Prayer Week 24: Object of Delight

How does God feel about you? Likely it’s a question you’ve never asked yourself, or possibly never even thought about before. On the surface, songs like “Jesus Loves Me” and “ He’s Got the Whole World” pop into mind, and we might give them as a rote answer, but how deeply do we really believe it? Do we live as if it were true?

 

Isaiah 62:4-5 New American Standard Bible 1995

It will no longer be said to you, “Forsaken,”
Nor to your land will it any longer be said, “Desolate”;
But you will be called, “My delight is in her,”
And your land, “Married”;
For the Lord delights in you,
And to Him your land will be married.
For as a young man marries a virgin,
So your sons will marry you;
And as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride,
So your God will rejoice over you.

Isaiah 43:2, 4 New American Standard Bible 1995

“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
And through the rivers, they will not overflow you.
When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched,
Nor will the flame burn you…

Since you are precious in My sight,
Since you are honored and I love you,
I will give other men in your place and other peoples in exchange for your life.

Psalm 37:23 New American Standard Bible 1995

The steps of a man are established by the Lord,
And He delights in his way.

Exodus 19:5 Amplified Bible, Classic Edition

Now therefore, if you will obey My voice in truth and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own peculiar possession and treasure from among and above all peoples; for all the earth is Mine.

 

God’s love for us is not for show, by compulsion or out of duty. He doesn’t have to love us because He is God or even because He made us. In fact, the opposite is true; He made us because He loves us, because He delights in us. His delight is not earned by anything we do. It is not even earned by how well we keep up our relationship with Him. He delights in us because we are His, because He loves us.

 

This week as you come to prayer, dwell on the fact that God delights in you, that He made you because of His delight in relationship with you. He takes pleasure in your presence. He delights in being alone with you as a beau delights in being alone with His sweetheart. Let His love for and joy in you fill you with peace.

 Prayer points taken from Praying Through Adversity by Jennifer Kennedy Dean.

Prayer Week 18: Opening the Door

It can be hard to open up. Especially in our society, while we want to be known, letting someone get to know us can be difficult, even terrifying. We are often reluctant to let people in because we are afraid; afraid we’ll get hurt, afraid of being mocked or misunderstood, afraid they’ll reject us if they find out what we’re really like. Even in a group of close friends or with our spouse, we will only open the door so far. We won’t let anyone in all the way. As unfortunate and harmful as this is with fellow believers, it is even more so with God.

 

Revelation 3:20 New American Standard Bible 1995

Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.

John 10:14-15, 27-28 New American Standard Bible 1995

I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep…My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.

Psalm 139:1-4 New American Standard Bible 1995

O Lord, You have searched me and known me.
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
You understand my thought from afar.
You scrutinize my path and my lying down,
And are intimately acquainted with all my ways.
Even before there is a word on my tongue,
Behold, O Lord, You know it all.

 

To be fully known can be frightening, but it can also be freeing. The trick here is that God already fully knows us, whether we open up to Him or not. He knows us even better than we know ourselves, and yet still He loves us and accepts us. He loved and accepted us while we were still His enemies, before we wanted anything to do with Him. We don’t need to convince Him to want or love us. We can’t earn His acceptance. He already does. We need only to accept Him and His love. He stands at the door and knocks.

 

Romans 5:6-8 New American Standard Bible 1995

For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 8:37-39 New American Standard Bible 1995

But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

God wants a relationship with us. That is why He created us, and why He died on the cross for our sins; so that we could have a relationship with Him. He will always pursue us but we need to stop running and accept Him. We need to open the door and let Him in. He already knows everything there is to know about us; we need only choose to open our hearts to Him.

 

That is where prayer comes in; prayer is a conversation with God, inviting Him into our daily lives. It is opening up to Him, seeking fellowship with Him. It’s like inviting a friend over for a meal, or a cup of tea. This week during your prayer time, visualize Him being with you, sitting on the couch or across the table from you. Pray as if you were talking directly to Him, because you are. Talk right to Him and listen to Him talk to you.

 Prayer points taken from Praying Through Adversity by Jennifer Kennedy Dean.