Tag Archives: Draw near to God and He will draw near to you

“Prayer changes things”

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Maybe you’ve heard it said:

“Prayer changes things.”

 

In fact, the prayers of those who seek after God are powerful and effective. Sometimes they release God’s power to willfully change a particular circumstance. The sick are healed, the lost are found, the blind receive sight, sins are forgiven, the dead are raised. That’s what happened when Jesus prayed to his Heavenly Father. And that’s what happens when devoted followers of Jesus follow his example in praying, “Yet not my will but yours be done.”

 

Pray changes things…but does it change you?

 

Prayer isn’t so much about changing the mind of God as it is about changing the heart of the one who is praying.

 

The heart of prayer is in drawing near to God.

“Draw near to God and he will draw near to you.” James 4:8

 

How do you draw near to someone you love? Do you give them a chore list of things to do and then leave them to accomplish it? Of course not. Instead, you find fulfillment in the enjoyment of their presence. You take interest in what they’re thinking and their desires. You discover of ways to please them and then act on them. You commit to a lifelong relationship of love and find new ways of expressing it, even when you don’t feel like being particularly loving or when you don’t feel you have the power to carry on. Some of the closest times Marcia and I experienced during our journey with cancer was when we were in our weakest and most helpless moments.

 

Isn’t this a picture of what drawing near to God should look like? It’s only when we humbly confess how weak and helpless we are that we can really draw near to him. It’s recognizing that it isn’t our righteous efforts that bring us close to him; he was drawing us close when we weren’t even looking for him! He sent his Son, he gave us his Word, and he brought his people across our path to demonstrate his truth and grace. Maybe you didn’t realize it at the time, but now you see how God has orchestrated events and people to draw you even closer to himself.

 

We don’t see this when we’re going our own way. We let busyness and prideful ambition and other sins keep us away from him. We draw near to God not by spewing a a to-do list, but by humbling ourselves, submitting to his will, resisting selfish temptations, and seeking his presence. Then he will draw close to you. (James 4:6-8)

 

Humbly drawing near to God changes us in transformational ways. And when we are changed by his grace, we see everything around us differently through his eyes. When this happens, prayer not only changes things…

Prayer changes US!

 

A Way Out of Pain

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Sometimes it is easier to sit in a puddle than to get out of the rain. If you’ve ever tried to push a car out of the mud or snow, you know what I mean. You give everything you have to give. Maybe you take a breather and do it again, and again. But eventually, you realize, this “mountain” is not going to move…not by MY efforts. So you gather up enough energy to get back into the car and sink into the seat. In exhaustion, your mind wrestles with, “Who am I going to call for help?”

Now, I know, calling for help should be the first step when the ‘mud’ of life sinks us into a pit of despair. But even calling out seems to take so much energy. The reality of the pain is so ever-present, so consuming, I cannot ignore it. But I cannot live with it all day either. Sleeping much of the day is a nice anesthetic, but it is temporary and staying in bed contributes to the problem rather than solving it.

I know that giving thanks to God is my only hope because God inhabits praise and there is no quicker way to draw closer to Him than to thank Him. But even that seems to take more effort than I have to give.

And so here is the choice we all face: sit in the puddle of our pain, miserable and without hope, or with each incoming breath, give thanks to God for one specific thing. Exhale the tension you feel, and with the next breath thank Him for another. If you run out of things for which you are thankful, Google “the promises of God” and give thanks for each of these.

Come near to God and he will come near to you. James 4:8

Progressive Learning

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Like much of life, this experience with Leukemia has been one of progressive learning. Either only so much information is released at a time or the mind can only absorb so much, or both. Recently, three revelations have struck us:
1. I underestimated the toll of the higher dose of chemo in this round and the cumulative effect on my body of three rounds of chemo in four months. I am making excellent, ahead of the curve progress, but night sweats, continued difficulty swallowing, and fatigue from engraftment and producing billions of blood cells daily are a greater challenge than expected. I discipline myself with expectation for a quick recovery.
2. With all the focus on quantity of blood cells produced, and the recently explosion of white blood cells in my body, I didn’t realize that most of these are rather immature cells. Comparing the work of a teenage intern to a master craftsman, my cells are doing good work, but not as effectively as they once will. So vulnerability will continue for some time.
3. The real surprise, which I should have figured out, is that when I made the decision to crucify my own sick immune system and replace it with my donor’s, I lost the protection of all my lifetime vaccinations. I will inherit some benefit from my donor’s immune system, but will have to be revaccinated for many childhood and adult diseases. And since my immune system is currently immature, I will have to wait a year before I can have any ‘live’ vaccinations, otherwise I would be susceptible to contracting the actual disease itself.

Isn’t life like this? There is a certain amount of maturity we can grasp at a young age (and so many exceed at this). But either through choice or other limitations, we seem to take a slower route to maturity than would seem necessary. We come across those ‘ah hah’ moments when we say, “Wow, I should have known that already.” Sometimes it is the ‘less mature’ young ones who remind us older ones of the important lessons of life.

Growing up in the image of God is the same way. Some wisdom only comes from a progressively disciplined life of pursuing Him. But much wisdom for daily living and business of life is available with just a little effort and desire to know the one who created you. The best way to Go Light Your World is to cultivate a relationship with THE Light of the world. Be blessed in pursuing that today. It starts with a simple conversation. And watch the friendship progressively grow from there!

Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. James 4:8