How easy do you find it to trust God?
By Miriam Westfall and Jonny Potts
Odds are you have prayed frequently to bring requests before God; material, spiritual, emotional, and relational requests. But how easy do you find it to go to God with a trusting heart? A heart that can be sure that He will listen and He will be gentle and kind because He is our Heavenly Father?
Through prayer, we have the amazing opportunity to talk to God. We have the undivided attention of the Creator of the Universe. We can be assured that our prayers are listened to. In fact, they form a central part in our relationship with God and God loves to hear from us. Communication is the foundation of any relationship, and with God, it is no different. Imagine trying to get to know someone if you couldn’t even talk to them!
Thank goodness He is always listening and we can go to Him in whatever state or situation we are in. However, perhaps sometimes it’s good to ask the question of our own state of minds and hearts, ‘Am I coming to God with a trusting heart?’ At this moment, am I trusting him with my heart?’ ‘Am I fully trusting Him with my life?’
Jesus was once asked for some teaching about how we should pray. His response was not so much a formula but some great advice about how to relate to God (The Lord’s Prayer) and we can learn so much from just how it starts…
Our Father in Heaven, Hallowed be your name
The first line establishes the relationship. He teaches us to pray to our Father. This changes everything! He is Holy (which is what “Hallowed” means), but He is also parental. And He wants us to have a good relationship with Him. So how does this knowledge affect our prayer life? Hopefully, it should free us up to really share from the heart.
God welcomes our honest feelings. He wants to hear from us. He is a Holy God. But, for followers of Jesus, He is also our Father. This shows how we can be honest in our prayers, how we can share whatever is on our heart without fear. Because we are sharing with someone who loves us unconditionally as a good father should love his own child.
Exodus 33:11 tells us:
“The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend.”
How easy do you find it to speak to God? Is it just like speaking to a friend? Do you feel like you can talk to God about anything? Everything? The number of things we can talk to Him about is literally endless. And if we get stuck, we can ask God to put into our minds what He wants us to pray about. He always has things to say, if we have ears to listen. When we do this, we move from merely having knowledge about God, to having communion with God. We share with Him and He shares with us. And with time, this will lead to a deeper union; where our thoughts, affections, and attitudes are increasingly one with God’s.
Miriam’s story
On my way to a retreat centre for the day, I felt like I was struggling to belong anywhere. Since my dad had died, I felt less connected to my family when I visited; it had lost its sense of stability. So, I was honest with God about those emotions, and asked Him to help me understand what was going on in my heart at a deeper level.
God brought the word ‘home’ to my mind. As I kept walking, I began to realise that what I was craving was security. I was spending a lot of energy trying to make people like me and creating the perfect comfortable house. But God was showing me that I was bypassing my true sense of ‘home’ – I could always be with Him, He had made His home with me so no matter where I was, or who I was with, I could have the sense of security I was seeking.
So, prayer is an integral part of our destiny to be united with God. We have a direct line to the Creator of the Universe. When we are in Christ, God becomes our Father, and we can talk to Him just like a father who cares for us! We can fully trust Him.
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