TRANSFIGURATION PRAYER: Where Heaven Meets Here | Introduction | Convo #1

A quiet morning vision sparked a bold invitation: let prayer become the place where Heaven meets here.

In this episode, join Tosha Williams for a journey up the Mount of Transfiguration. Here we see Jesus radiant in prayer and listen to what He reveals about how we can pray. Together, we will introduce the biblical accounts in Matthew 17, Mark 9, and Luke 9 to discover what God wants to show us about a transformed prayer life.

Along the way, six witnesses from the mountain become our guides:
 Moses teaches us to INTERCEDE and stand in the gap; Elijah teaches us to BELIEVE God for the impossible; Peter teaches us to STRENGTHEN and carry on; James teaches us to FOLLOW Jesus closely; John teaches us to ABIDE; and Jesus teaches us to SURRENDER. Each of these lives show us an aspect of prayer that can change how we pray for the rest of our lives.

This episode begins a spiritual journey for anyone hungry to move beyond quick requests and into a steady rhythm of presence and purpose. From mountain to mission, prayer is where transfiguration meets transformation.

Accept the invitation this week: let your prayer life be changed by the Mount of Transfiguration. Take what God shows you there and let it influence how you pray here. Seek Him Speak Him!

This episode goes along with a devotion-driven discipleship guide that can be found at Introduction to Transfiguration Prayer Conversation Guide.

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The Family Disciple Me ministry exists to catalyze devotion driven discipleship in our homes and around the world. We believe that discipleship starts with a conversation, and FDM provides free, easily-accessible, biblical resources to encourage these meaningful conversations  along life's way. Sign up through our website to be "the first to know" about upcoming releases and resources (including the FDM App - coming soon!!!) You can also follow Family Disciple Me on social media. 

Family Disciple Me  is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit ministry, and all donations are tax deductible. More information, blogs, statement of faith and contact info can be found at familydiscipleme.org 

Transcript

A Vision Of Prayer Before Dawn

Called To Champion Transfiguration Prayer

Meeting Jesus On The Mountain

From Glory To The Grind

Six Voices That Teach Us Prayer

Invitation, Practice, And Blessing

SPEAKER_00 0:06

One recent morning, just before I woke up, God gave me a vision about prayer. He spoke two words to me: transfiguration, prayer. Now, to be honest, I had been thinking about prayer a lot in the weeks prior, the need for intercessory prayer, the need for deep prayer, the need for boiler room type prayer, but I really hadn't gone to bed the night prayer, asking God for a vision or a dream about prayer. But there I was, pre-dawn, before I opened my eyes, and it was as if God suddenly began downloading mental images and making connections about prayer for me, vivid, so clear, unmistakable. I did have questions. I remember asking God in my dream, what? And he said to me, Mount of Transfiguration, you know the story. And that's when I woke up. I got out of bed, I grabbed my Bible, I made a coffee, and I went outside where my husband was already sitting with his Bible and his coffee. And for the next couple hours, I sat there writing down what God was showing me about prayer. Honestly, my hand could hardly keep up with my heart. It was so powerful. It was so remarkable. It was so personal. It was so life-changing. A couple hours later, I left that space and that place and I began to go about my day. But I also began talking to God about the other realities of my day, saying, Thank you, Lord. Thank you so much for giving me this guide for prayer. Thank you for this amazing, amazing truth that you're showing me. But Lord, you know, I have a 5 p.m. deadline today about something entirely different. I kept reminding him of that. And instead of showing me what I thought I needed to have for the 5 p.m. deadline, he continued to connect more dots in his word about this conversation collection that he began calling transfiguration prayer. And suddenly, by the time five o'clock rolled around that day, I realized that this is exactly what he wanted for that 5 p.m. deadline. He wanted me to talk about prayer. He wanted me to champion prayer. He wanted me to catalyze prayer in a new way. So here we are. Welcome to this new collection of conversations that I'm calling transfiguration prayer, where heaven meets here. In this series, we're going to meet with Jesus on the mountain of transfiguration. And then we're going to walk with him back down that mountain into the valleys and the regular places of our lives. And we're going to live transformed in prayer by what we encounter with him in transfiguration. Prayer. So welcome to the Family Disciple Me Ministry. Our goal is to seek Him, speak Him. Our goal is to encourage, equip, and empower Christ's followers of all ages, of all stages to learn how to meet with God and then turn around and make Him known. This week, this season, in this collection of conversations, we're specifically going to talk about how that applies to prayer. So as we begin, let's go back to where this whole story started. Up there on the Mount of Transfiguration, and see what Jesus wants to begin to show us in that place. So the story of the Mount of Transfiguration is told in three of the four Gospels. Matthew 17, Mark 9, and Luke chapter 9 tells us that Jesus took three of his disciples, Peter, James, and John, up on a high mountain, and he did it for a very specific purpose. He took them up there to pray. And as he prayed, his face began to glow, and his clothes became radiant, whiter than the disciples had ever seen. And as he prayed, two people appeared with him, Moses and Elijah. And they began to have a conversation with him, talking with him about his mission, his purpose, his coming crucifixion, his exodus, his redemption plan. Well, Peter, the disciple, overwhelmed in the moment, he suddenly blurted out, Lord, let's make three tabernacles right here. We can make those to honor you and Moses and Elijah. But even as he spoke, a cloud descended. The glory of God overshadowed them. And a voice from heaven said, This is my beloved son. Listen to him. The disciples fell face down in awe. And when they dared to look back up, they saw no one but Jesus. Moses and Elijah were gone. Only Jesus was there on the Mount of Transfiguration with them. And I believe that is where heaven met here. That is where revelation reshaped relationship. That is where the power of God teaches us something new and powerful about prayer. Thing is, the story doesn't end there. Because when they came up from that transfiguration moment, they looked up there on the mountain. They came down from that mountain with Jesus. And when they did, they stepped into chaos. They met a desperate father. They encountered a suffering son. They encountered a powerless crowd. And Jesus, as he performed miracles for those people, he said something so profound. He said, This kind can only come out by prayer and fasting. From the mountain to the mission, from transfiguration to transformation. That, my friend, is where prayer takes us. You see, I believe that prayer is that place where transformation meets transfiguration. Prayer is that place where what we experience with God in his presence begins to reshape who we are for his purposes. Transfiguration prayer is a whole different level of prayer. It's not just about praying for our needs or a genie in the bottles of prayers or stoplight prayers or sitting in Santa Claus's lap, sort of prayers. This is where prayer changes everything about our lives. You see, the Mount of Transfiguration, when we encounter God in this kind of deep, meaningful prayer, it's not about escape from the world. It's about an encounter with God Himself. And the truth is, every true encounter with God sends us back into the world different than what we were before we spent time with him. And that's exactly what we see all over in the Gospels. Jesus meets with God in prayer and then he returns to do miracles, to heal, to impact people's lives, to answer their questions, to minister to them, to deliver sanctification to them, to do all the things. And I believe that in our own small, simple way, that is exactly what God does in us when we encounter Him in transfiguration prayer. I believe that God wants us to meet with him in prayer like never before. And then as we seek him in prayer, he wants to send us back out to live transformed lives so that we can speak him and minister to those that he entrusts to us. And so, in this, in the coming days, we're going to consider the lives of the six people who were on the Mount of Transfiguration. Each conversation, each episode, day by day in this series, we're going to look at their examples and we're going to see what we can learn from their lives. Six voices who point us to prayer in a new way. Moses was on the mountain and he's going to teach us how to intercede because prayer stands in the gap. Elijah was on the mountain and he's going to teach us to believe because prayer believes God for the impossible. Peter was on the mountain and Peter messes up along the way. Peter messes up all the time. And yet Peter teaches us to strengthen because prayer strengthens the faithful. James was on the mountain, and in his wordless way, he teaches us to follow because prayer follows God with lives that speak beyond words. The beloved John the Apostle, he teaches us to abide because prayer abides in God's presence. And finally, Jesus teaches us to surrender because prayer surrenders to God's will. Each of these six stood in that same place of transfiguration glory. And each of these six teaches us something specific: how to pray. It has been so inspiring to me. My hope, my prayer is that this will be so inspiring to you. What's more, the Mount of Transfiguration, as we learn about transfiguration prayer, it isn't the end of the story. It's the beginning of the mission. From the glory to the grind, from the seeing God in new ways to being sent out to serve Him. That's the path of transfiguration prayer. As we journey through these next six episodes, I invite you to climb with me up the mount of transfiguration to witness Jesus' glory and then be changed by that as we go back into the grind of our lives. Because, friend, prayer is where transformation meets transfiguration. So let's climb this mountain together. Let's spend a few moments, even now today, in the accompanying devotion-driven discipleship guide. Let's consider the scripture that goes along with this particular episode. Let's listen, let's linger, let's let God begin to change us, our hearts from the inside out, because prayer is where transformation meets transfiguration. And as we go through this, this series, this collection of conversations, this is my prayer. And this is the blessing that I speak over us and that I want all of us to continue to say and pray along the way. And it's this God, transform us and transfigure our prayer lives for your glory, for our good, and for the good of all of those that you entrust to us in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. Amen. Thank you for joining me in this introduction to transfiguration prayer. I'm so glad that you're here on the journey with me and with family disciple me. Now, let's climb the mountain of transfiguration prayer together. Go with God, friend. Spend time with Him, be changed by His presence. And then I'll see you in the next episode.