St. Francis de Sales on Prayer (4)

As we continue with St. Francis de Sales, we come to the third way that we can prepare for prayer, by meditating on Jesus Christ at the right hand of the Father, Francis counsels:

The third way is to dwell upon the thought of our Lord, Who in His Ascended Humanity looks down upon all men, but most particularly on all Christians, because they are His children; above all, on those who pray, over whose doings He keeps watch. Nor is this any mere imagination, it is very truth, and although we see Him not, He is looking down upon us. It was given to St. Stephen in the hour of martyrdom thus to behold Him, and we may well say with the Bride of the Canticles, “He looketh forth at the windows, shewing Himself through the lattice.”

Once again Francis points us to the Bible, first to Acts 7:54 – 56 and the martyrdom of Stephen; “Now when they heard this, they were cut to the quick, and they began gnashing their teeth at him. But being full of the Holy Spirit, he gazed intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God; and he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”’

Francis wants us to think of Christ in heaven, even though we don’t see Him with our natural eyes, He is there. This is not “mere imagination, it is very truth”. Stephen saw him as he was drawing his final breaths on earth, John saw Him on the island of Patmos (Revelation Chapter 5). Here again we have the mystery of Christ’s nearness and His transcendence, Christ is here, Christ is there, Christ is everywhere – but He is expressed in varying ways.

Paul writes that we should “…keeping seeking the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God” (Col. 3:1). There is also a sense in which we are with Christ not only here on earth, but in the heavens as well, for we have been “…raised up with Him, and [have been] seated with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:6).

Francis also points us to the Song of Songs 2:9, “My beloved…Behold, he is standing behind our wall, he is looking through the windows, he is peering through the lattice.” Christ reveals Himself here, there, and then over there. Sometimes we glimpse one facet of our Lord, at another time another facet. Sometimes our vision is overwhelming, sometimes it is fleeting. Sometimes His light is focused, sometimes refracted in many colors. Christ shows Himself to us as we are able to receive Him and see Him, and He continually draws us ever deeper into Himself by His grace and mercy. He gives us a desire for Him, He fills that desire, which in turn leads to more desire – we are satisfied with Him and yet we still hunger for more of Him; our satisfaction creates hunger – for His beauty is infinite, His glory is infinite, His depth and height and breath and width are infinite.

The author of Hebrews writes, “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:14 – 16).

Can we visualize our great high priest? Can we see the throne of grace? What do we sense and feel and see about the holy place that we are called to enter (Hebrews 10:19)?

What does the Lamb of Revelation look like to you? How many facets of Him to you see? Do you see the Lamb slain in Rev. 5:6? Do you see the Lamb breaking the seals in Revelation Chapter 6? What does the Lamb look like in Rev. 14:1? What about the Lamb of Rev. 21:22?

And then there is the risen Christ that John sees in Revelation Chapter 1 and our conquering Lord of Rev. 19:11 – 16; how is Christ appearing to you in these passages?

We have these images, and many more, to which we can direct our thoughts and imaginations and meditations as we draw close to Christ in prayer – and we can expect that our Lord Jesus will reveal Himself to us as we look to Him, the Author and Finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2).

Perhaps you could select one of the above passages for a time of prayer and think upon that passage and image throughout the day. Christ passionately desires for us to see Him, to adore Him, to love Him – to learn to live in deep relationship with Him.

We can trust our Lord Jesus to guide our thoughts and hearts, we can trust Him with our desires, emotions, and imaginations. The Bible is a treasure house of word pictures, images, and imagination; it is a schoolroom that teaches us to see beyond the visible into the unseen (2 Cor. 4:18). Let us learn to “see” our Lord Jesus Christ, ascended to the right hand of the Father; let us learn to “see” the Holy Lamb of God.