It has to be real

Today in church my Pastor informed us that he was going to be speaking on superstitions...immediately I decided, "Oh, this is not for me"...But not only did I realize it was for me, I think it's for everyone...

Back a ways, when I was wrestling through some majors issues in my life, I found myself bargaining with God in a way..Saying, "God, if you only will give me what I'm asking for, I'll do this, and that, for you.." Or this angle as well..."Lord, if I do this and that for you, will you grant me my request?" In a sense, it's as if I thought that I could manipulate God. I learned today, and all those days I bargained with God, that God cannot be manipulated..and if I am doing good things for Christ, and doing things in His name, in hopes that I might receive what it is I'm asking for, then I might as well save my energy and breath.

God sees my heart. God hears through what I am saying to the heart of the matter, and it's sad that I thought I could manipulate Him into doing what I was asking Him to do for me.

God answers prayers. That much is true. But He does it when a believer comes with an honest and pure heart, asking with right motives...not trusting in themselves...but in faith, stepping out and knowing that HE truly is their only hope for answers. I finally did come to that place, and the Lord did in return give me what I had been asking for, but I came to that place after months and months of trying to manipulate Him, my situation and others to get what I wanted. God is not going to honor that! He honors those who requests of Him, come from a place that is real.

We may even be able to deceive ourselves for a time into thinking that our "good behavior" is because we truly are being good for Christ, and no other reason, but what happens, when all our good deeds lead to nothing? What happens when our plans backfire? What happens when you stay sick, or you don't get your job, or your plans fall through? Then what? Do we decide that God does not care? No, it's back to the drawing board with our heart in hand, and I asked God to show me...to make me be real just for the sake of being honest, not so that I could get what I wanted. It's hard to say that to the Lord without an ounce of personal gain in our minds to fuel us in this, true, we are human and our minds think human things, but when God takes over, and motives become pure, and hearts become real, the thing we want so badly, may begin to pale in comparison to the truth we find in Him.

Sometimes, it's those unanswered requests that lead us to a place of recognizing our sin, and sometimes, it's a journey that takes us closer to the one who is jealous for our hearts, but either way, we must lay aside our "most desired result" for Him.

Why? Because we have to want Him more. And we have to want Him in this way simply because we want Him...not because we think He will be our magical request genie who makes all our wishes come true. Sadly, there have been more times than not that I have sought Him with my selfish motives hidden behind my prayers of love, and others may have been deceived...but God was not. He was not angry with me however, He simply did not grant my prayers as I had hoped, which in return, made me angry for a time, but then I came to the place where I realized much of what Pastor spoke on today. And it's there, in that place that I found peace...then some months later, my prayers were answered. It's not a magical equation, and sometimes, what we want never comes true, because what we wanted initially was not right for us, but trust me friends, if God does not answer that prayer, and your dream is not coming true, God has a greater purpose for you that your eyes cannot see yet.

What does that have to do with being superstitious? Everything. Because superstitious simply means that "if we do "this" in a certain way, we will get "that..." And that my friends, is just not how God works. There is simply no "special" way to pray, and say His name that will get us what we want, but there is a sense of knowing He hears our hearts when we drop to our knees in complete and utter honesty and ask Him for the desires of our hearts...

For when our hearts are in line with Christ, usually our requests are in line with Him as well..and the answers are usually seen. There are things like, healing from cancer, and poverty for other countries that cause me to ask God why? when those things are not solved...however, just as I battled with Him on why my sickness lasted so long, I see certain things that were brought up out of that terrible phase for me, and I'm sure His greater purposes will be reflected in the greater tragedies of the world as well. Not to dismiss them by any means, but knowing I have no answers, I can only trust that God has them wrapped up in His plan as we continue to pray for healing and help for those in those places.

If I have spoke to any of your hearts my friends, take some time today and throughout the next week to examine, and really ask the Lord to show you the places that perhaps you have tried to manipulate Him into doing what you want...and if you find those things, as I did, ask Him to shape and change you. Clean and wash you, so that you can to Him with the realness that says, "Even if I don't get what I want, I will still follow you with you all my heart." That is what I think it looks like to be real. And trust me friends, push fear aside, for what He has for you, if it's not the same as what you think you need, will be the best you could ever imagine. That is where we are real...it's a little scary, a little unknown, but in Him there is perfect peace, and as we step out, trust Him with all manipulations aside, things become a little more clear, we will see Him. No magical solution here my friends. Just a sense that being real with Christ, is better than pretending in hope that we will get our answers now...and ultimately, as I have found...He is the answer.