A few years ago, I heard a quote that apparently Dallas Willard stated at one time. I can’t confirm it as I can’t find the place I heard it, yet it does sound like something he would have said, just to get us thinking.

He said (not a direct quote, but close), “I wonder if you can have such an intimate relationship with Jesus, that when you die, you won’t even know about it for a few days.” Now let that sink in for a moment. Forget about the idea that time will no longer exist after death, and don’t over think all of the logistical aspects of the statement. Just let the idea sink in. You are so in touch with your deep and abiding relationship with Jesus, that death is simply passing over a very thin, almost non-existent line, and you continue the conversation you were just having with him. Perhaps he even lets you know that you are no longer in your earthly form, with a smile on his face.

I’ve thought about this statement a lot over the years, and I love it. It’s what I want to experience. As such, I’ve come up with a phrase to help me continue to reflect on this for my own life.

“Living life on earth while leaning against heaven.”

If you could, you would have one foot in each location.

Some of this thinking has been the reflection I’ve been enjoying from the Gospel of John 14-17. Jesus, in his earthly form, had this incredible relationship with the Father. He had an ongoing dialogue with the Father, knew exactly what he was to do because of this amazing relationship with the Father, and had a longing to be right back to enjoy the “glory we shared before the world began.”

In John 15, Jesus also encouraged us to be fully connected to the vine, as a branch that received all that it needed.

With this relationship with the Father, Jesus could walk straight to the cross, knowing that in a moment he would once again be with the Father. He even told the one thief that “today you will be with me in paradise.” Just lean over the line and you are now embracing the beauty of heaven.

What would it look like to live our lives like this? To be fully engaged in whatever we have to do here on earth, while all the while leaning against heaven and sensing the full beauty of this? To be talking with a friend while hearing the voice of the Spirit at the same time. And hearing the voice of the Spirit and being prompted to speak a word to a passing stranger.

To live in the reality that there is only a thin veil between now and eternity.

I want to live life this way. Not to be so far into my life here on earth that I can’t hear from heaven. To only walk by this thin veil once in a while, perhaps while attending a Sunday morning service, or reading my bible in the morning.

No, I want to live every moment, both in this world (I have no choice, I’m here) while at the same time leaning against heaven. Fully aware of both at the same time.

And perhaps, as Dallas Willard stated: “I wonder if you can have such an intimate relationship with Jesus, that when you die, you won’t even know about it for a few days.”

For the kingdom.

I’ve enjoyed a number of books and conversations recently around spiritual maturity. They all attempt to address the area of the markers of spiritual maturity. What can we notice as we lean into our relationship with the God of the universe? What will we see in ourselves? What will we notice in others perhaps?

In all of this, there appears to be a theme around prayer. That what will change the most is how we embrace the act of prayer, our conversations with the Father.

When we first come to faith, our prayers are raw and very specific. We need God to show up in very practical ways. And amazingly, as I have witnessed and as these various authors would validate, God does. Our faith is new, without much of a foundation. God is a good Father, he knows our frailty, and he shows up for us in these practical ways. 

Think of the many stories of the bible and what happens. When the Israelites moved out of Egypt after slavery, God showed up in very immediate and practical ways, to show who he was and what he was capable of doing, that he was in control of all things.

Think of the early church as described in the book of Acts, and the many miraculous things that took place through prayer. A new thing was happening and God was revealing himself.

My conversations with my friend Saulius Karosas in Lithuania also reveal this. When independence came in the early 1990s, the church had new freedom to be all it was called to be. There were amazing examples of practical answers to prayer, many people being healed, people coming to faith in strange and beautiful ways. God was showing up.

Yet for maturity to take place, God knows that we need to develop a true relationship with Him that goes deep, that he’s not simply a bubble gum machine – put in your prayer and out comes the desired result.

I have noticed that many (I hope that word is not too bold) Christians have a hard time moving beyond this. They continue to look for the formula to get God to answer prayers as they want them answered. The get into the right emotional state, the find the right scripture, to be in the church the “gets it” and knows how to get God to respond.

Yet maturity in faith is so different. It moves beyond “bubble gum machine God” into a space of conversation, of listening, of simply being with the Father, and not needing Him to respond to our every whim. It is a faith that is more about sensing His closeness and love than about getting our answer.

Certainly we will talk to him about what is worrying us, and we will bring our concerns about those around us to him. It will also lead us to pray in even bigger ways, about issues and concerns that don’t necessarily impact us directly yet we sense a call to talk to God about them.

I have seen this in the people that I have come alongside in their discipleship. As their faith deepens, their prayers change. What they pray and how they pray is so evident. Times to simply be silent with God are treasured. The need to fill the space with requests diminishes. 

So how about you? What does prayering look like? Are you finding the need to convince God of what he needs to do, or are you simply more enjoying the beauty of a relationship that is full of love and meaning?

Some thoughts to reflect on.

For the kingdom.