“Prayer is the constant calibration of the soul.”
Bob Sorge in Secrets of the Secret Place
So much about prayer is shrouded in mystery. While God makes it clear that prayer is a backbone of the Christian life, how He uses our prayers remains a mystery to us. And perhaps He wants it that way. After all, the idea is to pray and let the Holy Spirit worry about the results.
But as soon as I read the above quote, I couldn’t get it out of my head and heart. I had to come back to it and reread it 
several times, letting it sink in. What was God trying to tell me?
The word calibration intrigued me. I have a vague sense of the meaning, but I looked it up to clarify. Wikipedia shares this definition of calibration:
- Calibration is a comparison between measurements — one of known magnitude or correctness made or set with one device and another measurement made in as similar a way as possible with a second device. The device with the known or assigned correctness is called the standard. The second device is the unit under test, test instrument, or any of several other names for the device being calibrated.
Wow! When I look at this definition through a spiritual lens as an analogy to prayer, the implications are eye-opening.
- God is our first “measurement” of correctness, the standard, and people are the second measurement, made in as similar a way as possible to Him. Indeed, Genesis 5:1 tells us that “when God created man, he made him in the likeness of God.”
- We also see that people are “the unit under test.” Isn’t that interesting? Deuteronomy 8:2 and several other places in the Bible tell us that God does test us: “Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands.”
God tests us to see if we are on the same page as He is, willing to obey Him. Because of sin, we know that often times our rebellious hearts are “doin’ their own thing.” I know that too many times I have made my own plans, and I don’t really want to know if God likes them — or not.
Here is where the calibration part becomes life-changing:
When I take the time each day to come before God and pray, He is able to calibrate my heart so that I start to align my plans with His. Through prayer and the power of the Holy Spirit, He is able to bring me, the unit under test, up to His standard. How amazing is that?
That’s one reason why prayer is so important to a Christ-follower. If we don’t daily sync our souls with Jesus, we run an increasing risk of getting off track and running out of power. We need that daily calibration to protect us.
How about you? Have you ever felt God calibrate your soul to His in an obvious way? I’d love to hear your story. Just share it below in the comment section.
Pray on!
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calibration
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