How’s your prayer life? Is it a lively discussion or more of a stale habit? I think as Christians we often get caught up in checklist prayers. How boring is that? Not only is checklist praying an often empty habit, it’s also leading us to miss out on real connection with a Living God. I know some of you who are reading this may think that you don’t have a problem with real and honest talks with the Lord, but I want to challenge you with this question: When was the last time you let every messy thought and emotion out before God, unedited and unfiltered?
EVEN MORE UNDIGNIFIED
One of my favorite character’s in the Bible is David. He was someone who was known for being a man after God’s heart, but have you ever taken time to read some of his prayers in the Psalms? He was far from your cookie cutter perfect Christian! David wasn’t afraid to take the brave step to be vulnerable with God and volunteer his real heart, with all of its real emotions, raw and messy without restraint. He did so in his worship, but he also did so in his moments of pain. Check out this week’s Flashback Friday video to hear more about David’s undignified vulnerability:
In a nutshell:
• I want to give you this verse again from Psalm 10:1: “Why, Lord, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?” David was honest with His struggles with God.
• Because David was willing to ask these honest questions (even if they were just feelings in a moment), he was able to give room for God to know him.
• That resulted in real connection—being fully known and seen, the thing we all so deeply desire to feel. And the thing He so deeply desires to meet us in.
CAST AWAY “PERFECT” PRAYERS
A lot of Christians get caught in a pattern of telling God what we think He wants to hear instead of what’s actually going on in our hearts. Today I want to challenge you to not be one of those Christians. Take some time to sit with your journal and allow yourself to write without restraint. Don’t worry about where the commas should go or if you have an all-too-long run on sentence. Cast away perfectionism or fear of not sounding “right.” Just let it all out. All of it. And then once you’ve done that, let out a little more. It’s in that place that I know Holy Spirit will meet you. He will come in and speak. He will come in and cover you. Because at the end of the day He wants our full hearts, messy and raw. He never requires perfectionism from us. I’d love to hear how this process is for you in the comments!
