The wrestle is worth it

Recently we went to visit some friends of ours at their new house in Tonbridge, and went along with them to church. They go to Hillsong Kent and that week Luke Brendling was preaching on the story of Jacob wrestling with God. It was a powerful preach in so many ways, but one thing that really stood out to me was what Luke said about giving God your time.

I don’t have it word for word, but my notes read:

“Getting on your knees [to pray] gives God the honour he deserves. It gives Him our time and our undivided attention. It tells Him that you are ready for business.”

If I’m honest, I probably pray most when I’m walking to the station or in my head on the train or a few quick little prayers throughout the day. This is all fine and I should keep on doing it but I think this preach really challenged me to honour God with my time. It’s all well and good me talking to God all day long but if I’m always doing it whilst rushing about to somewhere else, I’m not giving God any of the time he deserves...the time He has given me!  And most of all, I’m not spending any time listening.

It’s easy for us to go on and on about our problems and ask God to fix them, but if we aren’t giving any time to receive His peace or His wisdom we are really just using prayer as a way to off-load rather than to see His power at work and grow in faith.

“Without the behind the scenes you would have no scene to look at.” – Luke Brendling

This statement is so simple but so true. How often do you find yourself saying you really want to see change in your situation but you haven’t spent any time ‘behind the scenes’ praying and speaking to God about it? God cares more about shaping your heart than changing your situation. If we seek first the kingdom of heaven, then all these things really will be added to us! [Matt 6:33 paraphrased]

This lent I’m going to give up an extra 30 minutes in bed every morning and commit to using that time giving God my undivided attention.