TRANSFIGURATION PRAYER: Where Heaven Meets Here | Jesus Teaches Us to SURRENDER in Prayer | Convo #7

What if the most powerful prayer doesn't go louder or longer, but lower? In our most desperate moments, prayer becomes a dependency that puts everything, everything, even our best plans, in God's hands.

In this "Transfiguration Prayer" conversation, Tosha Williams points us to Jesus' example. From the mountain’s radiant glory to the garden’s heavy night, Jesus shows us what true surrender looks like. He teaches that prayer isn’t always about escaping pain, but ultimately trusting the Father’s plan with a yielded heart.

When the mountain doesn’t move and the cup doesn’t pass, Jesus' prayer invites us to align our will with Father's plan: “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done” (Luke 22:42).  In this episode, we reflect on why prayer changes us before it changes anything else, how the same light that shone on the mountain still shines through our darkest hours, and what it means to practice daily surrender in our own prayers.

This episode is for anyone standing at the base of a mountain or holding a cup they’d rather not drink. We’ll discover how to yield our plans, strengthen others with honest faith, and make space for God to move in and through us. As we "Seek Him Speak Him" into our homes, friendships, and communities, Heaven meets here in ordinary lives shaped by extraordinary grace.

As we near the conclusion of our "Transfiguration Prayer: Where Heaven Meets Here" series, spend time in the devotion-driven discipleship guide and ask the Lord to show you what He wants to teach you through His prayer life.
Find it at conversation guide about Jesus in prayer.

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Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:04):
When God first whispered to me the words
transfiguration prayer, I didn'tknow what was about to unfold in
my life.
It began simply as a phrase inprayer, but very quickly it
became a journey up a mountainthat I didn't expect to climb,

(00:24):
but a mountain where I began tosee where heaven meets here,
where I began to learn thatprayer is where transfiguration
meets my transformation.
Along the way, as I've journeyedup the mountain of
transfiguration prayer, and asyou've gone along with me, we've

(00:48):
learned from people whose livesshow us what prayer can actually
become.
Moses teaches us to intercede.
Elijah teaches us to believe.
Peter teaches us to strengthen.
James teaches us to follow, andJohn teaches us to abide.

(01:10):
And well, now today we're goingto come to Jesus, the Son of God
Himself.
And he is going to teach us thatprayer is about surrender.
Welcome to the Family DiscipleMe Ministry.
I am so glad that you're herewith me.
And our goal continues to be toseek him, speak him.

(01:33):
We want to meet with Godpersonally.
And there's nothing morepersonal than prayer.
And as we meet with God, then wewant to turn around and we want
to make him known into the livesof the precious ones that he's
entrusted to us.
My name is Tasha Williams, andtoday, as we turn our hearts to

(01:55):
our final example on the Mountof Transfiguration, we're going
to learn that true prayer isn'tjust spoken, it's surrendered.
I find it so astounding thateven Jesus, the radiant, divine
Son of God, even Jesus prayed.

(02:18):
It's almost beyond comprehensionto me that the one whose face
shone like lightning up there onthe mountain of transfiguration,
well, very soon, he would bekneeling in the dirt in the
Garden of Gethsemane.
How is it that that same Jesuswho was glowing in glory on the

(02:38):
mountain would soon be coveredin sorrow, praying, Father, if
you are willing, take this cupfrom me, yet not my will, but
yours be done.
It's one thing to shine inglory, but it's another thing to
surrender in suffering.
But Jesus did both.

(03:01):
He showed us that the same Godwho meets us in the radiant
glory moments also meets us inthe shadows of surrender.
On the mountain, Jesus' face wastransformed, but there in the
garden, his will was tested.
And in both places, both places,heaven met here.

(03:24):
When the disciples said, Lord,teach us to pray, way back in
Luke chapter 11, verse 1, alsoin Matthew 6, Jesus taught them
the Lord's prayer.
But then on the mountain oftransfiguration, he showed them
the Lord's prayer.
And then in the Garden ofGethsemane, he lived out that

(03:45):
prayer.
He showed them that prayer isn'tjust about escaping the pain,
it's about accepting theFather's plan.
As Jesus said in John chapter 6,verse 38, for I have come down
from heaven, not to do my will,but to do the will of him who
sent me.
That, my friend, is surrender.

(04:08):
That's transformation.
See, prayer changes us before itchanges anything else.
Maybe right now you're in aseason where surrender feels
costly, maybe even impossible.
Maybe you've prayed for God tomove a mountain, but instead you

(04:28):
are facing one.
Or maybe you have some sufferingin your life and you've asked
him to take away that cup, buthe hasn't.
If that's where you are, Iencourage you with this.
Jesus understands.

(05:10):
Oh, friend, that is where heavenmeets here.
And the thing is, that samelight that shone on that
mountain of transfiguration,well, it also shines in the
gardens of Gethsemane of ourlives.
Jesus didn't just teach prayer,he became prayer, that living

(05:31):
bridge between heaven and here.
He surrendered to the Father'splan for us.
And I love what Scripture saysin Hebrews chapter 12, verse 2,
where it says, for the joy setbefore him, he endured the
cross, scorning its chain, andsat down at the right hand of

(05:52):
the throne of God.
It is almost inexplicable toknow that that joy set before
him was us.
We were the reason he prayed,surrendered.
His eyes were on the prize.
They were fixed on the Father,and they were fixed on us.
Jesus' surrendered heart openedthe way for our salvation.

(06:18):
The glory of the mountain oftransfiguration, it prepared
Jesus for the agony of thegarden.
And that surrender in the gardenis what opened up the way for
victory for us.
Philippians chapter 2, verse 8says, He humbled himself by
becoming obedient to death, evendeath on a cross.

(06:41):
That is what surrender lookslike.
And so, friend, as you considerhow Jesus teaches us that prayer
is about surrender.
What is God saying to you rightnow?
What is he speaking into yourlife about how he wants you to
pray today?

(07:02):
I know he's been speaking to myheart about the areas where he
wants me to surrender, my planfor his plan.
It's not easy.
It's not something that wenaturally do.
It's hard to have our planspried from our hands.
And yet, when we lay those downat the altar and we say, Not my

(07:24):
will, but yours be done, that'swhere God begins to do the
greatest things in us andthrough us.
So my challenge to you today isto seek him about this.
Talk to God about what he wantsto say to you about surrender.
And then once you hear him speakinto your life, turn around and

(07:48):
speak him into someone else.
Maybe your family's watching youas you're going through a really
hard season.
Maybe there's a friend who iswatching how you live out your
faith.
Speak him.
Talk about what God is saying toyou about surrender.
Maybe your spouse needs to hearthat, or your small group needs

(08:10):
to hear that, or your roommate,or somebody else in your life.
Seek him should always lead tospeak him.
Because as we seek him and hemoves in our lives, well, when
we meet with God and we make himknown, he'll begin to move in
their lives as well.
With that, we just have one moreconversation left in this

collection (08:33):
Transfiguration Prayer, where heaven meets here.
Our goal, our hope, our deepestand greatest prayer through all
of this is that our prayer liveswill be transfigured and
transformed so that we cancommune with Jesus like never

(08:54):
before.
Oh, friend, go with God.
Listen to Him, seek Him, speakHim today.
And then I'll see you back herefor the last episode.