6-10-2020

Good Morning All, 

         1 John 5:14; “We are confident that God listens to us if we ask for anything that has his approval.”

    One of my all-time favorite TV shows has to be “Columbo”.  I loved his car, his dog, the way his clothes always looked like he slept in them.  Yet the best thing was the question; he always would ask the suspect a series of innocuous questions and then share his doubts with him.  Just as Columbo was about to leave, he would turn around and say, “Excuse me, I hate to bother you, but I have one more question.”  He always was asking questions.  He might be running down the road or climbing stairs or hanging out of a window, but he always asked questions.

  I think one of the reasons I like it is because I am not much of a question asker.  I am one of the silent ones.  I let others ask, I leave the questions unasked; I am one of those guys.  I am one of those guys who are afraid that the question is dumb or will make me look dumb; the question will be irrelevant or inappropriate.  Something along that line.  I think many of us are this way.  We are unsure of asking questions, we are unsure of exposing our self to others scrutiny.

    For many of us, this is true of our prayer life as well.  We often look at prayer as asking for permission or asking “the stupid question in class;” it makes us somewhat uncomfortable, so we do not ask, we don’t pray.  So, we go through life missing out on one of God’s great gifts: the gift of prayer.  The thing we need to remember is that prayer is not as much about the “what”, that is what we are praying/asking for; rather it is more about our relationship with God.

    If you are a parent or grandparent, you probably understand this.  When you talk with your children or grandchildren, it is not the “what” that matters; it is the connecting, the sharing, the interaction of your life in theirs.  You want to be a part of their life; you want them to love you and to trust you enough to share with you.  In many ways this is how God wants his relationship to be with you.  God speaks to us through his Word and then listens to us through our prayers.

    God invites us to speak to him, not for the “what” but for the forming, building, strengthening of our relationship with him.  A stronger relationship with God our Father leads us to have a stronger faith which gives us the ability to endure the trials of this life.  So, God invites us to ask, to pray to him with the proper mindset.  We pray according to his will; we pray according to his will when we seek to build our relationship with God and not with the “what” of this world.  Pray to God, often.  It is not about the “what” rather it is about building your relationship with God the Father.

Father, we cry Abba to you.  Hear us as we cry to you.  Build up our desire and love for you.  Build our desire to speak to you.  Build our desire to listen to you.  Guide us as we engage in the holy conversation with you.  Strengthen our faith and give us the certain hope.  Be with those most in need of your mercy.  Move them to call upon you.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret