In my prayer
life, I find it easy to default back to praying empty phrases when I am not engaged
with the Father. I often catch myself
saying things which are true, but not relevant to where my heart is at the time
of my prayer. Often telling God how much
I appreciate His presence and saying how much He loves me when my heart and
mind are a million miles away from His presence.
God does
sense and know that we are a people who are driven by our thought life and our
physical characteristics. In Proverbs
23:7 The Aramaic, the Septuagint, and a few Hebrew manuscripts read like this
“Eating with him is like eating with someone with a hair in his throat—his mind
is not with you!”, this describes someone who has distractions or irritations
stemming from physical conditions which inhibit one from sharing intimate
fellowship with another, this can be terribly debilitating especially if one is
desiring fellowship with God.
It is at
those moments that I have to purposefully dial back and focus on my heart
condition and where I am in regards to my relationship with the Father, taking
inventory of my physical as well as my emotional state and begin to give words
to where my heart is and what my true needs are. It is only from that place that I can begin
true dialogue with the Father which touches His heart and reveals to Him that I
am weak and need His touch. It also
reveals to me that when I come to the Father I need to decompress and let go of
everything that occupies my headspace and allow the peace of God to enter in.
I am so glad
that our Heavenly Father has compassion on us and does want to meet us where we
are at, even at times when we are struggling to find a place of rest so that
His peace can penetrate our walls of protection. He always invites us to enter in with Him, even
during times when we feel isolated and alone, the invitation is especially
welcoming at those times to help us break down our resistance and surrender to
His unmerited favor which is His signature motive.
Jesus said that
“…your Father already knows what you need before you ask Him”, It is
with that awareness of God’s omniscience that I begin to let my guard down and
rest my many thoughts from racing so fast in my mind driving my emotional
well-being. As I choose to put
these thoughts into a state of rest I can begin to sense God’s presence again
and my prayers become relevant, and in the moment as I focus on Him I am captured by His presence as opposed
to my prayer being about me and my needs alone.
“And consider the example that
Jesus, the Anointed One, has set before us. Let his mindset become your
motivation”. Philippians 2:5 (TPT)
I believe
that as we honestly reach out to the Father with our transparency and vulnerability,
He reaches back and lets us know that His affection for us is undiminished by
our lack of trust, and that His affection is only increased by the abundance of
love He has for us.
“...Then you will be empowered to
discover what every holy one experiences—the great magnitude of the astonishing
love of Christ in all its dimensions. How deeply intimate and far-reaching is
his love! How enduring and inclusive it is! Endless love beyond measurement
that transcends our understanding—this extravagant love pours into you until
you are filled to overflowing with the fullness of God!” Ephesians 3: 18–19 (TPT)
May you be
blessed with the fullness of God’s presence today as you open up to Jesus and let
Him express to you His “astonishing love in all its dimensions” which is
beyond measure and our understanding.
Be Blessed;
Stephen
Barnett
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