Prepare: The Priesthood of Readiness

A Word Study on Divine Foresight and Faithful Formation

📚 Definition & EtymologyThe word prepare is one of those simple yet seismic terms.
At face value, it means:
To make ready beforehand for a specific use, event, or experience.
But when we follow it down to its roots, it opens like a seed in fertile soil.
Latin: praeparare — from prae- (“before”) + parare (“to make ready”)
Thus, “prepare” literally means:
To furnish something before the time comes.
It implies not just readiness--but intentional readiness aligned with what is to come.
Preparation is an act of faith in time.
It’s trusting the future enough to begin arranging the now.

🇮🇱 Hebrew & 🇬🇷 Greek Roots in Scripture🔹 Hebrew: כּוּן (kun) — Strong’s H3559This verb means to establish, to make firm, or to prepare.
It carries the connotation of setting something upright and readying it for stability.
📖 “Prepare to meet thy God, O Israel.”
— Amos 4:12
The word used is kun — not as a threat, but an invitation to alignment.
To prepare for encounter. To come correct before the Creator.

🔹 Greek: ἑτοιμάζω (hetoimazō) — Strong’s G2090Used frequently in the New Testament, it means:
To make ready, provide, or arrange beforehand.
📖 “Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.”
— Matthew 11:10, echoing Malachi 3:1
This is the same Greek word used when Jesus says:
📖 “I go to prepare a place for you…” (John 14:2-3)
Even Christ prepares. Preparation is divine protocol.

🧠 Psychological Integration
Preparation is one of the highest forms of inner re-parenting.
When we prepare, we step into the “parental archetype” of the self:
🌀 Holding future needs with foresight
🌀 Creating structure so safety is felt
🌀 Reducing chaos by offering form
For those with trauma or emotional dysregulation, preparation often feels exhausting--because the inner child was never modeled it.
But healing comes when we learn to say:
“I see the version of me who will be there tomorrow…
and I care about her enough to give her what she needs today.”
Preparation is emotional containment in action.

🔥 Spiritual Symbolism & Revelation
In Scripture, preparation is always a prelude to glory.

• The priests had to prepare themselves with washing, stillness, and sacred garments before entering the Holy of Holies.
• The Israelites had to prepare unleavened bread before their exodus.
• The five wise virgins prepared oil for their lamps before the bridegroom arrived.

Preparation is not performance--it is positioning.
A way of saying, “I expect the Lord to move, so I will move accordingly.”
✨ To prepare is prophetic.
It is the divine choreography before visitation.
It is faith made visible.
When you prepare--
even when you don’t see results,
even when nothing has changed yet--
you are saying:
“I believe in the rain, so I will build the ark.”
“I believe He is coming, so I will keep oil in my lamp.”
“I believe the resurrection is real, so I will roll away the stone.”

🕊️ Affirmation
“I am not behind. I am becoming.
I prepare in faith, not fear--
for what God has promised, I am ready to receive.”

✍🏼 Poetic Insight
Trim your wick. Sweep your floor.
Gather oil--not just for now, but for what's in store.
He is coming--like wind, like fire, like dawn--
and your readiness becomes the rhythm He rides on.

📖 Scripture References

1. Luke 1:17 — “…to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
2. Proverbs 24:27 — “Prepare thy work without, and make it fit for thyself in the field; and afterwards build thine house.”
3. John 14:2-3 — “I go to prepare a place for you… that where I am, ye may be also.”
4. Exodus 19:10-11 — “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. Have them wash their clothes and be ready by the third day, because on that day the LORD will come…”
5. Matthew 25:7 — “Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.”

💭 Closing Thought
​To prepare is to move before the miracle,
to walk in the way of the Word,
to ready the room before the guest of glory arrives.
So whatever it is you’re waiting for--
Begin.
Clear the space.
Gather the oil.
Prepare the way of the Lord in your heart.
Because He always comes where He is welcomed in advance.