“Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.”
Psalm 46:10, NIV”
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.”
Psalm 46:10, NIV”
When we first choose to trust God, it’s like falling in love. We want to spend time with Him, get to know Him. He’s all we can think about, no matter what we’re doing.
Getting to know Him means reading His Book, talking with others and discovering what they know about Him, spending time alone with Him in prayer.
Over time, there’s a tendency to take Him for granted, not seize special moments with Him, talk more about ourselves than about Him.
God does want us to talk about ourselves, invites us to bring our needs and concerns to Him. I think His intent is “Let’s look at this together, and I’ll show you how I see it. Then let Me deal with it. It’s too big for you, and you don’t see all the pieces.”
What He doesn’t want is for us to natter at Him nonstop, rehashing the same grievance and telling Him yet again how He should solve it. (The humans we love don’t want that either!)
I love it that Jesus invites us to persistent prayer, but I need to combine that with the Apostle Paul’s instruction to “present our petitions with thanksgiving” (Philippians 4:6) so I don’t end up being a nag.
Most of all, I need to remember the intent of prayer is to bring me to God. I come with needs, requests, confessions, praise and thanksgiving, but the point is that I come to the God of the universe, who loves me.
When I finally run out of words, He wants me to stay with Him. To love Him, rest in Him, abide in His presence.
Father, please forgive me for the times I get more caught up in “prayer requests” than in Your presence. Please still my soul to know and love You. Thank You that You meet my needs. Thank You even more for who You are.
A good prayer for the week is the song “Give Me Jesus,” written by Peter Shambrook, sung here by Jeremy Camp.
*New International Version (NIV) Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society
© Janet Sketchley, 2009
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For devotionals, reviews and conversation, stop by Janet Sketchley's blog, God with Us: Finding Joy.
"When we first choose to trust God, it’s like falling in love. We want to spend time with Him, get to know Him. He’s all we can think about, no matter what we’re doing." - How true. It makes me stop and ask - What happened? A great reminder, Joanna!
ReplyDelete"What happened?" We can all ask that, more often than we do.
ReplyDeleteI'm reading Mark Buchanan's book, Hidden in Plain Sight, and he encourages us to learn to treasure our faith. Much-needed advice, I think.
Joanna, Wonderful thoughts. I especially am drawn to the paragraph, "When finally fun out of words, He wants me to stay with Him. To love Him, rest in Him abide in His presence."
ReplyDeleteI want to mention a blogging friend's poem she wrote entitled, "expectant waiting". I think you would enjoy it, based on what you shared in your own posting.
Here's the link: http://emergingwords.blogspot.com/2009/02/expectant-waiting.html