How Close Can I Get?

Lately I have been made increasingly aware of how much prayer changes things. God has been pressing upon my heart to hold nothing back when I pray. I'm finding that there isn't enough time in the day to pray for every thing and everyone that needs it. I guess this is where that "pray with out ceasing" comes in. Make no mistake about it, God wants us to talk to Him. He longs to hear our cries, our joys, and our anger. He wants to hear it all and we need to be pro-active in doing so.

Lately we've really been pushing prayer in our youth group and I love to hear the students pray. Their prayers are so real and down to earth. Some time we as christian try and say these high and lofty prayers to impress people who might be listening, but these students just lay it out there like they're talking to you or me. That's what God wants to hear from us. He wants to hear us talking to Him like a friend or a brother. Maybe that's why God said "pray without ceasing", because that's how much He longs to hear from us.

Wouldn't it be awesome if we could have the relationship that Adam and God had back in the garden of Eden. The bible says that Adam and God would walk and converse in the cool of the evening. Wouldn't that be simply amazing. Walking around with God telling Him how your day went, how many animals you named that day, or what new places you discovered. Maybe that's what God is longing for. Maybe God longs to walk and talk with us and hear how our day went and how much we love His creation.

The great thing about it, is that we will get to walk and talk with God again. We will be able to tell Him how our day went and the things we did. When we get to heaven I don't think we will be standing around singing an ever lasting hymn all day long, at least I hope not. I think we're going to be able to explore the heavens and discover incredible things, new things, things we have never even dreamed of.

But for now, the closest we can get is prayer. So I plan to pray as often as I can so that when I get to heaven I can greet the Father as if I had been there for a thousand years.

Confessions Of A Sinner

Some times the grace of God is overwhelming. It is amazing just like the songs say. Today I hooked up with a web site www.xxxchurch.com. This is the most amazing web-site I have seen in a long time. This church is taking on the pornography industry. On their web-site they have free downloads that you can get to keep you accountable while your online. I signed up for it, not only because I want to stay pure, but because I struggle with it. I've been trying to hide the fact that I struggle with it, but the reality is that if I don't tell someone I'll never beat it. My personal accountability partners are my pastor, and my wife. The reason I'm writing about this is not so I can tell everyone in the world that I have a problem, but so that I can let everyone know that there is help out there for them. You don't need to be afraid to let someone know, because chances are, they have struggled with it too. Writing about this really does scare the stuffing out of me because I'm a youth pastor and I love teaching, but the way I see it, I don't have a choice. I have to be open and honest about what is going on in my life. I know not everyone reads my blog, but it only takes one person to get someone fired or create a bad reputation. However, I know that this is the best way to start the healing process for me. I have fought with this for so long that I just want it to be over. No more lies no more silent tears at night. I want this gone and I want it gone now. I don't know much but I do know that God is saying to me, "keep going, keep getting it out", and I intend to. To quote The singer songwriter Chris Tomlin- "my chains are gone I've been set free. Christ my savior ransomed me and like a flood Your mercy flows unending love, amazing grace".