I’ll be honest with you all. I have not been doing so well in my prayer time or time spent in general with God. I won’t try to make excuses for it, though I know I could come up with a few; the main one being I’m busy. I know most wouldn’t admit that, but I really wanted to take this opportunity to let others know that the life of the believer can be up and down and we can pull away from Christ. Its not something that we wake up wanting to do. We don’t want to neglect God. At least not true believers. We all, each day, want to do all we can to please the Lord and live a life that accomplishes his will. But we have to be sure to not stay away for too long. This is how I began to realize that I was drifting from the Lord. When I felt empty. When I felt that I couldn’t tell the difference between God’s voice and mine. When I felt like each day I was wondering aimlessly. And its the worst feeling in the world. Feeling as though your moving back and forth with no clear direction. No help. No foundation. Though I knew the solid foundation I needed was in the Lord. (Matthew 7:24 – “Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock.)
When it gets that way, stop, and think about where God has brought you from. God has brought us through just about everything, even things we weren’t even aware of. But we all have our own testimonies. God has set me free from my own personal guilt I have held over my head for years. I thank God for loving me when I didn’t love myself. Once I began to think about all that God has done for me, my heart opened back up and my spirit craved for as much Jesus as I could get.
We can get settled in our Christian walk and can take for granted the relationship we have with the Lord. One way we can do that is by forgetting our own past. Now of course we don’t want our past to hold us back, but our past can be used to help keep us anchored in a type of humility that will appreciate even more who God is in our lives.(James 4:10 – Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.) It really is a relationship and there will be ups and downs. We may slack off in prayer and can come up with endless excuses as to why we can’t. But in the end its all about Jesus. We are his people and the way the message of Jesus gets to others. We can’t fulfill our purpose if we don’t keep focused. If we don’t remember how far God has brought us and how far God will bring others out, if we keep his will in mind. ( Colossians 3:17 – “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”)