Prayers For Divine Visitation. Are We Ready For Them?
““We pray for divine visitation, but are we actually prepared—or just rehearsing rituals?”
Many people pray and then sit back, hoping something happens. But here’s the mystery: something usually does happen. All prayers are answered, just not always in the way we expect.
The real question is—are we spiritually tuned to recognize those answered prayers, or do we keep waiting for lightning bolts from the sky? History, scripture, and tradition are full of moments where God’s presence visited His people. Abraham, Moses, Mary, the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), and countless others across the Bible and Qur’an experienced divine encounters.
Yet if such a divine visitation happened today—say, even the Second Coming itself—would we truly be ready? Or would we reduce it to a social media frenzy, another trending hashtag in the endless scroll of distractions?
Imagine this: you’re in church. The pastor is preaching, ushers are on point, and yes—there are bodyguards, because some religious leaders really need them. Suddenly, a man walks in, dressed exactly like Jesus from the movies, speaking like Him too. If you’re an usher, you freeze, smile, and give him a welcome a notch above usual—a sort of “first-class air hostess” treatment. The bodyguards lower their guard for a moment, intrigued: this is unusual, this is interesting.
He steps onto the pulpit, speaks in parables—and the pastor? He’s upstaged in his own church, wary of the crowd’s eyes on him. A strangely pleasant discomfort hangs in the air. Even the ones who had been nodding off suddenly sit up straight. Everyone is fully awake. The only thing is this man is not really Jesus.
Now, imagine the real Jesus walking in—but today, He blends in like anyone else: modern English, jeans or a sharp business suit, hair neatly trimmed. And because He’s entering the house of His Father, He speaks with the authority He once used to clear the temple. Think about it: a mall owner walks into their mall—security, staff, behave in a way that shoppers notice immediately even if they don’t really know Him.
Back to Jesus. We carry an image of him from 2,000 years ago. What if the real Jesus walks into your church and speaks with authority, calling out hypocrisy and false pretenses amongst the faithful. He might very well be thrown out, escorted off the premises, or ignored entirely right? Let’s be honest.
The contrast is stark. One is a performance, a costume, a reaction-triggering image. The other is real, present, commanding attention by truth—and truth is often unwelcome. The fake Jesus gets applause; the real Jesus provokes reflection, conviction, and even rejection. Recognition isn’t about costumes or flash—it’s about seeing the truth when it’s standing right in front of you.
I sometimes think God, in His mercy, gives us smaller “visitations” to prepare us. A near-death escape. A word spoken at the right time. A burden lifted unexpectedly. These are little rehearsals for the Big Day. Because make no mistake—if Jesus arrived today, many of us would miss the ticket to heaven. Why? Because by then, the list would already be written. You don’t prepare for an exam, the very minute you meet the examiner for the first time at the final exam room. Even weeds would bear sweet fruit if they knew the farmer was walking into the field with pruning shears.
But here’s the uncomfortable truth: many of us treat prayer, divine visitation, and worship like a weekend ritual, a movie-theater effect. We enter the sanctuary, get swept up in the performance, and then walk back into our weekday lives unchanged. Worship becomes a towel we use to dry off after jumping back into the same muddy pool of sin. We convince ourselves it’s normal because no one holds us accountable immediately.
But true repentance is different. It’s not a revolving door. It’s praying for forgiveness and refusing to step back into the same pit again. Remember the moment when the crowd wanted to stone the prostitute? Jesus said, “He who is without sin cast the first stone.” When the accusers faded away, He turned to her and said: “Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more.”
That last line is the key: “Go and sin no more.” Not “see you next week with the same sin.”
So maybe divine visitation isn’t about God proving Himself with fireworks. Maybe it’s about us proving that we’re ready—not just rehearsing rituals, but living in daily repentance, faith, and readiness. Because when the real visitation comes, there won’t be time to prepare.
Reflection: Are our prayers truly preparing us for God’s presence, or are they just routines we repeat? And if Jesus came today—would we recognize Him, or would He be ignored, or worse, thrown out?
