Just Prayサンプル

SEEK HIS FACE Imagine a friendship in which every time you saw your friend, he or she asked you for something. This friend never bothered to ask you about your life or how you were doing, but only ever asked you for favors. What kind of relationship develops between friends when one of them is always preoccupied with his or her own needs or interests? Most of us have found ourselves in one-sided friendships. At some point you begin to feel used, and you definitely never feel close to this friend. Intimate prayer becomes so much more than simply telling God what you are facing and what you need, but so many have been taught only to take their problems and concerns to the Lord in prayer. In scripture, the Lord frequently instructs us to seek His face, implying that we are called to be face-to-face with God. In Exodus 33, Moses meets with God face to face in the tent of meeting. Moses asks God to teach Moses His ways, and God tells Moses that He is pleased with him. This “tent of meeting” is a place of intimacy and vulnerability with God, one that is available to all of us! The Word also shares the promises attached to seeking His face, the greatest of which is Him being found! In the same way that God wants us to bring our true selves to Him, He also desires to be known by us. In other words, God is calling us back to that secret place in the garden of relationship and communion. The sooner we grasp that prayer is more than just taking needs to the Lord, the better our relationship with God will be. When you are face-to-face with someone you love, you’re not thinking about what they can do for you or what you need from them. It’s the same with Jesus! When you’re praying and seeking the face of God, you’re seeking to know HIM and not just seeking His hand for favors. Let’s Go Bible: In 2 Chronicles 7, God tells Solomon, “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” Reflections: Who do you know that lived a life of prayer? What did you learn about prayer from watching them?