What does it mean to Draw near to God? Part 1

As the new year approaches it is one of my main focuses to be intentional about my relationship with Christ. I don't just mean that "yes, I'm a christian and I love the Lord" kind of relationship. I am talking about an all out, no holding back, commitment to bettering my relationship with him. I can't count the number of times I have counseled others about a good relationship with the Lord. It like any other earthly relationship takes open communication, commitment, time, energy, and focus. It is not something that just happens because you say a pray and accept Christ as your Savior. Sure that means your relationship has started with him but in order for it to be a GOOD relationship you need to invest in it. How great would your friendships, marriages, and other relationships hold up if you didn't put any time and energy into them?

The Lord has continued to put this verse in my path the last few weeks. Being married to a preacher, when we spend long periods of time in the car we usually listen to sermon pod-casts by various pastors. It is something we both enjoy(the kids aren't thrilled, neither was I when I was a kid and my dad listened to sermons on long car rides) plus it sparks conversations and in my case blog thoughts. Funny how a lot of the sermons we listened to traveling from place to place for the holidays concentrated on prayer and asking God for things. Some were good, others seemed to portray our relationship with Christ like that of a consumer and a vending machine, he gives and we take.

 But what does it truly mean to draw near to God?

I am no theologian, and I wont claim to be; but I just wanted to share some of my thoughts on drawing near to God.

Prayer

Prayer is a key factor in relationship with God. Many view it as a chore, something that is hard to do, a burden... I would challenge you to look at prayer in a different light. Prayer is intimidating to some people, seasoned Christians or new Christians. However, most of them have been given an unreasonable idea of prayer. All prayer is is talking to God. Think about what your relationship with your spouse would be like if you NEVER talked?! Even worse... What if your spouse only talked to you when they needed something?  Seems absurd to even think about, yet many of us take that approach with God. We never talk to him and we never listen to him either, we'll get to that aspect in a moment. The only time we run to him in prayer is when our lives are falling apart and we have tried everything we can to fix it ourselves before we finally decide to go ask him for help. I don't know about you, but I have some of those people in my life. They only call when they need money, or they've hit rock bottom. If I miss a call from them I worry about them and their well being just knowing somethings gone wrong or else they wouldn't have called. That's no kind of a relationship to have with someone, is it??

Prayer doesn't have to be fancy, you don't have to use old English words that no one understands. God is relevant, he's not stuck back in the future somewhere only able to understand the language and redirect from that day. Contrary to what many old timey preachers may say, or what you've been taught. It's not like you have to learn a foreign language to talk to him. You don't have to shut yourself in a closet, fold your hands, bow your head, etc... Prayer is a continual act. As a matter of fact the bible tells us to "Pray without ceasing"Thes. 5:17. Do you really think it means stay in your closet all day and pray? NO It just means take time in all of your day and your activities to include talking with God. For me this means simply muttering, sometimes not even audibly, a thank you for the blessing you come across in you day... The smile of your toddler and sweet "I love you mommy" she has just uttered, the success of your emerging independent 5 year old, the very fact that your 6 year old is living breathing proof of God's miraculous healing power even if that very same stubbornness that caused him to fight for his own fragile life causes him to fight you tooth and nail on every issue, the honesty and development of your beautiful 8 year old clone whose learning to cook and clean and thinks mommy is the greatest woman alive. A plea for help and patience when you encounter your little cutie pie with a marker in hand and the Picasso painting she has drawn on your wall or herself, the cry or display of anger when your emerging independent 5 year old has encounter failure or a task that's too hard for his skill set, the stubbornness and determination of your 6 year old that you are sure will either kill you or cause you to kill him, the frailty of your emotional 8 year old as she encounters those in life who aren't as kind hearted and caring as she had imagined them to be. Other times for me this means I do need to get somewhere alone and quiet and pray for serious issue, this is usually when you will find me in the shower, crying and talking to God. As silly as this may sound... I pray every time I enter the highway that there will be no traffic coming and I wont have to merge into a mess of cars. Call it what you may but 99.9% of the time, there is no traffic!! God doesn't care where I am, what I am wearing, or what's going on around me, as long as I am including him in my day. He doesn't need me to pray to him, but he's asked me to, and it is a display of my love towards him.

Another of my favorite verses is found in Jeremiah 29. I love verses 11-13

 

¹¹ For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. ¹² Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. ¹³ And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.

 

I have always paid special attention to verse 11 but in this season of life the Lord has highlighted verse 13 in my heart.

 

 You will seek me and find me, WHEN YOU SEARCH FOR ME WITH ALL YOUR HEART.

 

This is what started the whole goal to concentrate on my relationship with him this coming year. I thought... Am I searching with my whole heart? Am I really drawing near?  Am I putting in all the time and effort that I put into my earthly relationships? Hmmmm. Seems like there is room for improvement. Just like in every other relationship, it is constant, if your not working on it your probably regressing. God's not hiding from us. Scripture tells us he is always near. He just wants a little effort on our part. He's tired of the lopsided relationship where he gives and we take.

 

I'll leave you tonight with this thought and then we will pick up on Part 2. tomorrow.

 

If you feel far from God, consider that it isn't him that moved, he is constant!!

 

So, in 2014, make communicating with God a consistent part of your everyday. Not just a ritual before meals and bedtime, but a meaningful conversation with the greatest friend!! Not only will this improve your walk with God but it will improve many aspect of your life as well.

 

Mommies and daddies... don't hide in your closets to pray. Make prayer an obvious part of your daily life, as an example to your kids. Sometime in life our kids need to know that we don't have all the answers, but we can point them to the one who does. Mommy and daddy may not always be there in times of fear and failure, misunderstanding, or triumph, but if they know they can talk to an ever constant God then they will never feel alone and they will always know where to turn. Be an example of his grace in their lives, start with teaching them they can always talk to him!!