear

“The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.”

—Genesis 1:2

I don’t know what your teenage years were like, but I imagine they were . . . uncomfortable. Mine certainly were. Those years brought a barrage of change and growth, and where there is growth, there are gaps. Gaps of all kinds. These gaps formed a void in me, a space that is beyond my ability to fill or subdue.

“The void you discover one day in your teens—nothing can ever undo that discovery.” (Marguerite Duras)

My oldest son Asher is fourteen, and he’s becoming aware of what Duras calls “the void.” His life is less simple and more dangerous than his childhood led him to believe. He’s navigating desires and disappointments he doesn’t fully understand and questions he doesn’t like.

As I journey with Asher, working through the disorientation, I’m gaining fresh perspective into my own stretching, my own void. Conversations about surrender and faith have led me to realize that with each stretch of my being, new space is created within the ever-expanding “me”—space that must be searched out and surrendered. Maybe that’s why both Jesus and Paul told us to die daily (Luke 9:23–24, 1 Cor. 15:31)?

Response

The Accuser (Satan) doesn’t want you to discover what’s on the other side of courageous surrender. He’d rather we fill the void with sex, stuff, and status, so he uses the chaos within to tease, tempt, and torment us. He wants us anxious and afraid.

And the void does indeed cause us to fear.

But who or what should we fear?

We can either fear the void and do whatever we can in our own sufficiency to master, fill, or avoid it, or we can fear the God who hovers over the chaos, the One who coaxes life and beauty from its dark waters, trusting Him and His process.

Prayer is the pathway into and through the void. It’s also our source of power and promise, calming our minds and hearts, releasing us from anxiety’s grip. The void is dark and mysterious, for it represents every undiscovered part of us, but prayer is the light that reveals what’s always been true, truth that remains hidden until we are ready to receive it as a gift.

Deep calls to deep
    at the roar of your waterfalls;
all your breakers and your waves
    have gone over me. (Psalm 42:7)

Closing Thoughts

You and I are greater than what we can name ourselves, and that can feel terrifying. We are, after all, forged for an eternal purpose that’s beyond our grasp, fearfully wonderful in ways our pride could never articulate. These are intimate truths, truths that the Spirit alone can unveil.

When I reach the end of myself and life feels out of control, I often pray, “You are God. I am not.” Sometimes those words come with tears, and they’re nothing more than a whisper. Other times I scream them in defiance. Either way, in time, they do their work, lifting my eyes upward and lighting my path forward.

Praying with you,

Addison

Separator Words with God by Addison Bevere

P.S. If you don’t have the Words with God book yet, I want to encourage you to read it as we move into and through Easter. Just to click here to get yours.

Sunday Entries

On most Sundays, I share a short prayer guide, offering words and practices that will help you see, hear, and experience more of God in your daily life. I’d love for you to join us.

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The Entries

I know I’m asking you to do scary and sacrificial work. But I promise the Spirit will meet you in those tender places. He is gracious, patient, faithful, and He longs for us to know as we are known.

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We’re in the middle of a series on Rest, and I was asked to teach on Psalm 116, with an emphasis on prayer. God gave me a four-part framework that, from what I hear, is already helping people move through the tensions that come with prayer, hope, death, and disappointment.

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It’s true that the good we are seeking doesn’t often come on our timetable, but Scripture tells us we can believe anything is possible because Jesus’s resurrection power brings certainty, a certainty that overcomes every fear, anxiety, and pain, including death.

Continue Reading →

06.11.23

“I’ve been thinking a lot about circles lately. So much of life is defined by circles—our days, week, months, and years form circles for us to move in and through. We’re constantly reminded that the end of a thing has a way of taking us back to a beginning. It would seem the cosmos announces the Circle as God’s shape of choice…”

Addison Bevere is the COO of Messenger International, a ministry founded by John and Lisa Bevere in 1990 that exists to develop uncompromising followers of Christ who transform our world. Messenger is dedicated to providing people with access to life-transforming messages regardless of their location, language, or financial position.

addison-thumbnail-2021
Addison Bevere

Husband, father, author, poet, speaker & follower of Christ

addison-thumbnail-2021
Addison Bevere

Husband, father, author, poet, speaker & follower of Christ

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