Skip to main content

"So no more thinking of God as distant and disapproving."

A thought by Steven Furtick from his book, Seven-Mile Miracle: Journey into the Presence of God Through the Last Words of Jesus (p. 69). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)

So is that what you are thinking?  Is that what you are feeling?

Steven says, “If you are following Jesus, you are in the closest possible relationship with God. He is your Father. You are his son or daughter.”

Now you might ask, “What can I do to increase the intimacy of my relationship with God?”  Maybe you want to be closer to him.

Steven says, “The obvious answer also happens to be the right one in this case. You pray. You talk to him. It is impossible to have intimacy without conversation.

“Jesus prayed often. When he was busy, Jesus prayed. (Matthew 14:23) When he had important decisions to make, he prayed. (Luke 6:12) When following the will of God seemed almost too much to bear, he prayed. (Matthew 26:36-46) Three of the seven ‘words’ Jesus spoke from the cross are prayers.

“If Jesus needed to pray to the Father, how much more do you? Pray throughout the day. Pray about big things and little things. Pray when you’re happy or fearful or bored or in awe. As you pray, you will draw closer to your Father.”

Steven then says, “I know for some of us prayer isn’t easy or even all that appealing. There have been periods in my life when (I’m sorry to say) I’ve gotten by with short bursts of prayer sprayed heavenward periodically throughout the day, rather than any long, intentional times of intimacy with God. But let me tell you what I’ve observed about that: a minimal prayer life only holds us up for a while. Before long, we wonder why we’re feeling more stress than necessary, and we realize what the problem is—our line of communication is down. We sense that there is something basic missing from our lives, something we need, and we recognize that it is heartfelt prayer, the real thing.”

Margaret and I have had a deeper sense of our need to pray together.  So we have been spending time praying out loud together as we are heading into Margaret’s work each morning and also on our weekends.  It is really making a difference in our days and in our relationship with God.  Even this morning we took time together to pray.  We are finding it to be a very emotional time as we connect with our Father.  You see we really do need him, to connect with him, to converse with him.  Oh, we also have our personal time with him throughout our day. 

So how about you?  Are you striving to really connect with your Father?  Are you conversing with him throughout your day?  Do you really need him?  Do you?


Yes, yes!
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

“There’s a big difference between building a castle and building a kingdom.”

A thought by Bob Goff from his book, Everybody, Always: Becoming Love in a World Full of Setbacks and Difficult People ( p. 41). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)   Have you ever built a sand castle or maybe a Lego castle?   Have you? Bob says, “We actually build castles all the time, out of our jobs and our families and the things we’ve purchased. Sometimes we even make them out of each other. Some of these castles are impressive too. Lots of people come to admire what we’ve built over the course of our lives and tell us what great castles we have. But Jesus told His friends we weren’t supposed to spend our lives building castles. He said He wanted us to build a kingdom, and there’s a big difference between building a castle and building a kingdom.” Bob goes on, “You see, castles have moats to keep creepy people out, but kingdoms have bridges to let everyone in. Castles have dungeons for people who ha...
Post a Comment
Read more

“When you understand that life is a test, you realize that nothing is insignificant in your life.”

A thought by Rick Warren, (2012-10-23) from his book, The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? (Purpose Driven Life, The) (p. 57). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. To realize that from God’s perspective life is a test goes a long way in determining how you handle your life.   It is important to see that in testing your character is both developed and revealed.   Rick goes on to say that “even the smallest incident has significance for your character development. Every day is an important day, and every second is a growth opportunity to deepen your character, to demonstrate love, or to depend on God.” So there is a God purpose behind each situation in your life.   Even the bad ones are there to strengthen you and develop you.   You see those bad situations are really good ones because they are there for your good. I start each day with a reminder that God is good.   Not every situation that is going to come in my day is good but because G...
Post a Comment
Read more

“What areas of my personality, background, and physical appearance am I struggling to accept?”

A thought by Rick Warren, (2012-10-23) from his book, The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? (Purpose Driven Life, The) (p. 35). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. Rick posed this question at the end of his chapter, You Are Not an Accident.   In this chapter he deals with the fact that God created you the way you are with a purpose.   In other words you are not an accident.   I am also reading the Apostle John’s view of Jesus and what He said and did while He was here on earth.   In the beginning of Chapter 9 there is a story about a blind man.   And the disciples who were with Him asked Him a good question, “Who sinned, this man or his parents that he was born blind? ”   Have you ever asked the same thing about something in you that you don’t like?   Like that characteristic is a curse or something.   Society has set a standard that is not a standard of God.   Remember, He created you and you are not an accident. Je...
Post a Comment
Read more