A Shimmering Word

Years ago I became acquainted with Esther da Waal,  a writer who introduced me to the stream of Celtic spirituality.  A word she often used was "shimmering."  As an example, she would talk about walking with a camera on a walk.  Her suggestion was to walk with no intentions of taking a picture of some particular thing, but to see what called for your attention, or as she put it, "shimmered."  A few days ago while looking to read a particular passage in I John, another one I had no intention of reading grabbed my attention.  It shimmered.   

The passage was I John 5:14-15.  Reading it was like walking up three steps with each one containing a truth that led to the next one.  The first step is "And this is the boldness we have in Him..."  Here is a word which calls us to come before Him boldly and without a spirit of timidity and fear.  Come before Him without doubt is what is being suggested.  Step two then says, "that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us..."  Our prayers are not simply cast into the wind to go haphazardly into who knows where.  When we pray according to His heart, we can be assured our prayers are heard.  

The final step is the one that is so amazing, our minds have trouble taking hold of it.  "And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have obtained the request made of Him."  Here is a word which tells us our prayers are not filed away, left in some heavenly drop box, but are heard by Him.  And if heard by Him, we can turn our head toward heaven as we wait for what in inside His will to come in an overflowing and abundant manner into our life.  It truly is a word which shimmers!