This
kind of relationship only comes with acknowledging that I do believe he will do
what he says he will do. (Mark 11:24,25) and that we truly can have that
relationship together.
As
I read the bible when I became a Christian , I came upon the story of Jonah.
And have read it many times henceforth, but it wasn’t until recently that I
realized that it wasn’t until Jonah decided not to avoid God that God listened
to him and helped him. (Jonah 2:1) Pretty much that was the answer Jonah wanted
at that time. But his other prayers weren’t answered. Much as God doesn’t
always answer me in what I may desire, as much as I may consult Him (Hab 1:2).
It may have nothing to do with whether or not I have or will avoid Him or
whether my steps have gone in the same manner He so desires. He just may not
think this is the right time. But whether it is or not the right time, whether
He answers now or 10 years from now, my persistence pays off always. (Luke
2:37). For example, I have a very difficult relationship with my mom. She and I
just do not see eye to eye on many things, never have, never will, and she
chooses to live with me because she believes she should, not because she wants
to, not because she enjoys our relationship, but because she wants the company
I can afford her. She asked me if she could move in with me. And I put her off,
knowing that I really needed to go to God in prayer before I answered her. As I
did. And His answer was for her to come. Why? Only He knows. And so when my
brother died in 1997 and my mom’s house sold in May. She moved in with me.
Nothing changed in her heart. I was and always will be her child, I have never
grown up in her eyes. In her eyes, I cannot take care of myself even though I
am a federal Veterinarian. It has not been an easy time, because above all
things, mother doesn’t communicate with me really well. While she doesn’t want
me to know things going on in her life, she nonetheless wants to know all
things in mine, has an opinion about each and everyone of my friends and says
so even forgets to give me their phone messages. But through all of this, I
have learned to stand my ground with her, and we have become somewhat of
friends. Perhaps not close friends, but friends nonetheless. Persistence
through prayer is what this is all about, because if I cannot communicate my
desires and my aches and pains to the Almighty, it will be difficult at best
communicating with a human being. And persistence in prayer has everything to
do with how I worship. Do I obligatorily go on Sunday, or do I go with my heart
prayerfully, wanting to grow in Him and know the mystery of being part of the
Bride of Christ? When I move without an answer from God, I risk doing something
that will not please Him. On the other hand, I must know when to move, being
like Jesus and saying, “Not my will but Thine”.
I must always remember stillness, to hear Him speak to me to say when or
not, to go privately before Him (Matt 14:23), to make time not just on Sundays,
but to do this every single day of my life, to walk and wake in His shadow, to
honestly be His. Even during my time with the body. In worship, there is a
corporate stillness, a hush over the crowd if you will. In the body, there I
and my brethren in Christ listen to His will, share His meal, listen to His
prayers for us and our for each other. While I may want to shout, there is time
and a place for that. And while God tells us we are to shout His name, He also
tells us to be silent and know He is Lord. And praising is only a whispering of
His name. And in this whole silence, one of my biggest problems is my lack of
faith that God will talk to me -- and
that my prayer is one-sided, as though offering appeasements to an idol. But I
have come to realize this is not true. God and I are in communication with one
another always in my stillness. I become part and parcel of the corporate body
in the silence with which we all approach God, much more than shouting and clapping
and raising my hands can ever bring, because all of us are listening to Him,
not to demonstrate our emotions, but to combine our spirits to His Holy Spirit.
Abraham prayed this prayer for His family in Gen 12:5,8 and Jacob in Gen 35:3,
an altar of thanksgiving. Cornelius in Acts 10:2 led to his and their
conversion to Christ. The results of serious corporate prayer cannot be denied.
The joining of spirits within God’s spirit cannot be denied. (Matt 18:19; Acts
1:13, 14)
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