How To Approach God

By Carol McClain:  @carol_mcclain

“Two thirds of the praying we do is for that which would give us the greatest possible pleasure to receive. It is a sort of spiritual self-indulgence in which we engage and, as a consequence, is the exact opposite of self-discipline. God knows all this and keeps His children asking…And no matter how long it may be before He speaks, it is, even then, far earlier than we have a right to expect or hope to deserve.” Anonymous, as found in E.M. Bounds on Prayer. page 143

What is your prayer life like? I hope not like mine.

At times, my heart wrenches and my spirit cries out with passion and persistence.  My motives please God and heaven responds.

I hate to admit, though, too often, I pray  as I used to petition Santa.

Is this how we should approach the divinity?

Would we stand before Queen Elizabeth or our president and talk about ourselves and our petty petitions–a bigger house, a swimming pool, a removal of a varicose vein, our kid needing a solo in choir, a gift certificate for the nail salon for Christmas, a …?

Have you, like me, approached God like a sullen toddler?

This morning my prayers centered around my dog’s itching caused by a bad episode at the groomers. Why should God care? (He does). Still, I’d never stand before Trump or Governor Haslam r or Adam Levine and bellyache this way.

We must respect God’s holiness. His deity.

Things to remember about God and about prayer

  1. God is holy. He’s not our fairy godfather, the Easter bunny or Santa. He’s the creator of the universe. The being who loves everyone–terrorist or saint. We must approach Him as divine.
  2. God allows us into His presence. It’s not the other way around. With the above incident with our dog and the infernal itch, we can only get to the vet when she has time. Her doors are closed when her schedule’s full. The creater of heaven and earth, always has time. Remember that with awe.
  3. God always answers prayer. Whenever He does, it’s always sooner than we deserve.
  4. God loves us. Sometimes awful things happen because we live in a fallen world. We must cling to the fact God loves us and not even a sparrow falls to the ground that He does not care about.

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