The Chisel and Stone

“The sculpture is already complete within the marble block, before I start my work. It is already there, I just have to chisel away the superfluous material.”― Michelangelo

“Prayer is the mightiest force in the world.” — Frank Laubach

Prayer is much more than a passive approach toward our mystical union in Christ, it is the active work of exchange that causes our true self to rise above our false self. It’s the exchange of false light for true light. We are becoming who we already are. We use prayer as a tool to shed the carnal desires of this world for the beauty that we behold in His.

Michelangelo, the famous Renaissance artist from the early 16th century carved one of the most iconic sculptures known simply as “David”. This beautiful marble statue has captured the imagination of generations and has been the visible display of the artist’s brilliance. David has stood in Florence, Italy, since 1504 as a vulnerable view of the beauty of man. Before the statue of David was completed, it was referred to as The Prisoner and even before that, the large single slab of marble was called the giant. The creative genius is to be considered stages of becoming. The single slab is just a mountain of stone. As the creator sculpts to an intended end, the hidden image of David is a “prisoner” until every piece of marble is chiseled away, until David is revealed in full detail.

Michelangelo regarded a single block of stone as containing all the possible conceptions for a work of art, and believed that the artist's task is sculpting the marble block to reveal the ideal form within, an expression of his Neoplatonic belief that body and mind are separate, and must work in concert and strive to attain union with one another and with the divine. In later years, speaking of his early commissions sculpting marble, he contended that he was merely liberating figures that were already existent in the stone, and that he could see them in his mind's eye. *

What would it look like if we viewed the call to prayer the same way that Michelangelo viewed carving the timeless work of art that we know as David? He believed that David was always in the stone, but he had to chisel away the other pieces of stone that hid him from everyone else. Prayer is a gift. As we learn to partner with our imputed righteousness and as we aim our full being toward the posture of prayer, our true beloved identity is fully visible in a dark world.

This is why I use the Beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount as my north star on my prayer journey. In the famous Sermon on the Mount, Jesus identifies and highlights the person and attributes of one living in the divine light of the kingdom realm. The beauty of the Sermon on the Mount is that it allows space for decisions within instruction. It’s not a “how to” passage as much as it is an “if you want to” message. He provokes the listener to say, “do I have that within me?” It’s riddled with an invitation and an examination of motives. The great reveal of the Sermon on the Mount is understood when Jesus said, “you are the light of the world, a city set upon a hill that cannot be hidden.” This isn’t to say that the truth can’t be hidden behind lust of a self-absorbed life. It’s saying, your light cannot be hidden when you have let the message go deep into your belief of becoming. It’s as if He is saying that the posture of your heart reveals the nature of your true being, which is like Him.

Jesus is said to be “the image of the invisible God”. Until Jesus, we only knew the Father in the shadows of our understanding and not in the full light of Christ. Jesus made the image of the Father clearly displayed in His own being. In a very direct way, He asserted, “When you’ve seen Me, you’ve seen the Father.” This was scandalous and bold claim that we must embrace as it works within us today. The incarnation of Christ continues in us as we grow in our awareness of our union with Christ. He revealed to us through scripture, “as He is (Jesus), so are we in this world.” This wasn’t fantasy, this is identity. This revelation continues on in Paul’s bold admonition; “imitate me, as I imitate Christ.” It seems that it’s one step away from what Jesus said when he said, “when you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father.” I pray that one day we live in the fullness of our light that we can accurately say, “when you’ve seen me, you’ve seen Jesus.” Too many that would seem blasphemous or heretical, but what if that’s more biblical than what we are bold enough to believe right now? What if that’s what the Orthodox view of “Theosis” really means?

I’ve often simplified the summary of prayer as an “aliveness” to God. It’s not a method I’m talking about, it’s a manifestation of its fullness at work in me. You will know that you have given yourself to a vibrant prayer life, because God becomes more alive in you. You don’t view prayer as a duty as much as it’s becoming a delight of entwined hearts that reveals integrated desires. The lie of separation is removed, and you see yourself in union with Jesus. The same love the Father has for Jesus, you now believe that to be true in you. When the work of prayer is alive in you, you see yourself fully alive in Christ.

In the North Star of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus spends some extensive time highlighting the nature, effectiveness, and exchange of prayer. In Matthew 6, He begins with, “examine your motives.” Most pass by that to get to the form of prayer He teaches in the next few verses. But I believe what He is doing first is making sure the heart is aligned with purity before it’s instructed in its method. Jesus then reveals the place of prayer. He says, “Whenever you pray, go into your innermost chamber and be alone with Father God, praying to Him in secret. And your Father, who sees all you do, will reward you openly.” This is much more than a location for prayer, but a call to the inner man to be alone in your desire for Him. It can be seen Psalm 27:4 when David prays, “one thing have I desired of the Lord. One thing will I seek. That I may dwell in His house all the days of my life, to behold His beauty and inquire in His temple.” David’s prayer is powerful, but how much more glorious should it be with us who have seen the Father unveiled in Christ. Paul goes on to say, “do you not know that now YOU are the temple of the Holy Spirit?” Jesus takes the prayer of David and makes in much more intimate. Now, instead of prayer being a form or a word, it’s now an aim that reveals embodiment of His light alive in us.

Now that he has revealed our motives to be pure and instructed our inner man to be alone with God, He teaches us the nature of prayer that we know as “Our Father”. Not only does He teach us a “form prayer”, but He more pointedly teaches us the aim of prayer. He reveals that His Father, is our Father too. Our very act of prayer leads us to embody His nature in us. Nowhere more is the nature of the Father on full display like it is in the verses following the “form prayer” when He says, “and when you pray, make sure you forgive the faults of others so that your Father in heaven will forgive you.” Forgiveness is a divine act of love. Your prayer life will never rise above your desire to show mercy. Forgiveness reveals the belief of your union. If you are like Christ, you love to show mercy.

This is the same vein as when God spoke to Ezekiel, “A new heart I will give you, and new spirit will I put within you: And I will take away the stony heart out of you and give you a heart of flesh.”

Paul said, “Anyone who is in Christ, is a new creation, all things have passed away, and behold, all things are brand-new.”

We do not become a better version of our old selves, we become a brand-new being. The one that we were before the fall of Adam and Eve believed the lie of separation. Today, we are learning that separation from God is a lie for us as well, and the same love that the Father has for Jesus, He has for me too! This is why we take no thought about tomorrow or concern ourselves about less important things. Instead, Jesus says, “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and then all these things shall be added to you.” What are the lesser things? He said they were “food, water, and clothes” among other needs. On a natural level, these wouldn’t be categorized as lesser, but in the light of the love of the Father, they are lesser. This is the chisel against stone fear that would fight for self-preservation and hide your true self as one simply loved by the Father. He goes on to say, “Refuse to worry about tomorrow, tomorrow will take care of itself.”

He is better than we’ve imagined, and there is more of Him to know. You and I were made for more... and more of Him. The revelation of union paves a road to the throne of His grace, where we learn to make the exchange between the failing system of this world and the government of peace that has no end. This is prayer. This is the aim and embodiment of its nature until we see ourselves as becoming prayer itself. Constantly aimed at the beauty of Jesus until His desires are my desires too.

Prayer is the chisel that chips away everything that is hiding who I really am as His beloved.

Matthew 7, Jesus continues his message by saying, “ask and it’s yours, seek, and you’ll discover, knock, and the door will be opened for you. For every persistent one will get what He asks for. Every persistent seeker will discover what he longs for. And anyone who knocks persistently will one day find an open door.”

Please don’t see this as a transaction as much as it’s an invitation.

We have full access to the Father. That is clear. But if my union with my wife is my understanding to my union with Christ, then I must approach both in the same light. I have a covenant with my wife. I have access to her. My covenant isn’t measured on my conduct. I am married to her if I’m doing well or if I’m behaving poorly. But like any marriage, the “aliveness” and “beauty” of union is shared in the exchange, not the contract. Every day, I can make the decision to see more and more beauty in my bride. I can make decisions that reflect that value in my life. It’s not a demand as much as it’s an enrichment. In prayer, we are called to persistently “ask, seek, and knock,” and in my marriage, I persistently “ask, seek, and knock.”. Not because anything is being withheld, it’s so my heart may discover more of what I already have access to.

Each ask, each seek, and each knock is a chisel against any stagnating place of my heart that would hide the beauty that is waiting to be revealed. This makes prayer a tool of grace and not a labor in vain. You and I are invited on an adventure to discover more and more about what we have unlimited access to. It would be a tragedy for us to stop at what we know when there are untold riches ready to show themselves to you on the other side of your aim toward the beauty of Jesus.

How do you know you are finding the aim and embodiment of prayer. You are acquainted with the fear of the Lord. This is not a fear that terrorizes you but one that calms you. It makes you stay longer, pause longer, and look longer than you did before. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. When you behold infinite beauty, you tremble with astonishment and have to make a decision. You can either turn back, or you can marry yourself to it. As the anonymous author said in, The Cloud of Unknowing;

“The everlasting love of God created and redeemed you. God also inspired your desire for him. It was as though God attached to you a leash of longing and led you to himself.”

As well as;

“Pierce that thick cloud of unknowing with a sharp dart of longing love. Do not turn away no matter what happens.”

This is why in the kingdom, purity outweighs clarity. It’s the pure in heart that see more and more of God. Clarity is sometimes an illusion that is like a mirage in the desert or a stubborn rock hiding the tenderness of my true being. Prayer is where we make the exchange. We can either hide inside the stony giant of our old nature, or we can still be a prisoner trapped in our habits, or we can see ourselves as beloved waiting to be revealed to the world. Prayer is the chisel, and I am the stone. He chips away everything that doesn’t look like him. He is the artist, and I am his living poetry.

There is beauty in you, and there is an art being revealed. Give yourself to prayer until you are as alive in Him as He is in you!

You are His David, His beloved.