Okay, let me be honest…I’m not sure the title of this post is theologically sound. I don’t know if we can “break God’s heart”. His heart appears fairly strong to me. He carries the weight of the world on His shoulders, so I’m assuming He can handle most anything we throw His way. I did want you to read the post though, and I do think there is an illustration here that is important for us to consider.
Our youngest son Nate was studying in Europe for the summer. (You can read more about his experience HERE.) For the last couple of years, he has attended school 8 hours away, so the distance is not much of an issue, although it is summer and I wish he were home. The problem for me now is the way we ended our instant messaging today. He will not have Internet for the next 5 days, so I’ll not have any correspondance from him for nearly a week.
I realize 5 days is a short time for many. I sometimes only talk to my mother once a week, but I’m new at this empty nesting. Five days seems like forever right now.
But, there’s a bigger issue that came to my mind as I saw those words typed in a chat program. I’m a dad who will miss talking to his son for the next five days…and I’m not even close to being a perfect dad.
How much might God miss talking to me? Do you think God would hate hearing “talk to you in 5 days or so”?
I don’t know that there has ever been a time when I went 5 days without talking to my Heavenly Father, but there have surely been days when I seemingly cut Him out of my day.
Here’s a question I’d love for you to ponder:
If you were having an instant messaging discussion with God, when would you tell Him you two would talk again?
Be completely honest with me: Is prayer one area of your Christian experience that you struggle with the most? Why do you think that is true?
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Ron! I agree with you. Many times, we hurt God by failing to talk with him in prayer regularly.
And, prayer is one area where I struggle. At times, when nothing happens according to my plan or desire, I feel difficult to pray. But, I am learning and maturing day by day. I am trying and moving forward with that intention. But, still I am far from perfection.
Prayer is a consistent battle in most of our life's, probably because it's a relationship…and relationships are hard.
Bro! I love this story. I do think that is correct, I think we can break God's heart. I feel your pain, you know my youngest daughter is in Spain for the summer.
I think I'm gonna put this down now, and spend some more time with Abba! Thanks for the "kick" I needed!
I love the intentionality!
Thanks Bryan. That's a great story.
I have to agree with Ben, it is so misunderstood! Almost to the point that they think they must use certain phrases, be in a certain crowds before God can hear us.
I heard a story about a man who had a hard time with prayer. He said he had grown up hearing sermons, Sunday School lessons, and VBS, everything! Prayer was a mystery to him. He just didn't get it! In his later years a friend came to him and told him to try something that, even though it would sound a little strange, it might help him understand prayer better. The friend told him to put a chair in front of him and imagine that God was in that chair; God had promised several times in the Bible that He would be with us even to the end of the earth, so just talk to Him as tough He were a person, sitting in that chair! The man tried it, thought it was a little different, but liked it! So much that he kept it up for many years, and in his last days when he was in his "death bed", his daughter left to run errands, when she came back, he had passed away, but not before he had laid his head in the chair beside his bed.
A heartwarming story, to be sure, but it also tells how simple the process really is. Jesus tells us in John that He no longer calls us servants, but friends! I have served on the Mission field and survived mostly by prayer! I definitely kept my sanity through prayer!
I think prayer is so misunderstood to the point where we're actually afraid to sometimes because we don't have those "heavenly words" or words that are "worthy" of God. Here's a Truth I learned a long time ago – God just wants you to talk. He'll listen. Then He'll talk. You listen. That simple.
There's this wonderful picture I hold of God being my Abba Daddy. I just talk to him, just like a Father, without all the flowery words, without all the "holy" words I don't know. Sometimes I just say "Lord, I don't know what to say, but there's quite a few things I do have to say-just don't know where to start". Prayer is a conversation. Just speak. The Holy Spirit will guide you to saying what needs to be said….
For me, prayer starts when I wake up (after I hit the coffee pot) and we never stop talking to each other all day long. It's to the point now where I can't stop praying. Make sense? It works for me and Him.
I agree. It is very misunderstood. I give the same advice. It's a relationship…talk!
Prayer is an area where I have struggled. It's also an area that I have dedicated myself to correcting. I have lately been trying to reorder my life so that I can put the important things first (prayer, Bible study) instead of trying to fit them into the margins of life. It is a struggle, but how can I expect to know God if I don't communicate with Him daily? I know that the more I pray, the more I will want to pray.