i recently had a very intense conversation with one of my girlfriends about prayer...we were talking about those real, honest prayers to God...you know the ones...where you are at the end...where you see no hope in sight...where you have no where else to turn to...those times...when all that is left...is God...
these prayers usually come out of a time of specific, desperate, and painful needs...i have been in those moments in my life...where all i saw was crisis, fear, doubt, and confusion...when i reached the end...where nothing seemed possible...these were the moments that i cried out to God in pain and frustration...
these times are usually the times that we are willing to give up anything for answered prayer...we barter with God...most of the time...we really have nothing left to barter with...so we barter our future..."God...if you do this...i will be willing to do anything"...
this prayer fits so comfortably into a neat little foxhole category...but...when i really think about it...i think that kind of prayer is part of human nature...because there's nothing immediate we can offer God in exchange for His help, we try and offer our future...we reason in our head...if God could do all the wonderful things He did back then (recounting all the bible stories heard)...well surely He could do it now...
there were those times...in the lowest of low times...that i really didn't know if God cared...but i was desperate...so i cried out to Him...in the only way i knew how...
i'm sure you've had at least one moment in your life when you cried out to God because of a critical need...you may have wondered if He really existed...and if in fact He really did exist...would He help you? for some of you...the answer may have come in a miraculous manifestation that began your journey with the living God...but for others...the cry for help seemed to go unheard and you wondered if all those stories about Jesus were really true...
one of the books of the Bible that i love to read are the psalms...the psalms are written by and for people who desperately needed God's help at some point in their lives...even more desperately...they needed to encounter God...
so what are some of life's most universal needs? who doesn't suffer injustice at some time or another? who hasn't gone through a major crisis or felt insignificant? i don't know anyone who doesn't get a little depressed now and then...all of us know something about fear...guilt and shame are such a real part of the human experience...we've all blown it and we all know it...
confusion seems to drift in and out of our lives...and it is these exact needs that drive us to God...
sometimes i wish it weren't so...i wish that on my own...when things were great...i would run to Him and long to serve and please Him with all my heart...but the sad fact is...many of us turn to God the most when the demands or pains or uncertainties of life close in around us...
the thing with God though...is that He wants to meet us on a far more regular basis than just when we are in need...God wants to meet us in good times and bad...He wants to be our best friend and faithful companion...He wants to guide us, lead us, direct us, empower us...and fill us with joy beyond our wildest dreams...
more than anything in the entire world..God wants a relationship with us...and that...to me...is pretty awesome...
to turn to God only when we're hurting, struggling, or confused greatly limits the quality of our relationship with God...
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