Plants need roots. Shallow tendrils won’t hold. Plants need aggressive, tunneling fingers that go deep and wide to support and supply nourishment. We should learn our lessons from weeds with vast networking roots and deep-boring cores that make them hard to get rid of.
The prayer that takes me to rooted growth is this one:
Pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power . . .
to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ .
Ephesians 3:17b-18
To be rooted in God is to never let the core of your life bury itself anywhere else. To be rooted in God is to know that all nourishment comes first from God and God alone. Not from success. Not from productivity. Not from acceptance. Not from control. Not even from family. From God!
We send our roots down deep when the Bible is God speaking His love and truth into our lives. We send our roots down deep when we know his nudge to do something, say something, or take your hands off and be silent; and we do what He says. Nothing grows roots faster than obedience.
Without roots there is no power to grow. We can’t sustain it. We turn to our best work. We substitute trying hard for trust. We stunt our growth instead of encouraging it. Without roots we won’t be able to understand God’s unfailing love for us, His always reaching wide and deep love, His never-failing eternal and limitless love.
Rooting happens as you let God’s truth replace anything you thought was truer than what God says, especially about who you are to Him. You are His beloved, His treasure, His favorite. When you let God’s love bore down deep into your wounded psyche, your broken spirit, your wondering about whether you are good enough; something new grows. A possibility. A hope. A belief that you can be who God always knew you could be and you let Him grow you. You let His mirror reveal His truth and help you put away anything you have used instead to understand your worth and your identity.
Pray for roots. Shortchange yourself here, and you will experience the same plight as any plant whose roots can’t hold them. You will struggle, wither, and topple.
But look at what waits if you do. A deep awareness of a love no one else can give you—perfect love, unfailing love, eternal love.
I’ve prayed this prayer when my futile self-help plan didn’t work. I’ve prayed this prayer on the other side of failure and feeling stuck. I’ve prayed this prayer in springtime readiness for new growth. I’ve prayed this prayer in some long obedience that confused me. I’m praying this prayer now in all the changes life has shared.
Pray this prayer with me this week. Let God show you where you need deeper roots. It’s not a quick-grow formula; it’s about relationship.
Let your roots go down deep starting today.
Prayer Prompts for the Week _______________________________
Wednesday Pray to depend on God’s power for your spiritual growth, not your
own.
Thursday Pray that His energy gives you everything you need to grow deep
roots.
Friday Pray that you won’t get frustrated when nothing shows for a while.
Saturday Pray that you obey what God is already asking you to do or not to
do.
Sunday Pray that you experience God’s complete and unfailing love for
you.
Monday Where have you tried to accomplish something without being
rooted and established in God's empowering love? Pray for forgiveness.
Tuesday Pray for more understanding of God’s wide, long, high, deep love
for you. Live today with that rooted understanding.