God Thinking LIII - Getting Beyond Your Self 1

"In prayer you have got to get beyond your self:

Beyond your needs and desires

Until you do, you will not hear from God.

• you will not get the answers to your questions.
• You will not understand your purpose for being.
• You will not understand God’s blueprint for your life.
• You will not receive the plan and you will not receive the provision for fulfillment of that plan, until you get beyond yourself. 

I’m not saying that you should not ask God for things or to not ask God for your needs to be met.  The scriptures are clear - you are encouraged to ask for your needs to be met and for your desires to be fulfilled, but, hear what the writer of Psalm 42 says.

Psalms 42:1-2

1.  As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.

 2.  My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God:

 

And the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 2:9-10, 9.  But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

 10.  But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.

 

In prayer you have got to get beyond your self: And when you do, you come to the place where you can commune with God.  

 

You go to God in prayer.  You ask forgiveness for your sins and indiscretions - you confess your sins - you repent of your sins - then:

You seek Him for your needs.
Now that you have settled in and had your needs met;
You pray for others.
Then, you thank God for Who He is.
You praise Him for His magnificence.

Now where most of us stop praying, because, after all we have been praying for five minutes - Where most people stop praying and start doing their housework or pick up the kids or make dinner or go back to work or go to bed - For all the Martha’s out there and all the workaholics - For all of those who forget what they prayed for before they even finish praying - I want to talk to you about a place where your dialogue with God is:

Unencumbered by any remembrance of your sin.
Unencumbered by who you once were.
Unencumbered by where you’ve been or what you have done. 
Unencumbered by your past.
Unencumbered by your idiosyncrasies.
Unencumbered by you routine.

To commune with God you have to get past that place where prayer is all about you.

A place where God speaks and you listen. 
A place where dinner or your favorite TV show does not  decide when you break off your communication with the Holy One.

 

Prayer with God was never meant to be something that you do in passing or out of duty, but worse yet is to treat prayer like a smorgasbord, and God is the server and you go to Him begging for this or that and even worse yet, demanding that God do this or that.

 

Note: I hear some of that teaching on TV and big box ministries and it makes me sick.  A right relationship with God is based on the truth of scriptures being unlocked in your heart by the indwelling Holy Spirit.  You don't need to be titillated by rich and powerful carrot danglers, you need to be instructed in righteousness by God. Nothing else will do.  Think about it, after chasing the carrot for twenty or thirty years, what are the results of your actions/reactions to that kind of teaching?

 

Excerpt from God Thinking LII - Getting Beyond Your Self by Keith C. Powell Copyright 2014