And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Matthew 10:38
Nuance is important. What’s the difference between asking God to bless you in your efforts, and asking God what He wants you to do? Obviously one is self centered and the other is God centered. The first doesn’t require having to listen to the Spirit of God and the other does. How many times are we asking God for what we want… and is what we want coming from the Spirit of God within us, or is it coming from our own fleshly desires, to calm our fears, or discomforts, or satisfy our lusts for more, or our need for more control? So much of the prayer from those who are in a ‘formula-style’ of religion are about God being a ‘one-arm bandit’ just giving the petitioner what they are asking for. God is their own personal genie. I often wonder about these types how they are in other types of relationships. Is the relationship only about what they can get out of it? How much of your relationships are about attempting to get something from the other individual? Then of course there is the way we are attempting to get those “needs” we want from them. There are passive aggressive methods. There are coercion methods. There are abusive methods. There are the ‘child-like’ tantrum methods. Which one of these methods work on God? The answer is obvious to me but certainly there are so many that still think they can fool or deceive God. Why would they even attempt it? Because they have deceived themselves and believed a lie.
In real prayer …humility and honesty are required as absolutes otherwise without being honest with yourself .. why would God even listen? Those in delusion don’t even WANT to hear the Truth, and quickly deny it when they hear it. Why do you think Jesus often used the phrase, “Let them who have ears to hear..”? Have you even listened to your own prayers? Are they actually coming from the Spirit of God from within you? You might say, “Well they are coming from my heart! And God should honor that!” What actually does God honor? Have your ever searched that out? How much of our own desires are driven by our pride, fear, or lust? How much of our prayers are coming from our own ways and ideas of what we think God needs to do for us, or we want Him to do for us?
There is an increasing amount of so-called Christians who are trying to manipulate God for their own purposes. They haven’t actually learned what the ‘fear of God’ is, as they haven’t actually experienced Him in real time, and just have an intellectual construct of Him. They have a minimal ability to hear the Holy Spirit, and so that relationship is basically non-existent in their lives. They are comfortable with their ‘one-hour’ weekly commitment to Him while being entertained by the ‘profession’ Christians.
Our prayer needs to come from a God-centered personal and intimate understanding from Him. Our prayer should become a Spirit-led interaction and conversation with Him. Have you learned to pray what He wants you to pray? Can you hear Him well enough to hear His instructions on WHAT exactly to pray for? The key here is actually having ‘ears to hear’. Ears to hear …meaning the ability to clearly understand and know what the Holy Spirit is actually saying directly to you.
Our cross is His life, His wishes for us, His calling for us, His purposes for us, and His direction for us, no matter the obstacles or pain that stand in our way while carrying out His plan for us. If you can’t hear Him personally and intimately daily …how exactly will you ‘follow Him’ throughout your day?
Are you even attempting to listen? Maybe we should begin with…
Father forgive us…