| by Tommy Willis (New Orleans, Louisiana) |
|---|
| In this modern world we have many time saving devices, yet we are more in a rush than ever before. Why? Well, every fulfilled desire lays the seed for more desires. If we had a washing machine that washed clothes in 15 minutes instead of 30 minutes, then we would want that one; then we would want the newer one that claims to wash our clothes in 10 minutes. Then we would want the newer one after that, which is ever faster. The problem is our human nature as it is, is never satisfied. Going faster does not help us draw closer to God. We need to slow down. The busy rush of the rat race is worse than ever with the technology today; and it can be deadly for our prayer lives. We need to stop the busyness and slow down to examine matters. And we often feel we need access to tons of information. The churches today often have the believer flooded with information overload. In Jesus’ and Paul’s day people never had access to a fraction of the information we have today yet these believers were often close to God. This should tell us something. This is why prayer and meditation are so important. We often think that we have to become Biblical scholars to be close to God. This is simply not true. Why is it that the elderly lady in her rocking chair, who raised eight children, and didn’t have near as much time to study as the biblical scholar, can often be closer to God? I’m not trying to suggest that Biblical scholar- ship does not have its place, because it does. But our attitude in our Bible study is so very important. The Pharisees were like the Biblical scholars of their day. “At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do” (Mt 11:25-26 NIV). The childlike heart and humble mind can be led through the Bible to see what is needed. We need to get to know God; and endless picky doctrinal and prophetic studies can become a distraction. We need to seek to use the Bible to get to know Him personally. We need to use the Bible to meet the Lord Jesus. “You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life” (John 5:39-40 NIV). Here we see we can study the Bible diligently, yet not come to fellowship with Him. We need to ask Jesus Christ to take us by the hand and lead us through the scriptures so that we will get to know Him personally. “Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” (John 17:3 NIV). This is why we are on the planet; to get to know God and glorify Him in the process. We are here for a short time, and we should use it wisely. Too often we stay busy with the cares of this life and do not take the time to sit and think about what is important in life. “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money…. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:24, 33). We are to seek God first. If we drift from God, He will look to get our attention. When I drifted from God, He used the scripture in Revelation 3:18-20 to get my attention. Here Christ is knocking at the door of our heart and mind because we have drifted from God. Repentance clears the way for a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ. If we drift, Jesus Christ knocks at the door of our heart; He loves us and wants a deeper relationship with us. The days ahead will be difficult in this nation and the world. Let us pray and seek God, to ask Him to lead us through the Scriptures so that we will get to know Him; and get our foundation down in Him; and as this old world gets shaken as never before we can still be standing because our foundation and trust will be in Jesus Christ. Don’t let the busy rushing schedule of the world take you away from God. The cares of this life can destroy us if we let it. Slow down and make sure you are not neglecting your personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Sit and talk with Him. Spend time getting to know Him personally. As we seek Him diligently, He will settle us and give us His peace to handle the distractions of the world. We often look at prayer as a “chore” or “duty”, but instead, look to spend time with the best friend you will ever have. Yes, praying involves asking God for our needs; but you also may have times where you just sit in His presence without saying anything; but just spend time with Him; and you will find he is giving you thoughts to work with. As you learn to spend time with God this way you will learn to not look at it as a “chore” or “duty” that you have to do, but instead look at it as a joy to spend time with your best Friend; just being. To be there in His presence. It took me many years to learn this in my prayer life; some learn it sooner. Think about this, you may look at prayer in this “ritual” sense like I used to do; I had to learn the joy and intimacy in prayer. We often fail to see the reality that it is about our personal relationship with Jesus Christ. You will not find a better Friend. “…I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.” (John 15:15). Many are concerned about the days ahead in this nation and the world; the days ahead will be difficult. But if we are praying and meditating as we should, there will be no reason to fear. David said: “I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.” (Psalms 34:4). If we have fear we need to do something about it and seek God in prayer like this Scripture tells us. But like a hamster on a treadmill, too often we squander our time with fear and worry. We go through “mental gymnastics”, saying, “What if that happens?”, or “What if this happens?” And we make ourselves miserable. No matter how bad the chaos gets in the world, we need to keep in mind that important principle about prayer. Think about the above scripture. If you have fear, pray, and keep praying. God promises to be with us. This is what we are going to need to know for the days ahead. To know He is with us; not just as a religious idea or doctrine—but as a reality. I’ve never seen people so on edge in my lifetime as I see now. I’ve heard people talking how they find most people are so stressed out and angry about matters. With all that going on in the world at present, many have a feeling of impending doom as a sense of foreboding clings to their psyche. There’s so much going on in the news that the roller coaster of today’s news drowns out the shock of the news the day before. It has many wondering again—are we headed towards the beginning of the “birth pains”? If you fall down a thousand times—get up and cry out to God. Remember the Psalms. Jesus read these Psalms. Remember how David and the other writers cried out to God and learned not to give up. They even wondered why God was taking so long to answer them: “How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? (Psalms 13:1). God used these scriptures to help me while caring for my invalid dad; because I wondered why this was going on for years, and I kept praying and praying. I didn’t realize it at the time, but with all those prayers God was pulling me closer to Him. I also learned more of the value of sitting and thinking deeply about life. Don’t let distractions take you away from God. If you are praying and meditating as you should things will work out, so there’s no reason to fear. This is the lesson God drove home in my mind with the situation of taking care of my invalid dad when I felt I couldn’t go on anymore. Learn to slow down and pray and think about what is important. Pray as you should and draw close to God. As we get our foundation down in Jesus Christ, He will give us His grace and strength, because we all have our real problems. And many of our problems are not dealt with because of our lack of prayer. Think about the two scriptures mentioned below about prayer. This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses since he had the same temptations we do, though he never once gave way to them and sinned. So let us come boldly to the very throne of God and stay there to receive his mercy and to find grace to help us in our times of need” (Hebrews 4:15-16 TLB). And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6 NIV). Our problems often increase because of our lack of prayer; and the above scriptures tell us to come before God’s throne room to get the help we need. Let us think deeply about these scriptures and apply them. Those who seek God diligently will be blessed with His peace amidst the increasing chaos of the times. Hold fast brethren, and God will bring us Home. ————————————————————————————– Reprinted with permission from: Shepherds Voice Magazine https://shepherdsvoicemagazine.org/ ————————————————————————————– |
Views: 0
Sign up to Receive [The "New" Church of God Messenger] weekly newsletter: