Relationships are like that too. No relationship is stagnant. It either grows tighter or separates. We either grow closer or fall apart. This is true of earthly relationships and the spiritual relationship we have with the Father. There is a place in a much used and relied on book on recovery that says that those seeking freedom have only a 24 hour reprieve from bondage based upon the maintenance of their spiritual condition. But the original eleventh step of the same program and those that followed its example say we need to improve our conscious contact with God through prayer and meditation. I used to think, maintain our spiritual condition or improve our conscious contact, which is it? Make up your mind.
Then, I realized the truth, that it is both. We can not maintain our spiritual condition by staying in the same place. It is the condition that is maintained, not the spiritual position. We must grow or we die. We must get closer in relationship to God;.we must press in or drift away. We need to improve our relationship, improve our time with, improve our conscious contact. We do this through prayer and meditation.
In this case, meditation is not sitting in a position you can't get back out of and saying ohm or clearing your mind of all thoughts and seeing what flows back in. It's to chew on, to deliberately focus the mind on God and the things of God, on His Word, on His principles and attributes. It is to get quiet before Him. It is to worship Him. With meditation we focus the mind and spirit on the spiritual and listen to what God might tell us. With prayer we talk to Him and make our requests known.
We know that prayers that are in the will of God are always answered, and since we have turned our will and care over to Him we ask only for His will and the power to carry that out. That said, it is the will of our Daddy that we come to Him with our needs. He may not always meet that need the way we think, want, etc on our timing. He may say no or wait. But we are to ask. The parable of the persistent widow in Luke 18 shows us this. Jesus says we are to come to the Father and ask, and not just ask, but keep asking and keep asking until we get an answer. That is in His will. So don't be afraid to take the desires of your heart and your needs to God, who cares for you. But be willing to surrender the outcome to His will. Whatever He decides to do, however He chooses to do it, whenever He moves, that's the way it should be. We can't be throwing a fit because God won't do things our way. We rejoice in the times of blessings and miracles and rely on His grace for the times of struggle. Both situations can bring us closer to Him, and that's the goal. As we get closer, we grow more and more free and more and more unlikely to ever be taken captive and enslaved again.
Today's Unshackled Echo was previously published on
January 9, 2016.
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