(Part 2)
Do you ever have problems praying to God? Is it a struggle for you to get before the Lord and express your heart and mind to Him in deepfelt prayer? I speak especially to those who have a hard time expressing themselves in private (or public) prayer, who wrestle with being intimate with and developing a relationship with the Lord. Some are just not good at being that “open”, not only with God, but with anyone. How often has a spouse, primarily women, voice a complaint about their husbands who seem unable to be up front and honest about their feelings toward their wives? Some spouses are unable to just be transparent with their wives or husbands and I must say, that in my experience of what I have seen is that this is a problem more with men then with women. Women seem to be able to be open and forthright far more than men do. Call me biased if you want, but the majority of what I have seen over the years is the men “clamming up” and not wanting to be up front with their wives (I know I will get some flack on this one!!). But whether it is a wife or a husband unable to open up, there may be some deeper issues as to why or why not someone can be transparent in their relationship. But concerning our relationship with the Lord, why is it that some seem to have an issue talking to God? For some it is a struggle and they don’t want to be “too open”. But here’s the deal: God knows everything about you anyway. Listen to the wisdom and this golden nugget from Psalms 139:1-6:
“O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do. You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord. You go before me and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me too great for me to understand!”
This Scripture gives us a peak into the amount of what God knows about us when He examines us. It says He knows everything about us, that He knows when we sit or stand; He knows our very thoughts even when you are far away, when you travel, or rest at home. He even knows what we are going to say before we say it! As the Psalmist expresses, this knowledge is too great to understand! If you read further on in this particular Psalm, there is “no place” where we can escape his Spirit (verse 7), if we ascend to Heaven or descend to the depths of Hell, He’s there (verse 8), darkness cannot hide us from Him (verses 11-12), He is the one who created and brought us into this world and says you are a wonderful creation (verses 13-15)and He knew who we were even before we were born and has every day of our lives written out before Him (verse 16). So with that being said, seeing as how the Lord knows everything about us, knows our every thought and there is nothing that we can hide from Him, why be fearful of being open, honest and transparent with Him in prayer? He knows everything about us anyway, even our deepest thoughts!
One reason is that we may not have a revelation of how much God really does love and care for us. The primary reason for our existence as human being and why God created us is because He wanted a creation made after His own image and likeness who would fellowship with Him. It’s not that God needed to do this. He is well enough self sufficient within Himself. It was a pure act of love on His part. I suspect that we, as human beings do not suspect how much God longs for our fellowship. God wants to fellowship with us way more then we want to fellowship with Him. That was the reason why He sent Jesus Christ into the world to die for our sins and provide a way for mankind to be redeemed and to restore the relationship that was lost way back in the Garden of Eden. (that’s a whole other story ). The Scripture says for “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)
God loves us and when a person gets that revelation, there will be no fear of being open in prayer with the Lord as 1 John 4:18 says that “perfect love casts out fear”. But you get even more insight in how God feels about us by continuing on in Psalms 139. Here’s what it says in verses 17-18:
How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand. And when I wake up, you are still with me!
It says His thoughts toward us are “precious”, cannot be numbered and outnumber the grains of sand! Have you ever been to a beach and seen how immense the sand is? It spreads out far and wide in every direction. It would be impossible to count every grain of sand by the seashore and yet, God’s loving thoughts toward us “outnumber” even that. That’s amazing!
So, I’d like to encourage everyone to not be timid or fearful in approaching your Heavenly Father in prayer. Never be afraid or feel “awkward” by being transparent with Him. I would also encourage you to thoroughly read the entire chapter of Psalms 139. Meditate on it, chew on it and ponder on it deeply and let this portion of God’s Word sink deep in you so that you can freely enjoy the fellowship that God so longs to have with you without hindrances, hesitations or questions concerning His love for you.
God Bless!
