Hey, I wanna share something today that really changed my faith and my walk with God and I believe it will help you too. Jesus said many times "the last will be first and the first will be last...". He also said He wants us to pray and believe just like how little children trust and follow their parents. Little children don't try to do it on their own because they know they are just tiny little people who in reality aren't strong enough or wise enough so instead they run to and cling to their parents to help them. Jesus wants us to do exactly the same. This is what I wanna share... I've been in church pretty much most of my life. I wouldn't say I was ever the squeaky clean altar boy but I did know how it all worked. I learned the system well. I knew all the "church speak", all the Amens and Hallelujahs, I could recite lengthy passages of scripture at any time, I knew all my dogma, doctrine and theology inside and out. I could explain almost any book of the bible in its respective context. I knew all the prophets, the Pentateuch and could recite the entire book of Proverbs at verbatim.
I knew how to sound spiritually mature when I prayed and knew what sort of behaviour to show in front of people to get their empty approval. God describes a type of people in Isaiah 29:13 as "Drawing near to God with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me..." The cold hard truth though was this... that was me. I did all the lip service but my heart didn't belong to God at all. I gave Him part of my time, some of my intellect and even some of my money but the thing He wanted the most - I withheld. He wanted my love - which only came from my heart - and I made sure He never got near that. That part was mine. Here's the thing that God showed me that really changed me. I visited a girl once who was living with her boyfriend in a pretty run down part of town. We knocked on the door and when she let us in her boyfriend frantically cleaned up the coffee table because He'd been cutting up drugs on it with a credit card. The boyfriend made himself scarce and then the girl started talking to us about how she wanted to leave her boyfriend and get a job and her own place. She felt hopeless, trapped and with no future.
All she knew was she didn't want to be in that place any more. You see, this girl had horrible things happen to her as a little child by people she should have been able to trust. Things that should never had happened let alone even be talked about. Even sadder was that the same things happened to her again as a teenager. Because of what had happened to her and the pain and suffering that had caused she now believed the lie that she was worth less than what God said of her. This girl like me also spent all of her childhood years in churches so she knew the deal and how it all worked. The thing was she'd been treated by the church as dirty, tainted and a hopeless case. Because of that treatment she no longer felt welcome at church and tried to find her place with some of the worst offenders of society. Now here's the amazing part... What she said next to us really stuck with me. She looked at us in the eye and said "Can you please pray to God for me that I get this job?" I knew when she said this that what she was really saying was this "I don't feel I'm good enough to talk to God - so can you please talk to Him for me and ask Him to have pity on me because I really need it..."
We prayed for that girl but I know for a fact that it wasn't my prayer that did anything at all. God heard that girls heart the moment she opened her lips and voiced those words "Can you please pray for me...?" That day I saw the same faith the Centurion in Jesus day had when He said to Jesus "I know who you are and the authority and power you hold. I'm not worthy for you to come into my home but please... just say the word and my servant will be healed..." What I wanna say is this. That girls heart taught me far more about prayer to our Father in Heaven than 20 years of church ever did. Needless to say that girl got the job she needed and today is and awesome mother of an amazing little boy and lives in peace in a great place by the ocean away from all the darkness she used to be a part of. Can I encourage you - cry out to God for what you need just like this girl did. He cares deeply for you and loves you and always hears. He never ever turns away from a broken and humble spirit. The sacrifice He seeks from you isn't more service to Him. The thing He wants the most is your broken heart and the shattered pieces of your life. Why? Because He loves to restore His children. If you'd also like me to pray for you I'd be honored to do so as your brother in Christ. If you'd rather remain private you can contact me using the links in my bio. God values you so highly, so much more than you could ever imagine. I pray today that He unlocks more and more of that value in you. You are worth more.
I knew how to sound spiritually mature when I prayed and knew what sort of behaviour to show in front of people to get their empty approval. God describes a type of people in Isaiah 29:13 as "Drawing near to God with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me..." The cold hard truth though was this... that was me. I did all the lip service but my heart didn't belong to God at all. I gave Him part of my time, some of my intellect and even some of my money but the thing He wanted the most - I withheld. He wanted my love - which only came from my heart - and I made sure He never got near that. That part was mine. Here's the thing that God showed me that really changed me. I visited a girl once who was living with her boyfriend in a pretty run down part of town. We knocked on the door and when she let us in her boyfriend frantically cleaned up the coffee table because He'd been cutting up drugs on it with a credit card. The boyfriend made himself scarce and then the girl started talking to us about how she wanted to leave her boyfriend and get a job and her own place. She felt hopeless, trapped and with no future.
All she knew was she didn't want to be in that place any more. You see, this girl had horrible things happen to her as a little child by people she should have been able to trust. Things that should never had happened let alone even be talked about. Even sadder was that the same things happened to her again as a teenager. Because of what had happened to her and the pain and suffering that had caused she now believed the lie that she was worth less than what God said of her. This girl like me also spent all of her childhood years in churches so she knew the deal and how it all worked. The thing was she'd been treated by the church as dirty, tainted and a hopeless case. Because of that treatment she no longer felt welcome at church and tried to find her place with some of the worst offenders of society. Now here's the amazing part... What she said next to us really stuck with me. She looked at us in the eye and said "Can you please pray to God for me that I get this job?" I knew when she said this that what she was really saying was this "I don't feel I'm good enough to talk to God - so can you please talk to Him for me and ask Him to have pity on me because I really need it..."
We prayed for that girl but I know for a fact that it wasn't my prayer that did anything at all. God heard that girls heart the moment she opened her lips and voiced those words "Can you please pray for me...?" That day I saw the same faith the Centurion in Jesus day had when He said to Jesus "I know who you are and the authority and power you hold. I'm not worthy for you to come into my home but please... just say the word and my servant will be healed..." What I wanna say is this. That girls heart taught me far more about prayer to our Father in Heaven than 20 years of church ever did. Needless to say that girl got the job she needed and today is and awesome mother of an amazing little boy and lives in peace in a great place by the ocean away from all the darkness she used to be a part of. Can I encourage you - cry out to God for what you need just like this girl did. He cares deeply for you and loves you and always hears. He never ever turns away from a broken and humble spirit. The sacrifice He seeks from you isn't more service to Him. The thing He wants the most is your broken heart and the shattered pieces of your life. Why? Because He loves to restore His children. If you'd also like me to pray for you I'd be honored to do so as your brother in Christ. If you'd rather remain private you can contact me using the links in my bio. God values you so highly, so much more than you could ever imagine. I pray today that He unlocks more and more of that value in you. You are worth more.
