Stop Praying

"When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? - Psalm 8:3-4


 

I want to say first of all, please don't let the title of my post today scare you away, bear with me for a little bit.  The other day, I started reading "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan and he made a statement that just grabbed me. He said, "What if I told you to stop talking to God for a while, but instead, take a long, hard look at Him before you speak another word?"  He went on to say, "The wise man comes to God without saying a word and stands in awe of Him."

I want you to check out the video below before you continue reading.


After he first saw the video, Francis Chan said, "When I first saw those images, I had to worship.  I didn't want to speak to or share it with anyone.  I just wanted to sit quietly and admire the Creator."  In Psalm 8, David pondered the same things about God.  When David thought of the heavens, the moon, and the stars that God had created, it was hard for him to comprehend that God would even be interested in man.  David was truly in awe of the majesty and glory of the Lord!

I'm afraid that when we pray, we approach the Lord too casually, and do not approach Him in awe of His majesty and glory.  Before you pray the next time, stop and just stand in awe of Jesus Christ and all that He has done.  May you and I be gripped by the reality of our smallness and by the reality of the bigness of our God!

"Men are never duly touched and impressed with a conviction of their insignificance, until they have contrasted themselves with the majesty of God." - R.C. Sproul

Prayer For Today:

Heavenly Father, I stand in awe of Your majesty, glory, and power!  In light of that, I see how small, weak, and insignificant I am compared to You.  Help me, because of my smallness, to be gripped by the reality of Your greatness.  May I proclaim to all, How Great Is Our God!  In Jesus name, Amen!

Starving Our View Of God

"Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth." - Isaish 40:26


As you read through the book of Isaiah you will find that the people in that day had totally starved their view of God because of their idols.  I'm afraid that we have done the very same thing today.  We have failed to behold the One who has created all things and instead of cast our eyes upon idols.

Have you ever stopped and thought about the greatness of God that is revealed in nature?  Every time that the wind blows, every time you see a streak of lightning, every time a flower blooms, we see the might and greatness of God revealed to us.  However, many of us have so starved our view of God, because of our idols, that we fail to see and realize how awesome these things are and how awesome the Lord is.  I would encourage you sometime to spend some time surrounded by God's creation and just have a time of meditation, fellowship, and worship.  Allow the Lord to speak to your heart and truly see how great, marvelous, mighty, wonderful, amazing, awesome, holy, high and lifted up, that the Lord is.

The idols that we have allowed in our lives have lowered our view of God and elevated our view of ourselves.  Is it any wonder that we are hindered in our prayer life or in our worship of Christ?  When we are facing difficulties, discouragements, and disappointments, is it any wonder why we have no power?

I want to share with you a quote by Oswald Chambers:

"One of the reasons of stultification in prayer is that there is no imagination, no power of putting ourselves deliberately before God. We have to learn how to be broken bread and poured-out wine on the line of intercession more than on the line of personal contact. Imagination is the power God gives a saint to posit himself out of himself into relationships he never was in."

Do you lift up your eyes upon high and behold the One who created the universe?  Do you behold the greatness of His might and power?  Have you lowered your view of God and elevated your view of yourself?  Have you starved your view of God?

Prayer For Today:

Heavenly Father, Your name is above all other names.  You are high, holy, and lifted up.  Help me today to see Your power, might, and glory in Your creation all around me.  In Jesus name, Amen!