My newest piece is up this morning over at Today’s Christian Woman. Here’s a sneak peek for you:
I tend to pray comfortable prayers, like “Thank you for another day,” or “Please help so and so,” or “Help me be more like you.” I approach God with a sense of habit and familiarity. These aren’t bad things to pray and, in many respects, my comfort with God is a good thing.
But sometimes I wonder: Am I too comfortable with God?
Am I taking God for granted? In my mundane, daily prayers, have I lost sight of who God really is?
The Comfort Problem
My regular prayers may be sweet and simple, but they also reflect something disturbing: my tendency to regard God primarily as the one who gets me through the day. Isn’t my faith meant to be more than this? Am I not called to do more than make it through each day? Shouldn’t I live with a keen awareness of God’s presence and power? Bob Goff said it this way: “Live your life right on the edge of ‘Yikes!’”
If I’m honest, I’m usually more at the edge of “yawn.”
Can you relate? The core of this problem goes beyond just feeling too comfortable in our lives—it’s about how we tend to let our comfort invade our perceptions of God. My fear is that we’ve become too used to the gospel and too flippant about our faith. We often struggle to remember the underlying truth that God is not there just to direct our paths and make sure we don’t screw up (though he does graciously provide direction!). He’s not there to passively receive our list of requests (though he certainly cares about and listens to each item!). He’s not even there just to be sure we live lives that honor him (though he certainly desires for us to do so!).
So how can we shake off the lull of being so used to God that we forget who he really is? How can we see God as the God of wonder rather than viewing him merely as the God who gets us through the day?
I’m sharing five spiritual practices to help wake us up out of a too-comfortable-with-God state and really seek, find, and connect with his true character over at Today’s Christian Woman. I’d love for you to head over there to read the rest of this article.
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