A father returns home from a long day at work. He opens the front door, sets down his briefcase, and inhales a deep breath of something delicious being prepared in the kitchen. Two little ones come running to him from the hallway to the right.
"Daddy, Daddy," little Mikey shouts as he halts before his father. "My train set broke. The engine won't run anymore. Can you fix it? My friend Ken is coming over tomorrow and I promised he could play with it." Frowning, he gives his father a sad look, then gestures toward his little brother waiting beside him. "And Sammy hit me. He hurt my finger." He lifts up the injured appendage. "Also I have a project for school I need to do. Can you help?" He draws closer to his father and pats down his father's pants' pockets. "Did you bring a treat today? You said you would."
Mikey's father smiles lovingly at his son and runs a hand through the lad's curly blond hair. "No treat today, but I will help you with all those things."
Smiling, Mikey darts away. "Thanks Dad."
No sooner did he leave then Sammy dashes into his father's arms. Hoisting him up, his father squeezes him tight and lowers to sit on a nearby couch. The boy leaps onto his lap and nestles close against his father's chest, hugging him. "I missed you, Daddy. I am so glad you're home."
His father wipes a strand of hair from Sammy's forehead. "Isn't there something you want? Are you also looking for a treat?"
Sammy stares up at his father lovingly. "No, I just want you, Daddy." He settles back into his father's arms and releases a deep sigh of complete joy and trust. "I just want to sit with you."
So, the question is, when you approach God in prayer, which kid are you? Do you come to Him with a list of requests, problems, struggles, issues, seeking His help or possibly a treat from Him, a blessing, or an answer you've been looking for?
OR do you come to Him just to be with Him, to hang out with Him, to enjoy His company? More importantly, which kid blesses the father more? Which kid will come to know Him more and grow closer to Him?
You see, this is the main issue I see with many Christians today. They come to God with a list of requests, even prayers for others. They spend the entire time in prayer talking to God and asking for His help, and then they say Thanks and go their merry way. Can you imagine how that makes God feel?
God the Father is after one thing. He wants a relationship with you. If you have trusted in Jesus for your salvation, then you are God's child. You've been adopted into His family. Think about that for a minute. You are a child of God. (Romans 8:15-16). He loves you as much as He loves Jesus. In fact, you are co-heirs with Jesus! That's insane!! Jesus tore down the veil between us and Father God so that now we can come boldly to Him and just hang out with Him.
Yes, we are supposed to put our petitions before Him. Yes, we should ask for His help with things, talk about out struggles and trials, pray for others and ourselves. The Bible tells us to cast all our cares upon Him because He cares for us! (1 Peter 5:7) There's nothing wrong with that. But remember, God ALREADY KNOWS your struggles, prayers, petitions, and requests. Nothing you say to Him is a shock. And He wants to answer you, heal you, and supply all your needs! He doesn't need to know your ideas on how He can solve your problems. LOL I admit to doing this at times, offering God my brilliant idea of how to save my Son. God knows the best way. He doesn't need my opinions!
All He also wants is a relationship with us. To put it simply, He Wants to Walk in the Cool of the Day with You. Just like He did with Adam. Like a friend, a companion. Which of you would meet a friend and just talk to them all about your problems and issues and never stop to hear from them? That friend wouldn't be a friend much longer!
So how do we navigate this? How do we cast our cares on Him but yet spend time just enjoying His presence. Some may say, Well, I can't see him, hear His voice, or touch Him, how then can I get to know Him. We must remember that He lives inside of us. He's always there and God is rarely silent. The problem is, are we listening? Have we developed our spiritual ears? That comes from simply being in His presence, keeping our mouths shut, focusing our thoughts on Him in an attitude of Awe and Worship. That's when you will hear from Him. That's when you will find your healing, your deliverance, your help.
Jesus is your healing. Stop praying for healing. Hang out in His presence and His healing will flood you. Jesus is your comfort. He is your strength. He is your provision, wisdom, guidance, love. He is your everything and your every need. All these things will saturate you when you spend time alone with Him and just adore Him.
As we approach 2026, this is my goal for the new year. To spend more time with Jesus without any agenda and in complete adoration. I hope you'll join me!
Hello Sister in Christ,
ReplyDeleteI read what Sammy lovingly said to his father and that is definitely how I long to be. Of course, I would still have requests here and there to ask the Lord, but I know it would please Him to give profound thanks and have faith, which I am sure He sees as evidence that we trust Him, Sometime it may be tempting to feel doubtful, but I guess this is where the real test of faith is administered and the main result is seeing how many truly trust Him out of love for Him in place of selfishness or ulterior motives.
You may have heard Netanyahu reportedly meeting with Trump to discuss the next step of the Gaza Plan but a major revelation is that they are planning to deal with Iran’s missiles and nuclear program. Also, from what I heard, it looks like there may hardly any progress with the Plan, especially with Hamas refusing to disarm and Iran continuing to rearm Israel’s enemies, restrengthening its military power, and resolving to destroy Israel no matter what it takes. This is just more evidence that war is imminent and the Rapture and Tribulation are very close? I think you mentioned in one of your past posts that if we get into 2026, it won’t be too long until they happen. Every day, I found myself looking up and checking regularly for End Times news.
With China reportedly conducting active drills around Taiwan, it seems like it really is true that war may be inevitable, based on the symbolism from the World Ahead 2026 magazine that you brought up recently. All I can say is keep praying and trusting the Lord for He is coming soon.
Last thing I would like to bring up is that there is going to be heavy rainfall again on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, which is interesting considering we had it last week on Christmas Eve (with a temporary break on Christmas) and then rain again on Friday. I wonder if these could be signs from the Lord considering the rain will fall on the start of the New Year. That reminds me of how snow fell in a desert in Saudi Arabia around Christmas when it is a rare event - last time it happened was like 30 years ago. Could this symbolize something for the New Year’s Eve from a divine perspective?
Thanks Sister for understanding that I am eager to keep learning and looking out for the signs in the time we have left, and that I am just as eager to return home to the Lord as much as you and all other saints are. Peace and Blessings from a Brother in Christ.