July 2018

the oaks twist and He strips the
forest bare with just the sound
of His voice. If you meditate on
these verses, bringing to mind
the images it describes, it would
be very difficult not to draw you
closer to feeling the awesomeness
of God.
Whenever there is a struggle
within a relationship, it always
affects communication. This is
no different in your relationship
with God. Prayer is how you
communicate with Him, and it always
suffers when you are lacking
faith or have unbelief. What
could be getting in the way of
this relationship? Have you got
some emotions that are affecting
it? For example, are you angry
at God? Are you going through a
period of grief or sadness? Are
you worried? Emotions have
an impact in our human relationships,
so it is very possible
it is affecting your relationship
with God too. What would you
do if you had these issues with
a close friend? Hopefully you
would feel comfortable enough
to talk about it with them, so do
the same with God.
Come before Him, be honest in
your thoughts and feelings, lay
it out on the table and ask Him
to help you get through this time
(Mark 9:24). God wants you to
be real with Him. Seek His forgiveness
for your unbelief too.
In the words of Bonnie McKernan,
“Repent and pray for deliverance
from unbelief even before
praying for deliverance from
your circumstances” (https://
www.desiringgod.org/articles/
lord-help-my-daily-unbelief).
You would do
well to remember
a time when
your prayers
came from a
place of great
conviction. You
believed God
would hear
your prayers
and you know
that He did
hear them. If
God heard your
prayers then,
He will certainly
hear them now.
God does not
change (Malachi
3:6a) and
His love is unfailing
(Psalm
36:5-7), therefore
you can
rely on Him to
be there for you.
It is key to remember that God
deserves your worship, even
when you aren’t feeling like worshiping.
Don’t stop worshiping,
even though you might be finding
it difficult. God also wants
you to pray to Him, even when
you lack faith or are having
doubts. Remember in any relationship,
communication is key.
Don’t stop praying but rather
pray for your unbelief to be lifted
and the clouds of doubt to
be cleared. Pray that your eyes
would be opened to see the
grace and power of God. Pray
that your heart would soften so
that you would long to love God
like you used to.
Remember that running further
away from any relationship does
not strengthen it. When you feel
your relationship with God is not
where it should be, intentionally
move closer to Him through worship
and prayer.
Choose today to dwell on His
greatness and His splendour.
Do this every day, and gradually
over time, your thoughts of God
will expand and you will wonder
how you ever had such a diminished
view of God. When your
focus is where it should be, worship
and prayer will come much
more naturally. And when you
persevere at these times, you
will break through and reach that
sweet spot of being in God’s almighty
presence!
“Whoever dwells in the shelter
of the Most High will rest in the
shadow of the Almighty.” (Psalm
91:1 NIV)
32 www.faithfilledfamily.com July 2018