prayers

One Way to Avoid Vain Repetition

I realize I need to pray this every day. I feel like I'm all good and well if I take care of my duty and solemnly remain in a reflective spirit, but to be honest there is so much more than that. Yet nothing I do or fail to do will cause my heart to change.

"I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh."
- Ezekiel 36:26

God changes hearts, and I need to realize He is a Father who is willing to give. One thing I heard today was that the character of the Islamic idea of god is that he is rather "capricious." (SAT word..)

capricious - adj. characterized by or subject to whim; impulsive and unpredictable

What I imagine of such a god: "Eh, you're heading to hell... and this other one? Because he picked the right brand of bubble gum yesterday I'm going to send him up to heaven."

God isn't subject to whims; He makes promises, He makes plans, and He follows through. If He promises you a new heart, you're getting one, one way or another.

I just Googled "God keeps His promises" and there are plenty of references, like part of Hebrews 6:18: "...it is impossible for God to lie."

And trusting in God's promises isn't too easy, but it's interesting when you think to how much stories and testimonies of God's work are so interesting because people are guided by someone they cannot see, and are not motivated by what they know.

Confession: I'm generally (99.5% of the time) motivated by what I know.

But considering Abraham who was told to sacrifice his son on the altar? He learned his lesson after perhaps two other times when he made his own plans to get that son who would be the beginning of his great lineage... And after a couple screw-ups, God gives him another chance, and he follows through in faith, not knowing what will happen. And interestingly enough, God doesn't actually make him sacrifice Isaac.

Same thing in Isaiah 38 - God tells Hezekiah to get his stuff together because he's gonna die soon. Hezekiah starts praying... because it makes sense that if you're gonna die soon there's nothing more important than prayer. He has absolutely no idea what's going to happen. He just prays.

Hezekiah: “Remember, O Lord, how I have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly." (Isaiah 38:4)

And God answers: “Go and tell Hezekiah, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will add fifteen years to your life. And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city." (Isaiah 38:5-6)

God answers.