But something changed everything,
Gave me new clarity.
I stepped into your sanctuary
And gained some new perspective.
(Everyday Psalms, Psalm 73, page 169)
Not always, but prayer often brings clarity. It helps me see. It gives me perspective in some cases. And it can pull back the curtain on things that are unclear or intentionally disguised.
In some cases, what I can’t see is something good that is for me. Sometimes it’s something bad that is against me.
There’s a strange and wonderful story in 2 Kings 6. The army of Syria has surrounded the king of Israel and his army with horses and chariots and fighting men. It’s daunting to see them arrayed in hostility, and the servant of the prophet Elisha quails in fear. But Elisha says, “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them” (2 Kings 6:16). And then he prays, “O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see” (2 Kings 6:17) and the servant sees a vast horde of horses and chariots of fire arrayed in protection. The physical reality had caused dread, but the spiritual reality leads to peace both for the servant and ultimately for both armies.
God is for us and there are times when we need the curtain to be pulled back so we can see things as they really are, that heaven is on our side and whatever “armies” are arrayed against us are no match for our Lord.
There are times when we need to see through the sheep’s clothing to the wolf beneath. We need the lies to fall apart and to see the truth that the emperor has no clothes. There is a Deceiver out and about in the world, the Liar and the Father of Lies. Paul calls him out and his followers with him: “For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve” (2 Cor. 11:13-15). And so in our praying, we ask for eyes to see through the lies of politicians (especially the ones we are drawn to, since we easily see through the ones we dislike) and culture shapers and social media influencers and the lies of our own hearts.
At the same time, we stop and join Paul in his prayer: “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe” (Eph. 1:18-19a). Our hearts have eyes unlike any physical eyes. We need them to be enlightened, to see as we ought to see and not as our culture trains us to see.
Prayer is a willingness to see differently. By being open to God in prayer, we open ourselves to see things from a different perspective, from his perspective. The humility of praying, of approaching the one who is greater than we are, is the first step in being able to consider a reality beyond our own perception. There’s risk here. Because choosing to not trust our own perceptions is to risk being lied to. But the payoff is truth, seeing things as they really are.
Prayer: Only you see things and people as they really are. Even I myself am a mystery to myself. Open my eyes to see you and myself and the world around me with a perspective that sees beyond my own very limited perspective. I want to see truly that I might live truly. In Jesus. Amen.
OR
I pay attention to the wrong things, the wrong people, Lord. My eyes deceive me because I don’t see as I ought to. But you see the truth of things, the truth of all people. No one pulls the wool over your eyes. So help me this day to see as you do, to pay attention to what I ought to, to see through the lie to you truth. In Jesus the Truth. Amen.
For further reading: “The Emperor’s New Clothes” by Hans Christian Andersen.