I have been around long enough to know that the scenario in the previous chapter is incredibly common. If you have not gotten my point yet, here it is. Most average Christians do not stand a chance in a courtroom of botanical witnesses, let alone the Biblical standard of heavenly witnesses. Yet, the created function of the plant kingdom guides the way we should live, grow, and change our world.
The existence of plants, and their accompanying witness to humankind, is an extreme kindness to us who hope to change our world for the glory of God, for the way they function teaches us how we should function.[1] The very plant kingdom has been created to tell us how to pray and how to declare God’s Word.
In light of the witness against us, shouldn’t the testimony of all serious and focused Christians sound more like the following?
Yes, sir. We do hope that we can effectively change our world for the glory of God, and we have the plant kingdom to thank for the accountability and the paradigm they provide along the way.
Our beginning started with germination. We were born again by the incorruptible seed of God’s Word. Its power and its author drew us to Himself and we found grace to call on His name.
Daily intake of God’s Word is our priority. Daily Bible reading, study, and prayer are the crux of the disciplines that give practical definition to our commitment in serving the Lord. We recognize that we are plantings of the Lord and must, by heavenly empowerment, drink in God’s Word regularly and in great quantity.
This intake, combined with the work of God’s Holy Spirit as He provides light and revelation, compels us to pray God’s Word as it is quickened in our hearts. We take seriously the words that are both inside us by God’s Holy Spirit and those words that proceed from our mouths in confession, prayer, declaration, and intercession. When those words are released from us regularly and in great quantity, we simultaneously acknowledge that with every confession those words are delivered back to heaven via the High Priest of our confession, our Lord Jesus.
We equally acknowledge that no Word of God returning to heaven arrives there void of power, but we believe we have received when we pray. We believe God’s Word accomplishes that which pleases Him, and it prospers in the things for which it was sent. Our amen is certainly more than a formalism. It proclaims what we believe in our heart. Our praying and confessing of God’s Word should always be characterized by the spirit of Bible-based praying, namely, “let it be so;” let what God has said in His Word be so.
We do not deny that, as plantings, we sometimes fall short of having a handle on every issue which impacts our human existence. However, prayer and confession of God’s Word is becoming natural and organic to our purpose, even when we do not understand the struggles that come with unpredictable climates, natural environments that are not always positive, or even other human plants who refuse to acknowledge the processes natural to a relationship with their Creator. Since we are humans, we stay alert to make sure that these processes are empowered by God’s grace and not tainted by legalisms or empowered by carnal attempts at only being religious. We know that this is a work of God.
As God’s Word returns to Him, we begin to experience results, fruit that indicates we are disciples of Jesus glorifying God. This could be prayer petitions mercifully answered by God, personal growth toward maturity and character development, and influences and impacts made through us. Millions give testimony around the world as they tell others how God healed their diseased body, how the miraculous became their experience when hope could not be found, how rebellious loved ones found grace to turn to God for mercy, how provision in a deep economic struggle became a reality, how God met a need in a distant land, how God sent revival to a region drawing many to Himself, and how God generally intervened to display His power on behalf of many.
[1] Romans 1:20
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