We’ve all gotten to the point where we feel like we have lost the connection with God. We may not know what to do. This devotional reading looks at using prayer and drawing near to God as the way to get back to a right relationship with Him.
Nuggets
- When we don’t know what to do, we still have to constantly keep the line of communication open with God.
- When we don’t know what to do, we still have to continue to approach God to cleanse and purify us.
Pastor Steve and I took a road trip the other day to pick up his winter clothes from storage. While we were driving along, we talked about where I was going next with my devotions.
Right now, I don’t remember how we came up with this. All I know is we had four sections with the topics for the four verses.
I am going to address two of them in this devotion and two in the next.
Sometimes, we get to a point where we don’t feel God’s presence. We’ve been praying, and it doesn’t seem like our prayers are being answered.
We’d give anything to get back into full fellowship with God. But what do we do?
Let's Put It into Context
To read devotions in the Habitual Holiness of Heart and Life theme, click the button below.
Here is a running list of nuggets for the theme.
Devotions in the What to Do When We Don’t Know What to Do series
Here is a running list of nuggets for the series.
Pray
“pray without ceasing” (I Thess. 5: 17 ESV)
When we don’t know what to do, we still have to constantly keep the line of communication open with God.
Aren’t humans something? We don’t pray when things are easy because we think we can handle it ourselves.
Then we pray and pray and pray when things get hard. We want things fixed right now!
We pray, that is, until we stop praying. Maybe we have been praying for months, and the answer just hasn’t come.
We don’t know what to do. So, we stop praying.
We shouldn’t do that. Praying without ceasing means it is habitual prayer. Habitual prayer has been called “… holding communion with God, or living in God’s sight” (Plain Sermons by Contributors to “Tracts for the Times”).
Resource
We shouldn’t be praying to God because it is our duty – especially in the dry times. We always need to talk to Him because we are His servants and friends and siblings of Jesus.
The inconsistency of our prayers breaks our prayer habit. We have to keep the habit of praying regardless of the situation we are in.
How do we keep the communication lines with God open when we don’t know what to do? Griffith helped us out with that.
- We have to pray regularly to form the habit of praying.
- We have to persist in prayer, even when we feeling our prayers are not being answered.
- We have to remain sincere and fervent – and reverent – in our prayers.
Resource
We can’t stress the last one enough. We have to remain sincere in our prayer lives, or it becomes outward worship. That is just lip service.
This verse really makes sense when we put it into context. First Thessalonians 5: 16 says, “Rejoice always” (ESV).
If we are to give thanks in everything, we need to continue to pray through everything.
Draw Near to God
“Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded” (Jas. 4: 8 ESV)
When we don’t know what to do, we still have to continue to approach God to cleanse and purify us.
We have to make a conscious decision to draw near to God. Yes, God calls us to salvation, but we cannot be careless or indifferent in approaching Him.
Snyder said that we have to worship God with a sincere, reverent heart. We draw near to God by worshiping Him.
But isn’t that only a Sunday thing?
No. Remember, God is interested in spiritual worship, not just physical worship.
Look what Snyder said. He wrote, “The duty of worshipping God is no less the dictate of reason and of common sense, than of Scripture.”
Resource
Motive. Good judgment. God’s laws and commandments.
We worship God when our motive is to use good judgment by following His laws and commandments.
Usually, we think of worship as the Sunday morning service. It is much more than that.
See what Snyder said. He wrote, “A grateful heart is burdened with a sense of obligation until it finds relief in rendering a tribute of thanks to Him who is the Giver of every good and every perfect gift.”
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A thankful heart is a form of worship. Prayer is also a form of worship. Even confessing our sin is worship.
What is this telling us we have to keep when things go wrong?
- The right motives
- Good judgment
- Obedience
- A thankful heart
- A remorseful heart
Townson made a good point. When we don’t know what to do, we have to continue to want to know what God is calling us to do. We have to want to continue to be in His Will.
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We want to have the things on the list because we haven’t lost our love for God. We want to come into His presence because we want to spend time with our beloved Father.
Making the Connections
I loved what Spurgeon said. He wrote, “While your hands are busy with the world, let your hearts still talk with God.”
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I know Spurgeon probably means while we are living our lives. It is part of the praying without ceasing.
When we look at this through the lens of not knowing what to do, we see we do a lot of things to keep busy until we know what to do. We think it is the action that is going to get us on the right track.
It isn’t.
Letting our hearts talk with God is the only way we are going to know.
So, let’s put it this way. When we don’t know what to do, let our hearts still talk with God.
How Do We Apply This?
- Pray without ceasing to counteract our bewilderment.
- Gain consolation through praying without ceasing.
- Gain strength through praying without ceasing.
- Don’t stop praying for any reason.
- Pray to prevent sinful intrusions.
- Value the spirit of obedience.
- Desire heavenly blessings, not earthly blessings.
- Know God and His Word.
- Accept that we are dependent on God.
Resource
Father God. We that that, as with any relationship, there will be an ebb and flow in our relationship with You. But Lord, we don’t want that. We want to continuously be within Your presence. We commit to continue praying to You to draw nearer to You. Amen.
The ABCDs of Salvation
If you have not become a believer in Christ, please read through the
Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
A – admit our sins
B – believe His Son Jesus is our Redeemer
C – confess God as Sovereign Lord
D – demonstrate that commitment by making any changes needed in our lives to live the way in which God has called us
The Disciple’s Job Description
What do you think?
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