Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

I love the Lord, for he heard my voice;
    he heard my cry for mercy.
Because he turned his ear to me,
    I will call on him as long as I live.

• Psalm 116:1-2

“I think that some of the greatest prayer is prayer where you don’t say one single word or ask for anything. Now God does answer and He does give us what we ask for. That’s plain; nobody can deny that unless he denies the Scriptures. But that’s only one aspect of prayer, and it’s not even the important aspect. Sometimes I go to God and say, ‘God, if Thou dost never answer another prayer while I live on this earth I will still worship Thee as long as I live and in the ages to come for what Thou hast done already.’ God’s already put me so far in debt that if I were to live one million millenniums I couldn’t pay Him for what He’s done for me.
“We go to God as we send a boy to a grocery store with a long written list. ‘God, give me this, give me this, and give me this,’ and our gracious God often does give us what we want. But I think God is disappointed because we make Him to be no more than a source of what we want. Even our Lord Jesus is presented too often much as ‘Someone Who will meet your need.’ That’s the throbbing heart of modern evangelism. You’re in need and Jesus will meet your need. He’s the Need-meeter. Well, He is that indeed; but, ah, He’s infinitely more than that.”

• A. W. Tozer, Worship: The Missing Jewel

Have you ever gone to God without an agenda?  The corollary is that you always go to God when you have something in mind.

If we are to have a meaningful relationship with Jesus, only talking to Him when you want something is not being a good friend, but then again, we might all know friends like that.  I have to admit that I have been like that on occasion.  You know, you think about your friend.  You pray for your friends needs and desires.  But then, something happens and the first time you pick up the phone to call the friend is when you need something.  He or she does not know that they have been an active part of your prayer life.  They only know that the only contact that they have had with you is when you needed something.

It is okay to have a short intro to a long prayer that goes like this, “God, I don’t really need anything at the moment.  I just stopped by to bask in the glow of Your awesomeness.”

When you lead with words similar to that and then you wait for His response, you may be surprised.  I have done that, and I have felt God’s power.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.