I was reminded this week how vital prayer is in our walk with the Lord. I noticed when I stop praying or go hours in my day without talking to God, my thoughts quickly become all about myself. It is so easy for our mindset to be focused on us. Have you ever desired to do godly things for the purpose of making yourself look good? Have you ever prayed or read the Word with the mindset that it is all about you?
This past week, I did not get up early and get into the Word like I usually do. But yesterday, the Lord reminded me something that I had forgotten: He wants to meet with us. When we wake up, God desires to spend time with us.
My mindset has been that reading and praying is all about me meeting with God because He expects that. I forgot that it goes the other way. I forgot that the only reason I can talk to God is because He first spoke to me. This is a truth that I often forget. 1 John says that "we love Him because He first loved us."
Prayer is all about God. It is us relinquishing our dependence our ourselves and submitting ourselves fully to Him. I love in Psalm 17 when David writes:
"Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow if your wings."
I often forget that I am His child and He wants me to just sit and be with Him. What an amazing truth!
JN
Friday, January 21, 2011
Friday, January 14, 2011
five years
I was thinking today about what my life could look like five years from now. Where will I be when I wake up on a cold, January morning in 2016? Who will be president? Will the Cleveland Browns have a super bowl title by then? Will I still live in Ohio? Will anyone close to me pass away? Will I be single? These questions are all the unknowns of life.
I used to think five years was a long time. Now I realize time seems to only move faster. When you break it down, five years is only about 44,000 hours from now. I remember five years ago today. I was a freshmen in high school, studying for my first final exam. I was 15. If you had asked me then what I thought my life would be like now, I would have been probably 99% wrong.
I was reminded in Proverbs today that "In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps." Proverbs 16:9. It gives me great confidence to know that God knows my entire future and He is directing my life.
For some reason, the future can seem intimidating. But we often overlook the fact that the future does not exist yet, at least from our perspective. How can something that does not exist intimidate us? More and more I am reminded that right now is all we have in this life. God asks us to worship Him now. If our gaze is fixed upon Jesus now, then the unknowns of the future simply become the realities of our present. So worship Him with wholehearted devotion right now. Cause that all we have. And that is all we are asked of.
JN
I used to think five years was a long time. Now I realize time seems to only move faster. When you break it down, five years is only about 44,000 hours from now. I remember five years ago today. I was a freshmen in high school, studying for my first final exam. I was 15. If you had asked me then what I thought my life would be like now, I would have been probably 99% wrong.
I was reminded in Proverbs today that "In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps." Proverbs 16:9. It gives me great confidence to know that God knows my entire future and He is directing my life.
For some reason, the future can seem intimidating. But we often overlook the fact that the future does not exist yet, at least from our perspective. How can something that does not exist intimidate us? More and more I am reminded that right now is all we have in this life. God asks us to worship Him now. If our gaze is fixed upon Jesus now, then the unknowns of the future simply become the realities of our present. So worship Him with wholehearted devotion right now. Cause that all we have. And that is all we are asked of.
JN
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)