Monday, July 05, 2004

without faith it is impossible to please god

i learned a long time ago that prayers are not a bunch of mumbles and amens. It is not about memorizing age old prayers and saying them just to get it over and done with. it is not about looking around as to who can see you as you pray. it saddens me when i find people pray with their focus much on the prayer and not to the One they pray to.
what did Jesus have to say about praying? (Mt 6:6-8 NIV) "But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father who is unseen.... and when you pray do not keep babbling like the pagans because they think they will be heard with their many words...Your Father knows what you need before you ask him." prayers are your calls, your letters and even your text messages (if you may) to God. Just imagine if you wrote a half hearted assignment, would your professor not give you a low grade? What if you wrote a poor letter to your special someone, will he/she not find you uninterested in the relationship? so it goes with God. Hey i'm no theologian, nor am i a bible scholar... but in the times that i have made the mistake of praying not with my heart but with merely my mouth, i felt God keep his distance. The book of Hebrews says "without faith it is impossible to please God."
it is not a matter of whether you know how to compose a prayer that touches your emotions and the emotions of those around you. God cares about your motives.IT IS NOT A MATTER OF WHETHER YOU'VE EXPERIENCED GOD BEFORE. Even as you were in your mother's womb, God knew you and loved you. How can you say that you're not ready? How can you say that yopu would like to experience God before you believe? In His language it is not "to see is to believe" but rather "to believe is to see". Call me a radical christian but you know what? HE IS REAL. HIS NAIL DRIVEN HANDS ARE REAL. AND THE PRICE FOR YOUR SALVATION WAS HIS BLOOD. HOW MUCH MORE REALITY ARE YOU LOOKING FOR????
i'm not angry. i just feel very passionately about this.i've said it before and i'll say it again- you have nothing to lose and everything to gain. God bless you.

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