GOD, WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME!!!!

Me: “I’ve tried and tried…. I work till I fall from exhaustion… I pray over and over… I try so hard to live right… I spend so much time at church….. I… I… I….  God, Why don’t you answer my prayers?”

God: “Just stop….  Give up… Give in… I don’t want your work and worry.. I WANT YOU!”

I don’t know about you, but I struggle way too much trying to do things… good things.. that God never told me to do. I’ll get a little insight or inspiration from God’s word (printed or spoken) and go off setting the mechanics in motion to “get-R-done”. The thing might get done, but unless God “got-R-done”, it was of little significance. What then, does God want of me… us?

For me, the best, most direct answer is Philippians 4:6,7 where Paul writes: "Don’t worry about anything, but pray about everything. With thankful hearts offer up your prayers and request to God. Then because you belong to Christ Jesus, God  will bless you with peace that no one can completely understand.  And this peace will control the way you think and feel. (Contemporary English Version)

Kinda sounds like the popular song a few years ago…. “Don’t worry, Be happy!” Could that be?  Could God want us to just depend on him for everything?  But, God helps those who help themselves, Right?… WRONG!  God takes care of those who depend on Him!

What God wants from us is dedication, closeness, dependence, love, life… He wants friendship and kinship with us. He loves us as his own children. He wants to laugh with us and be around us. He wants our prayers, not to jog His memory of our needs and wants, but to talk, walk, laugh, and joke with us. He wants our closeness with Him. Remember, we serve a LIVING God. He is not a collection of stories and legends… He is alive now!  Jesus is alive now!  There are no bones or other remains of Jesus because He has risen!

Yes, God wants our prayers, and He wants us to ask things of Him. But note the promised answer to our prayers quoted a few paragraphs before:  “… peace that no one can completely understand.”  Getting the things we asked for as we expect them is not His promise… The promised answer is the peace of God.

A few years ago, my church passed out prayer cards where we logged the amount of time each of us spent in prayer for specific things, mostly our city and its leaders. After a month or so, our pastor was very proud to announce that collectively we had logged several thousand hours of prayer. That was wonderful, but I felt then and now that we missed the point. The Bible tells us to “…Pray without ceasing.” That means always. That really means belonging to Him to the point that my spirit is in contact and sync with His Holy Spirit 24/7. I cannot do that, but if I submit, He can!

Jesus said in John 15:4, ” Stay joined to Me, and  I will stay joined to you..”  and in verse 7, “…If you remain  in Me and My words remain (abide) in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be given you.” The operative phrase here is “remain (or abide) in Me.." not “ask whatever you wish..” If we are abiding in Him, our wishes will be in sync with His wishes for us.

So then, what does God want from me?  …nothing!  everything! All He wants is me… my rights to myself. What does he give in return?  ….everything, life, eternity. Also, he gives the most valuable thing imaginable while we are here on Earth.  The peace of God that passes all understanding.

So, go on… Don’t worry… Be happy. He approves!
DaveH

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