Mostly What God Does: Reflections on Seeking and Finding His Love Everywhere

by Savannah Guthrie

The proper balance is struck with the secret ingredient: God himself. Knowledge of and belief in the deep love of God is how we come to love ourselves.

This insight is not original, but Savannah Guthrie claims and distinguishes it with her own clear and cogent insight. We come to love ourselves upon encountering God in that natural setting or Sunday morning space or when we receive grace. Then we know the great big, deep, love of God who encounters us where we are through the fellowship with Jesus. I love her simple profundity: "Knowledge of and belief in the deep love of God" kindles the love of oneself.

Message: He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. Romans 8:26 He doesn’t even need words from us. Just a sigh, a tear, or a whimper. He knows. What an amazing resource we have in a God who already understands our whole history, our intricate emotional fabric, our every inner thought. We don’t have to explain anything. It’s like having a Super Therapist—or as the Bible puts it, a “Wonderful Counselor” (Isaiah 9:6). I am so grateful that God can take what I bring—my mixed motives, misery, and miscellaneous mishigas—and fashion it into prayer. In a way, prayer, at its essence, is simply processing our feelings and emotions and concerns in the presence of God. It is our intentional turning to him.

As one of those whose favorite verse is Romans 8:26, I really appreciate Savannah's evocative definition of prayer and intentional relationship-building with God.