How do you come to God?
This is a question that has surfaced many times over the past month. I have been reading some excellent books and have been diving a bit deeper and longer in my walk with the Lord.
My question has created a stirring in me. I like to think that I come to God in prayer just as He asks us to do. In reality, my thoughts are often off. I come to Him in prayer saying "Please help me with such and such" and "please help so and so in a particular way" etc...but it is like reading or speaking a laundry list of my thoughts to God.
I don't think that is what He means when He asks us to bring everything to Him in prayer. He wants us to pray in faith. He wants us to fully anticipate an answer and not just speak out of obligation. He wants us to rip free of our traditional coined prayers and put some heart into it. Put some faith into it.
Are you a type to pray fervently and come to God with a deep faith that He'll answer your request, or are you, like me, the type that can fall into the pit of repetition and obligation? Are your dinner prayers or bed time prayers the same thing each day? A task of something to check off your list for the day?
Why do we have God in a box? Why do we think that we can fool or trick Him by doing our prayerful duty of reciting our lists? God is so much greater than that. God wants us to pray with a deep faith AND He wants to answer those prayers! (Although it is not always how we see it best).
I heard about the famous Corrie ten Boon. She often spoke to crowds. While she was speaking, she would look down most of the time. While she was looking down, she was working on needlepoint. She would lift up her creation at the close of her talk and how the audience the back of the piece. Of course it looked like a jumbled mess of strings that had no rhyme or reason. That is how we may see God working in our life. We see the strings that do not go in a sensible order. BUT, when she revealed the other side of the creation, it was a beautiful piece of art just perfectly crafted into a beautiful piece of work. That is how God works. We see the jumbled mess, while he is working miracles and creating masterpieces.
We serve a mighty God who does great work in our life. He knows what He is doing. We need to pray with a faith that can move mountains so we can see the mighty work He is doing in and through us.
I'd like to challenge you to consider how you are praying. If you are praying with token prayers out of obligation, realize that is not what He asks of us. We are talking to the almighty creator of the Heavens and Earth. Don't forget His place. And, He loves you and made you in His image. Don't undermine His love for you. He will sustain you and care for you, because you are precious in His sight. Keep seeking after Him.
