i think backwards. Rather than set a course and take the steps A-B-C, i like to work backward in a plan from C-B-A. When you see one of the great pyramids or a mountain, your eye is drawn upward to the pinnacle or peak. You instinctively want to reach the top and see the world from that point of view. But to reach the top, you have to start at the base – it’s bigger, less glamorous, not much of view—it’s where the structure meets the dirt. But without that base, there’s no peak.
So it is with Micah 6:8 (He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.)– many want to lead the life of great testimonies of acting justly. But that’s at the peak of a life that begins with walking humbly with your God.
In our modern language for the Christian experience, we think that we might be the originators of the idea of our relationship with God being likened to a walk. Truth is, we’re not the originators of much at all (as Solomon said, “there’s nothing new under the sun”). God is the originator of the term – He is the one who came to walk with Adam and Eve in the garden (Genesis 3:8). Genesis 17:1 says, “When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, "I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless.” Moses consistently used the term speaking to the Israelites in the Pentateuch, especially in Deuteronomy (such as 10:12-13, “And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the LORD's commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?”) The prophet Micah is simply borrowing language that was well understood for the Jewish people.
Walking humbly with your God is not real glamorous – it’s not supposed to be. It’s the relationship in the secret place that Jesus taught in Matthew 6:1-18. This humble walk can lead you to great things for the Kingdom, but unless you’re walking on that road, the great things won’t magically appear.
We use the word “pray” to summarize this humble walk. i believe that if our relationship with God is likened to a walk, then prayer is the road. Paul encouraged one young church to “pray continually” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). If you think of prayer as simply the amount of time on your knees, then this is troublesome. Prayer is not just our monologue to God, but a dialogue with the Divine – more than just praises and requests, but times of listening and waiting. Through prayer, we communicate with our Heavenly Father—and He communicates with us. In prayer, we learn to recognize His voice – then we can follow-up on promptings in what may be divine appointments. Prayer enables a life of day to day obedience to His commands, and moment to moment faithfulness to His prompting.
According to this word-picture then, a life with God is humbly walked along a path of prayer. But without prayer, you may be sitting on the park bench. Meanwhile, God is there – down the path -- beckoning you to join Him. Get off the bench, and take a step toward him in prayer. He’ll race to meet you and lead you to see what’s just beyond the horizon.
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