APPOINTMENTS WITH GOD

I discovered a slightly different translation of Amos 3:3 a few weeks ago and it has revolutionized my thinking about my times with the Lord.

The NAS (New American Standard) translation says: 

"Do two [people] walk together unless they have made an appointment?"

Wow.  I'd never thought of my quiet times with God as being meetings, or appointments.

 

Previously decided upon.

Pre-arranged.

What a concept!

Since my discovery of that translation of the verse, I've made a deliberate decision to see those times we spend together as appointments, and my perception of them has changed in ways that have blessed me.

1.  It's given my quiet time focus.  Appointments are deliberate.  They're arranged for an agreed upon time, in a specific location, with at least some idea of an agenda.  There is a reason for the meeting.  And in the meeting people interact deliberately.  They don't just sit together playing on their iPhones.  They don't take each other's presence for granted.

2.  It's also made me a little embarrassed.  I have taken His presence for granted in the past.  Though I don't bring my phone (well, not usually), my mind and heart are not always fully present.  Sometimes I'm not even thinking about the fact that GOD IS THERE.

I know.  How could I?  It's horrifying when you think about it.  I mean. . .the God OF THE UNIVERSE is IN THE ROOM!

Seeing these times as deliberate meetings has made me sit up a little straighter and even scoot the pillows away from the spot beside me on the couch so there's room for Him to sit.  (I'm embarrassed about that too, but there you have it.  It's because I'm beginning to really believe that HE IS THERE.)

3.  It's improved my manners. In the past I've often just shown up in His presence whenever I felt like it.  I've plopped down on the couch, expecting He will be there waiting for me. 

And, of course, He is.  Since God does not live in a time zone, He doesn't have a schedule to keep.  And because He's not limited by space, when I come into the room for a meeting He's already there.

Waiting patiently.

Without hurry, since He has no watch to look at.

Without judgment.  He knows I'm scatterbrained and rude and impetuous. 

He loves me anyway.

He waits while I jump up in the middle of our conversation to pour myself a cup of coffee, or to answer my phone.  (Yes, it's not so far away I can't hear it ring.)  Or because I've remembered something I need to add to my "To Do" list.

And when I'm finished talking (Oh, the shame!), I sometimes get up and leave without even saying good-bye.  Or I might glance over my shoulder as I rush out the door and say, "Are you coming?"

Lately when I do that I've noticed He's not moving.

Sometimes He beckons to me.

"Come back, my precious daughter.

The meeting's not over.

I have something else to say.

Will you sit down and listen for a minute?"

That minute is always enlightening.

4.  So I'm learning to listen.  Not always.  It's a hard habit to break, that jumping and running when I'm through talking.  But we're working on it, and this new perception I have of our times together is helping. It's making my walk with the Lord more deliberate, and I'm being blessed by that.

I checked on Bible Hub and found that translators differ in their interpretation of Amos 3:3.  As is often the case with verses of Scripture, each translation reveals a different, and equally stunning truth.  God's Word is like a multi-faceted jewel.  Click here to discover how many different slants God puts on His Truth in Amos 3:3.

And have a deliberately God-blessed day.

A First Step Toward Praying Deliberately

God acts, in and around us, whether we ask Him to or not.  He is a God who initiates.  He initiated all
of creation, and He initiates blessing upon blessing in our lives every day simply because He loves us.

But some of His blessings only come when we ask. James says, "You have not because you ask not." (James 4:3) This is an amazing truth.  Through prayer, we have been given the privilege of initiating blessings, for ourselves and for others. But we often (usually?) treat prayer so lightly that our prayers become ineffective.

The kinds of prayers that result in blessings are deliberate and intentional.  Too often my prayers are not that kind. I need to be constantly reminded that the great privilege He has given us in prayer calls for a consciously thoughtful approach to His throne.

When I come to God's throne deliberately and thoughtfully, He asks me questions that help me focus my prayers.  The first question He asks is, "To Whom are you praying?" Answering this question is the first step toward a more effective prayer time.

Praying With God-Awareness

The answer is obvious--so obvious that our awareness of the One we are coming to can get lost in our coming if we're not careful.  God--the reality of his presence and the beauty of his character--must be our focus in prayer.  

If I come to him with my mind full of the things I want to ask for, my head down, and my focus on myself, I'm not really praying. I'm just talking to myself.  Expecting Him to act on my requests is like expecting the caboose to push the train.  It just doesn't work.  Effective praying begins with an awareness of God's presence, His power, and His great compassion for us.

A focus on God does not come naturally.  It must be deliberately sought and deliberately maintained as we pray. Our visible surroundings will overwhelm invisible realities if we don't consciously remind ourselves of what matters when we pray, and what matters first and foremost is the One we are speaking with. 

I find praying on my knees helps to keep me focused on God.  It puts my body in the proper position before Him and it keeps me more aware of His presence.  When I'm on my knees, the rest of the world dissolves and I'm better able to visualize (in a proper way) the reality of His presence.

If you'd like an aid to becoming more God-aware in your prayers, here's a helpful one online.  Try listening to the first seven minutes of this video on Living Still.  Seven minutes is a long time!  It will be difficult to settle into this kind of listening.  But it will lead you into God's presence in a delightful way if you let it.

May we come to Him with a deliberate awareness of who He is.
May we be still, and know what it means to that He is God.
(Psalm 46:10)

Four Steps to Finding True Rest

I'm finally beginning to listen, and I'm discovering, to my great delight, what God means when he tells me to rest.  

God's rest is not passive inactivity.  Instead, it's a deliberate action on my part that leads me into the center of His peace.  Here are four elements of God's rest that can revitalize us and bring fresh excitement into our walk with Him.

RELINQUISHMENT

Entering into God's rest involves, first of all, my relinquishment of my own agenda. 

Agendas are not intrinsically wrong.  God has an agenda.  The Bible is His revelation of His agenda, from the first chapter of Genesis to the last chapter of Revelation.  His agenda is all about goodness and grace. 

My agenda rarely takes into account those two attributes, so it's often at cross- purposes with His.  My agenda centers around my needs and desires--my list of priorities--my "To Do" list.  That's why living according to my own rudderless agenda leaves me restless and frustrated.

To find true rest, I must put my agenda into His loving hands.  When He's finished the purification process, my agenda will be ready to be incorporated into into His perfect one. 

This relinquishment involves the same kind of active decision as the one I made when I gave myself to Him in the first place.  This day I deliberately choose to let go of my own understanding and commit my agenda to Him. 

EXPECTANCY

After I relinquish my agenda to Him, I must wait with expectant attentiveness for His revelation of His agenda for me.  I must listen for His voice.

The attentiveness must be deliberate, and I must be patient in the listening.  No quick prayer for guidance in the morning before I head off into a day's frenzied activity.  I must give him permission to tune my heart and mind to his, and then wait for Him to speak.  I can go as I wait, but if my going is not marked by rest, it's a sign that I'm not being truly attentive.

The attentiveness must also be expectant.  I must be convinced that God will speak.  I must lean into His voice.  

He may not speak immediately.  He sometimes has to wait until He has my full attention.  There are no shortcuts to hearing from God.  But when I do hear, the word I receive is well worth waiting for.  Waiting in expectation that He will speak is a joyful activity that leads me into true rest.

SATISFACTION

Only after I relinquish my agenda and take the time to listen to Him will I begin to discover that He, and only He, can satisfy my restless heart. 

The world is full of restless human beings who search frantically for satisfaction of their needs and desires in all the wrong places.  Their restless activity leads them away from God's rest down many different dead end roads--paths that ultimately result in addiction and despair.

Everything we need, and every good thing we desire, can only be found in the context of a deep, intimate relationship with God.  His agenda of goodness and grace leads to complete satisfaction, and nothing else will.

Realizing this, and relaxing into this reality, will lead us into a place of true rest.

TRUST

Trust in God is the foundation of true rest.  It's the bedrock attitude that will keep us at peace in the midst of the chaos that surrounds us in this crazy, frantically restless world. 

We who belong to Jesus can be completely at rest, all the time, because our lives are anchored in the eternal reality of the deep, unconditional love of a good, omnipotent God who is faithful and will never change.

In Proverbs 3:5 and 6, God admonishes us to embrace these four elements of true rest. 

To "trust in the Lord with all your heart" is the master key to finding rest. 

To relinquish our own agendas is to "lean not on your own understanding."

To recognize that He is the only one who completely satisfies is to "acknowledge Him in all your ways." 

And expectant attentiveness to his voice will allow Him to "direct your path."

Lord, teach us how to relax into You and so come to experience true rest.  Make us instruments through which You can lead broken people around us into Your rest as well.  We choose, this day, to make ourselves restfully available to you.  Accomplish Your good and gracious agenda through us, we pray.

P.S.  Here's a delightful example of what happens when we make ourselves restfully available to God.  An example of how He takes our agendas and incorporates them into His own.  It's an amateur video, which makes it all the more moving.  

Listening to God

Do you ever wonder how to hear from God?  

What kinds of things He might be wanting to say to you?  

Or if what you think you're "hearing" is actually Him?

I just read, in my quiet time this morning, several chapters in Charles Stanley's book, How to Listen to God.  I highly recommend it for any Christian who longs for intimacy with God.  It's full of practical, godly advice from a humble, saintly man who is greatly experienced in hearing from God.

Pick any one of these chapters.  Read, and you'll be blessed:

ONE:  Is God Still Talking?

TWO:  God's Goal in Communicating

THREE:  How God Gets Our Attention

FOUR:  Identifying the Voice of God

FIVE:  Factors That Determine How God Communicates

SIX:  Are You Listening?

SEVEN:  Sitting Before the Lord

EIGHT:  Your Spiritual Mind-Set

NINE:  Hindrances to Hearing

TEN:  Listening and Obeying

ELEVEN:  The Life That Listens--A Well-Built Life

Or hear Charles Stanley speak on the subject in an engaging 7-minute Youtube video where he talks about teaching his children how to listen to God.

  

Where and How do you picture God when you pray? 

Charles Stanley says that when we pray, "we come before a Father who wraps His arms around us in a loving embrace."  (How to Listen to God, p. 69)

That's where He is, and what He's doing, right now, in relation to you.  

This is what He is saying to you today.