It's here: Part 9 of the 9 part series - how to get prayers answered
The Rhythm of The Gospels - D24
DAILY DEVOTIONAL
7/24/20262 min read
He Saw You Before You Said a Word.
Known in the private places — before you were found
"Jesus answered and said to him, 'Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.'" — John 1:48 (NKJV)
Most of us carry two versions of ourselves.
The one we present — composed, capable, answering I'm good before the question is fully asked. And the one underneath. The one that sits in the car after a hard conversation and finally says what it actually thinks. The one with the doubts it doesn't post about, the fears it hasn't named, the questions it keeps quiet because it isn't sure they're allowed.
That second version is the one Jesus saw.
Philip told Nathanael: we found Him — Jesus of Nazareth. Nathanael's response was honest: can anything good come out of Nazareth? Not cruelty. Just reasonable skepticism from someone who knew that town. Philip didn't argue. He said come and see. Nathanael came.
When Jesus saw him approaching He spoke before any introduction: here is a true Israelite in whom there is no deceit. Nathanael stopped. How do You know me? We have never met.
Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree — I saw you.
The fig tree was where a Jewish man went to be alone with God and his own thoughts. The private space. The unperformed space. The place where Nathanael was most himself — unguarded, perhaps wrestling with things he hadn't said out loud to anyone. No one had been invited there. And yet Someone had been watching.
That was the moment Nathanael broke open. Not a miracle or a winning argument. Just the disarming reality that he had been seen — fully, in the private room, before he had done anything to earn the attention — and that the One who saw him had come looking for him anyway.
He has been in your private room too. He has seen the version of you that you haven't shown anyone. And He came looking for that person. Not the composed one. That one.
Go to your fig tree today — the space where you are most unguarded. Your early morning, your car, your journal. Bring the private version of yourself to God. The doubts you keep quiet. The fears you haven't named. The questions you're not sure are allowed. He has already been there. And He came looking for that person anyway.
Scripture Promise
"O LORD, You have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off." — Psalm 139:1–2 (NKJV)
Prayer:
Father, thank you for always seeing the real me, before I even notice you are there. Lord open my so that I can see. In Jesus Name I pray, Amen.
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