my life…in text format

I am a talker. If you know me at all, you know that I like to talk a lot. I also love to listen to people. To me, the most important part of communication is the part where my mouth stays closed and my ears stay open. As the saying goes, we have two ears and one mouth, we should do twice as much listening as we do talking.

This is interesting to me because I usually do more talking when I am praying. I try and pray so hard and so well that God will have to hear my prayer. At times I think God simply must be in Heaven calling on the Angels over saying, “HEY! Everybody be quiet and listen as my child prays. Listen to his brilliance as he eloquently seeks my forgiveness and asks desperately for passion. I MUST answer this prayer because I am floored by its brilliance!”

Yeah right.

I have recently been put through a learning process that I am basing God’s ability to answer my prayer on how well I pray. That sound ridiculous doesn’t it? Think about it.

I am trying to earn God’s favor by praying well. I am more worried about clearing dictating every word so that God can clearly hear what I’m saying than I am about the condition of my heart as I seek my Creator’s face.

I am praying…to prayer. I am not praying to God. I am praying to the thing that I use to communicate to God, hoping that I can reach God through powerful words.

Jesus calls people to come to Himself and get their drink from Him. Jesus tells us that what we need is found in HIM. Not in our words, not in our ability to say profound things. Jesus wants to do something in our hearts. He wants to break through the walls we’ve built up and tear down the words we’ve surrounded ourselves with and speak in our lives.

Are you listening?

How much time do you spend being quiet when you are praying?

Do you spend more time talking or more time listening?

I am a broken, sad, sinful human being struggling with bad habits and sinful nature. I have things in my life that I can clearly see are ripping me away from God and I desperately want to rid myself of it. I am slowly realizing that if I go to Christ, instead of attempting to convince God through elaborate prayers, I will get exactly what it is I need and be able to rid myself of exactly what it is that is destroying me.

I think it’s interesting that Jesus Christ is the One person we are so afraid to run to when we have in our lives and yet He is the Only Person we can run to in order to rid ourselves of it.

Maybe God is trying to say something to you. Are you listening?

Turn down the “you” volume and turn up the “God” volume.

We are but dust and earth, yet we get our life from the very breath of God. When we breathe, we are breathing God. When we speak we are exhaling the very being of our Creator.

When He breathes, life forms. When we breathe we speak a testimony of praise to God’s awesomeness.

Keep breathing. Keep listening. Stop talking.

Start…