Engaging the Multiverse
Prayer Between Worlds
The idea of multiple interconnected realities has captured fans imaginations far longer than Marvel’s recent multi-verse infatuation.
Thousands of years ago, Greek Mythology told of the world of the gods and the world of men coming into contact and conflict. Movies like “Everything Everywhere All At Once” wrestles with the idea of being part of an infinite and overlapping cosmic picture in 2022.
I suspect this recurring tension exists in people who were made by God as physical and spiritual beings. We’ve been created with an understanding that there are multiple realities at play–the things we can see and the things we don’t currently see.
Prayer is the path for a Christian to live faithfully in these overlapping realities.Prayer is how we fit God’s (multi-faceted) world together and how we fit into God’s world!
When you read through the Lord’s prayer below, look for two realities, two worlds, that God rules over and we are trying to fit together. God reigns in Heaven clearly, His name is praised, and His will is embraced and enjoyed. On Earth we face different realities–need, sin, suffering, temptation, and spiritual warfare.
“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10 your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.’
Matthew 6:9–13
The first and most important, the defining reality, is the Word of God. The Word of God establishes Truth about God, His character, and His plan for all things which fundamentally created and define the World.
The second, less important, but more pressing reality, is the World God placed us in. What we sense around us and understand to be true by observation.
Perception seems to be reality for the human, until we begin to walk by faith and not by sight.
Prayer is the path to walking by faith. In prayer we take the Word of God and fit it together with the world we see around us. In prayer we take hold of the Word of God and wrestle with how to fit in the world where God placed us.
So much of the Christian life is lived in the tension of these two worlds. Obeying God’s Word in the world feels as though it might tear you apart. Living by the Light of the Word and not the Lies of World appears to bring loss of opportunity, less pleasure… even death and suffering for some believers.
Prayer is the gift from God for you to fit the lesser reality (what you see) with the foundational reality (what God says).
Prayer is the gift from God that helps you survive when those two realities tear you at the seams! When the truths of the Word of God don’t match what you see–you fit them together in prayer and you fit within them in prayer!
The Psalmist saw thousands of spears surrounding him more clearly in the moment, but he understood the foundational reality that the Lord was a shield around him.
Listen to the collision of two worlds in Psalm 22 in the space of a few verses,
16 Dogs surround me,
a pack of villains encircles me;
they pierce my hands and my feet.
17 All my bones are on display;
people stare and gloat over me.
18 They divide my clothes among them
and cast lots for my garment.
19 But you, Lord, do not be far from me.
You are my strength; come quickly to help me.
Psalm 22:16–19
This wasn’t mathematical calculation, but spiritual competition to cling to God despite what the Psalmist saw. The Lord Jesus prayed this psalm in the battle of the cross!
If you are going to fit in the world where God has placed you in a way that fits with His Word, you must pray.
Humble prayer with your Bible open is your path to living in the Fear of the Lord– which the Scripture tells us is the root of Wisdom. Prayer is how you will fit things together wisely!
Jesus knows the great dilemma and divide of the Word and the World–He came to reconcile God and Men after all! He prayed on the cross when the tension of worlds was so real that it tore Him and the veil in the temple.
If you will fit where God has placed you and if you will hold fast to the Word in this sin-cursed World, you must pray!