One-sided, non-responsiveness-from-God conversation via prayer seems to lift no higher than our man-made ceilings. Prayer that is not interactively mutual in relationship (Him/us) ultimately starves the soul. A non-responsive and mute God implies a deaf one that leaves us with little hope except by chance there might be something behind door #3.
While this sets me up for criticism, I still share that God is a God of interaction with His people. I am novice at this for my inner battle over defying what I was groomed to believe has been no minor skirmish.
God speaks to me.
How does He do it, Terry?
It isn't an audible voice of Turn left at the light which the critics would like to believe I propose. All I can say is it is an awareness of Him giving me thoughts. This is very immature in explanation; yet it is the only point I can make thus far.
God says that if we want wisdom we should pray for it. How shall we receive that prayer's response? God said in the same book that it would be sent in from heaven.
Too, God said we are to practice training our senses to discern good from evil. Training our senses from discernment evidently requires more than reading English words from a text. Note: such wisdom might actually be found in a text; but is not restricted to such a location.
For the Word-only group, if every answer is to be found in the Bible:
- How would a prayer of guidance whether to become a pharmacist or a doctor be conveyed from God?
- Why would we be told to practice discernment? Shouldn't it say just to read the scriptures?
Is there additional information God wishes us to have which is not included in the Word of God? Yes, the Word of God says so....James 1:5 and 3:13-18.
To dismiss potential dialog with God is to short-sheet experiential lives in walking with Him. The old stand-by And....He walks with me and He talks with me....is evidently a hoax if that song isn't to be experienced.
So let's get more specific. Terry, what has He shared with you recently that the Bible didn't already say? What God told me in the past few weeks are things about the Bible that I did not get from flesh and blood. They were thoughts that just fell out of the air...as if from above:
- That Peter walking on water was a message from God to tell us to use as sidewalks any disturbance which would normally pull us under.
- That thankfulness is a doctrine of greater significance and expectation by God than we have let on; that it is key to causing imprisoning and suffocating barriers to fall.
- That I needed to write a well-known personality of something God wanted me to pray over him.
An admitted problem with my overall proposal is that anyone can make up anything one wishes and claim God told them. Of course, I get that. Of course, that is a proper concern.
Yet, our calling is not to avoid an experiential walk with God because some might abuse it. That is merely falling for Satan's sham. He constantly dupes us. We must do according to the Bible; train our senses by practice; plus seek wisdom by anticipating that such will come from above.
2 comments:
Very good post.
God didn't tell me to pass that message on, but I imagine He would say the same. :)
Thank you for that. We definitely shortchange God in our tribe. We have him in a box and figured out. Like your good argument against how some would say "find it in the scriptures" versus praying for wisdom, so many of our stances are made with such poor hermaneutics. And why is nothing a "secondary" issue in our brotherhood, that we can have differing opinions about? It's generally my way or the highway, on everything. Definitely still so much to learn.
Jay
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