Have you ever addressed God this way? Ever started a prayer in this manner? Ever just been sitting there, looking up at the sky (why do we do this, by the way?), and said, "Yo, Homey, wassup?"
Nah, I'm sure you haven't, nor have I, and I'm sitting here wondering why. Why don't we talk to God like he's one of our pals? or chums? or "homeys"?
Well, I'm sure there's some aspect of reverence involved, probably a fair amount of conditioning, training, and tradition, and perhaps even a feeling that it's just not right, but I suspect there's another reason as well, a deeper root to the problem. And, I think it's founded in relationship, or perhaps, lack thereof.
I know for me, personally, a lot of the time, I just don't feel that close to God, and certainly, I don't feel like he's all that close to me. Now, I know deep down that the latter is all my doing. I know God is right there, waiting on me to seek Him, wanting me to allow Him all the closeness in the world. I know this; yet so often, I do nothing to open myself to Him, nothing to bring Him in.
I've been thinking a lot lately about what a relationship with God really is. What's it like? What does it look like, or feel like? What kinds of things do you do when you are close to God? How do you talk to Him? What does He say to you? How hard or easy is it for you to even hear Him? Can you feel Him? Do you know He's present wherever you are? Are you more blessed? Or, do blessings even matter? Are you healthier, happier, more joyous, more pensive, more worshipful, kinder, gentler?
What exactly does it mean to have a relationship with God, or to be "in relationship" with God?
Well, this is what I've been pondering for awhile now, because, honestly, I really don't know for sure. I could give you a "book"-type answer, or I could give you a "churchy" answer, but something just doesn't seem right about those types of answers.
Sure, I could tell you, "Well, you know, when you are close to God, you want to read the Bible more, you pray more, you listen to worship music more, you feel tingly all over when something cool happens or something seemingly miraculous occurs."
Or, I could give you the always fun, "I don't know. I just know it. I just feel it. I can't describe it. I just know it."
And, you know what? I truly believe all of that is true, but it's not true in the way you may think. Sure, I believe the closer you are to God, the more you will probably read the Bible, and I believe you will most likely pray more often, and you'll probably be moved by spiritual things more easily or more often, you may be nicer and kinder and gentler, and you may not even be able to describe it in words, and your answer may actually be, "I just feel it."
However, I think the main difference is in the motivation.
I believe when you are truly "in relationship" with God, you simply want to spend time with Him, like you would with your spouse, your kids, your best friend, etc. You want to talk with Him (note I said "with" not "to"...there is a difference). You want to listen to Him. You want to truly worship Him. And, you want to get to know Him. Basically, you become consumed by Him.
You don't read the Bible to meet your quota for the day. You don't pray just to say you started your day with prayer. You don't listen to worship music just to feel tingly. You do these things simply because you want to be with Him.
Now don't get me wrong. If you have a daily reading plan, that is awesome, that is great. I commend you, because I spend way too little time in the Word and probably need to set one up myself, mainly just to be more disciplined; however, I would also encourage you to check yourself every now and then and look at your motivation. Are you reading because you have made yourself feel obligated to complete the task you set before yourself? If so, it's certainly better than not doing it at all, but I would ask that you make a concerted effort to loosen the restraints you are putting on yourself, and just immerse yourself in the Word so that you can simply spend time with Him, or so that you can learn more about Him, not to just "get your reading done for the day." Don't make it a chore, don't make it an assignment. Make it a dialogue between you and your Creator. Listen to His wisdom as you read, and feel free to speak to Him about it. Develop an intimacy with Him like none you've ever had. Seek to know all you can about Him, and sometimes, just read because He loves you and you love Him.
It's the same with prayer, in my opinion. Do you pray every day? Do you start your day with prayer? Do you say bedtime prayers, or pre-meal blessings? If so, great!! These are all awesome things to do, and I can't say I do any of them all the time, but only some of them some of the time. However, have you ever just chatted with God? Told Him how your day went? Asked Him what he thought? Do you ever come before Him in prayer without any requests? Do you ever just say, "Lord, I want to know you better? What don't I know that You want me to know?" and then just sit there and wait for Him to reveal it? Try it.
Do you have close relationships with other people that you don't know anything about? Of course not, because if you know nothing about someone, then they are basically a stranger. So, when you want to know something, what do you do? Typically, you ask them and then you listen to their answers. So, why don't we do this more with God? Why are we so enamored with asking Him for stuff, whether it be health for a loved one, blessing at work, guidance in a decision, etc, etc, etc, we always seem to be asking, asking, asking, asking.
And, you know what? In His infinite love, He wants to give to us. He wants us to seek Him for all of our needs, so again, these types of prayers are just fine. But, do they have to be EVERY ONE of our prayers?
Every now and then, just stop yourself, and say, "Lord, for today, I want for nothing. I need nothing. I just want to be close to you. Please show me how."
Yes, I know, asking God to show you how to be close to Him is technically asking Him for something, but it's different. Let's not play the semantics game, because you know what I mean. So, I encourage you, sometime in the near future, set aside one single day where you don't ask God for anything for you or for anybody else. Don't set out to accomplish any kind of self-motivated goal.
For just this one day, in all that you do, seek to know God better.
If you read the Bible, don't worry about how long you have read, or how many chapters, just seek Him. When you pray, just talk to him like He's one of your "homeys" with perhaps a little extra reverence thrown in, although this may not be necessary either. After praying, or even during, stop and just listen with your heart. What is God trying to tell you or show you? He may not want to show you anything. He may just want to sit with you. He may want you to see nothing more than how much He loves you.
Just spend time with Him. If you don't know what that means or how to do it, you are NOT alone. We are so accustomed to our "churchy"-type behaviors, that it is very difficult to just BE with God. I think we sometimes think we have to be doing something. Reading the Word, praying, worshiping, etc. But, sometimes, I think God wants us to just BE with Him. So, if you don't know how to do this, ask Him to show you how. Or, put on some soft worship music and just sit...sit and wait for the Spirit to move. Just acknowledge God's presence, because, yes, even if you don't necessarily "feel" it, God is there. Acknowledge it, and just enjoy being in it. Don't wait for a "feeling." God isn't about "feelings."
So, I don't know if any of this makes any real sense. It's difficult to put this kind of intangible thing into words. But, if anything, I can leave you with this all-encompassing wisdom:
When you've simply spent time in the presence of God, you'll just know it.
Ha, how's that for wisdom?
I hope you have a blessed day in the Lord, and as always, please check out: www.readtheletters.com and purchase a copy of my book, THE LETTERS.
God bless,
Sean Hanzelik
