How do I talk to God? Well, there are a couple of important things to note first. I believe that God wants a close relationship with each one of His children. (And we are all His children, His creations.) I also believe that God already knows. There is nothing that I can share with God about myself that He doesn't already know but yet, He wants me to come to Him with my stuff.
So I go to the One who Knows me and the One who wants me close to Him with my life. Over the last few months, I have shared frustrations, confusion, and fear with Him. During my drive to & from work, I complain and explain and attempt to reason out life with God who is much more patient with me than I will ever deserve. And I tell Him that I trust Him even though I don't understand. I believe that His way is better even when I can't see how.
To me, prayer - talking with God - also includes simply listening. Being still and knowing that He is God. I have difficulty with silence - a thousand random things can suddenly float through my head at once. I'm learning that in the silence is when God speaks back to me. One of my goals for 2014 is to spend more time simply listening and simply obeying God without making things all complicated.
I love about reading through the Psalms and there is such a great example of prayer found in many of them. David expresses strong emotions - fear, anger, weakness, groaning, despair, grief. He pretty much lays it all out - "Here is what I'm dealing with now." And then he turns it all to God. Almost every Psalm ends with expressions of faith, praise, or thankfulness to the One whom David believes is bigger and stronger. I try to read a different Psalm each night and often use them as my own prayer because I so identify with them. It is a good way to end the day.
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
The Question of Serving
Joshua 24:15 -Choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your
fathers served in the regions beyond the River, or the gods of the
Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will
serve the Lord.
A brand new year and it is a time of making resolutions, decisions, and plans which will we hope will guide us well through the next 12 months.
Joshua and the Israelites faced just such a time as they prepared to enter the promised land to begin a new life there. Joshua asked the people to make a decision. Whom will you serve? Will you serve the gods of the past? Will you serve the gods you will encounter in the near future? Or will you serve the Lord God who is here with you now - the God who has led you out of bondage and guided you to freedom?
Today is an excellent time to ask ourselves the same question. Whom will I serve?
Will I serve the things of the past? Will I be unwilling to face new challenges and to embrace new ideas? We serve the past when we continue to stubbornly do things the way they have always been done simply because that's how they've always been done. We serve the past as we hang on to ideas, habits, and thoughts which have outlived their usefulness. When we live life by looking backwards, when we are resistant to new and different, then we are serving the past. Serving the past makes us stagnant, stale, and boring.
Will I serve only the new things? Will I always be chasing after the newest, shiniest, and hottest new thing? Will I live life hopping from one hot new fad to another? Will I ignore past lessons learned? Will the pursuit of more money, more prestige, and more stuff be the theme of my life this year? We live in a culture that values having more and our self-worth can become wrapped up in trying to achieve that dream of the nice house in the right neighborhood with a new car parked in the drive. We live in a culture that promotes tolerance over true faith, relativity over truth, and trendy over sensible. Serving this causes us to miss the blessings of today and leads to dissatisfaction.
Will I serve the God who is? God is an unchanging constant. He was there as the Israelites left Egypt and He is still a real presence in the lives of His people today, He has promised His people a future life living within His glory. He is the Lord of now. His very name, I AM, signifies that He is the one who is living and active today. He is grace, mercy, peace, and joy. He longs to give those things to me. He forgives. He wipes away sin and makes all things new. Serving God changes hearts and lives.
On this start of a brand new year, I ask myself, "Whom will I serve?" Like Joshua, my answer is that I will serve the Lord.
A brand new year and it is a time of making resolutions, decisions, and plans which will we hope will guide us well through the next 12 months.
Joshua and the Israelites faced just such a time as they prepared to enter the promised land to begin a new life there. Joshua asked the people to make a decision. Whom will you serve? Will you serve the gods of the past? Will you serve the gods you will encounter in the near future? Or will you serve the Lord God who is here with you now - the God who has led you out of bondage and guided you to freedom?
Today is an excellent time to ask ourselves the same question. Whom will I serve?
Will I serve the things of the past? Will I be unwilling to face new challenges and to embrace new ideas? We serve the past when we continue to stubbornly do things the way they have always been done simply because that's how they've always been done. We serve the past as we hang on to ideas, habits, and thoughts which have outlived their usefulness. When we live life by looking backwards, when we are resistant to new and different, then we are serving the past. Serving the past makes us stagnant, stale, and boring.
Will I serve only the new things? Will I always be chasing after the newest, shiniest, and hottest new thing? Will I live life hopping from one hot new fad to another? Will I ignore past lessons learned? Will the pursuit of more money, more prestige, and more stuff be the theme of my life this year? We live in a culture that values having more and our self-worth can become wrapped up in trying to achieve that dream of the nice house in the right neighborhood with a new car parked in the drive. We live in a culture that promotes tolerance over true faith, relativity over truth, and trendy over sensible. Serving this causes us to miss the blessings of today and leads to dissatisfaction.
Will I serve the God who is? God is an unchanging constant. He was there as the Israelites left Egypt and He is still a real presence in the lives of His people today, He has promised His people a future life living within His glory. He is the Lord of now. His very name, I AM, signifies that He is the one who is living and active today. He is grace, mercy, peace, and joy. He longs to give those things to me. He forgives. He wipes away sin and makes all things new. Serving God changes hearts and lives.
On this start of a brand new year, I ask myself, "Whom will I serve?" Like Joshua, my answer is that I will serve the Lord.
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