04/11/17 GOD AIN'T DEAF, BUT HE AIN'T NERVOUS EITHER.

04/11/17 GOD AIN'T DEAF, BUT HE AIN'T NERVOUS EITHER.

There are some behaviors we see in Bible people, in their relationship with God through prayer and meditation, that we do not see in modern, western believers today, or if we see those manifestations, it is either very seldom, or they are shadows and copies of the real thing. One reason this is true is because modern believers are seldom surrendered as fully to the presence and power of God as Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Hannah, David, the Prophets, Zacharias, Anna, John the Baptizer, the Sinner confessing his sins, Peter, Paul, John the Apostle. I mentioned those well known Bible personalities, but it is reasonable to think that many lesser lights and unknown believers throughout history also had a very vibrant and interactive devotional/prayer life.

I AM NOT SAYING that loudness determines how effectual our prayers are. I AM SAYING that the weight of our burden, the height of our exaltation, the depth of our sincerity and determination will manifest itself in outward, physical, social demonstration, at least more than we see today. We all know that emotion and personal views are demonstrated for sports events, concerts, movies, games, loss of loved one (whether two legged or four legged), sharp disagreements, disappointments, celebrations. BUT SELDOM do we see the whole man active in our encounters with God, unless we are at the end of our rope and we are pleading in desperation for the life of a loved one or the restoration of a broken relationship.

Let me restate something.
It is not how high you jump or how loud you shout, but how straight you walk that matters. Living the life of holiness and faith is still the issue. In fact, hypocrites have no problem making a big scene during religious events (whether prayer or praise).

Culture also plays into our devotional life. The more advanced, and "practical" and less "religious" cultures tend to disparage outward display during spiritual exercises. In fact, the more Liberal, Modern a society is, (or the more pagan it is) the less tolerance there is for Christians to openly share the tenets of their faith, much less demonstrate their inner and personal experiences through prayer and praise.

Today, in our society, when a person prays with any outward display of emotion, that person is either chided or given the cold shoulder, or he is thought of as a spiritual giant. Our purpose in praying effectually is not to impress other people, but to communicate honestly and effectively with God.

We should not be like the Pharisee who made a show of his praying.
We should go into our private place to pray.
But we should also be able to pray, to supplicate, to intercede with much entreaty, in the Spirit, to pray the effectual prayers, the sincere and urgent prayers that burst out from the depths of our being. Praying in the Spirit sometimes leaves us without words, and the best we can do is groan in the Spirit.

When we are overwhelmed with joy or sadness, hope or despair, we often demonstrate it openly through celebration or brokenness. How much more should we be able to communicate with God, honestly and openly, as did our spiritual forefathers in history and as they do in other places?