God, the Holy Genie?

Last night I attended worship at Northland. I go there every once in a while to worship on my own. Sometimes its nice to go someplace and not be known and just focus on God. They are in a sermon series called "Respond to God" and the weeks theme was prayer. This seemed to be fitting as my prayer life isn't the best and I'm preparing to lead a prayer night in December with my high school students. It was powerful worship with great music and a pretty good message. The main thing that stuck with me was Pastor Joel Hunter speaking about what prayer really is; a conversation with God that builds relationship. A conversation like any we would have on this earth. One like we would have with a spouse or boyfriend/girlfriend. And more importantly, it is practice for the day when we reach the kingdom and are in front of God. Pastor Joel asked the question, "Will you know what to say and how to say it when you are right in front of God on the other side of this creation?"

It is through prayer that we practice these conversations. And that is a great way to think of it, but really truly, it's not just practice, when we pray its the real thing. We believe that God is present to us (maybe not physically but spiritually) and when we pray we are having a conversation with him. But what Pastor Joel was saying is true, I believe when we reach the kingdom it will be different because God will be physically present, visible in front of us and that does seem to change the conversation a bit, doesn't it?

So we pray, because practice makes perfect...but what are we saying when we pray? Generally people turn to prayer when they need something. That is OK. God asks us to pray and wants us to ask for things, but that is not the only reason to pray. God is not some Holy Genie that we can just ask for something and poof it is there. It is about conversation with Him, present to you in your life, right then and there. So you are talking with him about your day, whats good, whats bad. You are asking him questions, asking him favors, thanking him for blessings he has brought to you. Letting him know your frustrations, sharing your praises, crying to him, smiling with him. It's NOT just about asking for stuff that you think will make life better for you. In fact, many times when we ask for something, God gives it to us, just not in the way we expected it! If you ask for patients, God isn't going to just magically make you patient, He is going to give you an opportunity to practice patients so that you can learn how to become patient! That's a little tricky isn't it? But it's just like parenting. For all those parents out there, or those kids who had parents, when your kids are of a certain age and wanted a new toy and it wasn't their birthday or Christmas there probably came a point that you didn't get it for them. Instead you gave them an opportunity to get it for themselves. You talked with them about how they could work and earn money which would then allow them to buy the toy. God does the same thing with us! He is our parent! And when you think about it, what a phenomenal way for God to work, He is allowing us to grow and learn!

So do we pray because we have to? No, we pray because we get to! God gives us this instant line to Him that we can use anytime and He wants us to use it all the time! We can't bug God. In the bible He tells us to pray to Him! How great is it that no matter where we are, what we are doing, and who is around us, we always have God present ready to listen and to hear us. But we need to take advantage of this offering He gives to us. So I challenge you to pray this week, not just when you need something but all the time. Talk with God when you are in the car, in your office, in school, at home. Let Him know how things are going, what you need, and what you are thankful for. Share your life with Him, He is ready and present and already sharing with you, you just need to recognize that and say hello!

May you pray the prayer your heart is seeking each and every moment of your life, leaning on God, praising God, thanking God, crying to God, smiling with God, and being with God!