View changed
I grew up a
preacher’s kid, and I’ve been around a few churches. I was saved at the age of
16. Listening to pastors and deacons praying in church can be one of the
most intimidating things for a younger Christian. I’m going to endeavor
to take you on a journey of how my view of prayer changed because I’ve heard a
lot of prayers from other people. Some have lengthy flowery prayers with
big fancy words. I understand that from a certain perspective, but there
was a time when the way I looked at prayer simply changed. God wants us to
communicate with Him often. If you spend time in the Psalms and I have
spent a lot of time, there you will find King David is the most vulnerable
person you will ever hear praying and singing to God.
Psalm
51:16-17
“You do not
desire a sacrifice or I would offer one. You do not want a burnt
offering. The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. You will not
reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.”
See years
back in my college days I went to this place called Disc Go Round and I bought
my first Margaret Becker cd. That’s when I discovered the song that
changed the way I viewed prayer and talking to God. Years before in 1989
she wrote this song called Honesty and it is for everyone who has sat in church
and heard the fancy prayers and thought “I don’t understand how to pray because
I can’t wrap my head around all these strange words.” I’m here to tell
you along with Maggie B that you don’t need all that. What you need is an
open and contrite heart before God. Sometimes we have to come to God in
prayer with our broken mess.
Her song
says this.
“Tonight, by
the glow of the firelight
You found
the courage to speak your mind
And tear
down the walls
you’ve been
hiding behind
You spoke of
your struggle
And you
cried from the pain
You spoke of
your failure
And then you
turned in shame
You said,
you knew you’d never be alright.
God’s not
afraid of your honesty
He can heal
your heart if you speak honestly
Humble
sorrow and honest cry
He will not
pass by no.”
See, those
words changed me. It made me realize that I didn’t have to sound all
fancy when I prayed and made me realize God wants me to talk to him as I would
talk to a friend. Yes, I’m to be respectful because He is almighty God
but he doesn’t want me to try to pretend to be something I’m not.
Philippians
4:6-7
“Don’t worry
about anything; instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need and
thank him for all He has done. Then you will experience God’s peace,
which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your
hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”
In Luke
18:9-14 there is a story Jesus tells about prayer between the Pharisee and the
tax collector, and I’ve always related more with the tax collector because of
what he did.
“But the tax
collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he
prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, ‘O God be merciful
to me, for I am a sinner.’”
Even on my
best day I’m a screw up and yet God wants me to pray to Him and he listens.
Let your guard down don’t try to be something you’re not. Speak to
God honestly. He created you He sent his Son to die for your sins and be
raised to life and He loves you.
I want to
end this with one of the most important verses you will ever learn about
prayer.
1 Peter 5:8
“Give all
your worries and cares to God, for He cares about you.”
That verse
tells you when to pray. When you’re worried and concerned. And then
it tells you why. Because He cares about you.
I rarely ask
for prayer but if you feel led to pray, please pray for Becky and I as we are
getting married this coming Saturday. Please
pray that we would be the people God wants us to be.
Humble yourself by Mylon Lefevre and friends
No comments:
Post a Comment