Communication With God

While doing premarital counselling, I read a portion of a book that provides insight into our relationship with God.  One of the things we discussed is the different levels of communication, and five levels of communication are shared from John Powell's book, Why Am I Afraid to Tell You Who I Am?  These levels provoked self-examination for me as I considered my personal communication style with God in prayer.  The excerpt from Before You Say "I Do" reads:

"Level Five:  Cliche Conversation.  This type of talk is very safe.  We use phrases such as "How are you?"  How's the dog?  "Where have you been?"  "I like your dress."  In this type of conversation there is not personal sharing.  Each person remains safely behind his defences.

Level Four:  Reporting the Facts About Others.  In this kind of conversation we are content to tell others what someone else has said, but we offer no personal information on these facts.  We report the facts like the six o'clock news.  We share gossip and little narrations, but we do not commit ourselves as to how we feel about them.

Level Three:  Ideas and Judgments.  Real communication begins to unfold here.  The person is willing to step out of his solitary confinement and risk telling some of his ideas and decisions.  He is still cautious.  If he senses that what he is saying is not being accepted, he will retreat.

Level Two:  Feelings or Emotions.  At this level the person shares how he feels about facts, ideas, and judgments.  His feelings underneath these areas are revealed.  For a person to really share himself with another individual he must move to the level of sharing his feelings.

Level One:  Complete Emotional and Personal Communication.  All deep relationships must be based on absolute openness and honesty.  This may be difficult to achieve because it involves risk--the risk of being rejected.  But it is vital if relationships are to grow.  There will be times when this type of communication is not as complete as it could be." (Roberts, Wes, and H. Norman Wright. Before You Say “I Do”®. Harvest House Publishers, 2019. Pages 62-63)

It is useful to consider the level of communication we typically use in our relationships with others, especially in preparation for a marriage relationship.  People who are outgoing and view themselves like an open book may realise how reserved they are in expressing their feelings or emotions.  If this is a useful consideration in our relationships with people, how vital it is for each of us to consider as we seek to cultivate a healthy relationship with God!  An honest assessment may prove that we actually spend most of our time in prayer on surface level reporting and never move into real communication.  Our prayers to God may be the equivalent of talking about news that concerns other people and the action we would like God to take--but never honestly share how we are feeling.

When Jesus came to earth, He revealed Himself as the promised Messiah through whom we can know God.  The tender and intimate relationship Jesus had with His heavenly Father is the relationship God desires to have with us by faith in Jesus where nothing is hidden and the desires of our hearts are freely expressed in the safety and security of His love, grace and mercy.  As we desire to grow in our relationship with God, may we be those who humble ourselves before God to share our thoughts and feelings in personal, prayerful communication, choosing to listen and respond to God's word with the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  The LORD already knows our thoughts and hearts, but He will not force His way into them and make us share ourselves with Him.  God's desire is for us by faith in Jesus to be enraptured in His love without fear of rejection or being ridiculed.

As we have this fellowship with God marked by open lines of personal communication, we will also benefit richly from fellowship with Christians.  Jesus shared His heart for us when He prayed for His disciples in John 17:20-23:  "I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; ²¹ that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. ²² And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: ²³ I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me."  This is God's will for His people, that all Christ's disciples would be united by faith in God's love so His glory will shine bright in this world.  Since God has freely given Himself to us through Christ, let us give ourselves freely to Him and one another in fellowship.

One God Regards

"And Elisha said, "As the LORD of hosts lives, before whom I stand, surely were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, I would not look at you, nor see you."

2 Kings 3:14

I found this verse encouraging, that God regards His people even when they live among those who do not fear God.  King Jehoshaphat was asked by King Jeroham son of Ahab, along with the king of Edom, to attack Moab for refusing to pay tribute.  When there was no water and Jeroham imagined it was God's design to destroy them, Jehoshaphat requested they seek the counsel of a prophet of the God of Israel, and Elisha was summoned.  2 Kings 3:13 tells us, "Then Elisha said to the king of Israel, "What have I to do with you? Go to the prophets of your father and the prophets of your mother." But the king of Israel said to him, "No, for the LORD has called these three kings together to deliver them into the hand of Moab."  Elisha then revealed God regarded or respected the presence of Jehoshaphat whom He knew.  Because that God-fearing king was among them, God was attentive to their request and needs.  How gracious is God to regard or be mindful of any person!

A sobering consequence of refusing to regard God is that He will not regard such people.  God said in 1 Samuel 2:30, "...them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed."  Yet the glorious truth remains that God has respect and looks upon all those who love and trust Him.  This was demonstrated early in the book of Genesis when Cain and Abel both offered sacrifices to God.  Genesis 4:3-5 reads, "And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the LORD. ⁴ Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the LORD respected Abel and his offering, ⁵ but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell."  Notice how God first respected Abel, and then his offering was accepted.  We can have this backwards:  we believe it is on the account of the gift or offering we present God chooses to accept us when the opposite is true.  It was the humble, contrite heart of the person in the eyes of God that was of greater importance than the offering itself.  Cain's rage showed his pride and lack of the fear of God.

It certainly was a blessing for Jehoram and the king of Edom to have with them a man who feared God, one who was willing to humble himself and seek the LORD God of Israel for help in time of need.  If God regarded the needs of wicked kings for the sake of his servant Jehoshaphat, how confident we can be God hears and regards every Christian for the sake of Jesus Christ who lives to make intercession for us in the presence of God in heaven.  No longer need we make our requests through a prophet who has unique access to God, but we are invited personally to enter God's presence through prayer as beloved children of God by faith in Jesus.  Hebrews 4:16 says, "Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need."  How awesome is the opportunity and privilege of believers to be regarded by God, that we can entreat Him to intervene in the lives of others who do not fear God so they might come to know Him too.  God regarded lost sinners by sending His Son Jesus to atone for our sins, and God regards our prayers because He regards every one redeemed with the blood of Christ.

The Fight of Faith (part 2)

While some believers have been trained or conditioned to see opposition and trials as spiritual attacks from the devil, the Bible holds forth an alternative view that may surprise you:  to view all we experience as from God Himself.  Since God's ways are higher than our ways, everything He does is beyond our understanding.  This means by our own reasoning we are unable to discern or determine what God is doing or exactly why He has done something--unless He reveals it to us personally.  This may happen later, and sometimes we will never know.  But knowing God is always good, righteous and worthy of being trusted means we continue to trust Him even in the midst of pain or loss.  Rather than blaming Satan for robbing him of his wealth, family and health, Job said of the almighty God in the first part of Job 13:15, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him."  Those who imagine God is like a genie obligated to fulfill their wishes or Santa who rewards them for being good girls and boys, it is no wonder many are disillusioned by the idolatrous image of God they have created in their minds.

The Bible teaches that regardless of the instrument God chooses to employ, God ultimately takes responsibility for allowing everything that happens.  This is frankly impossible for some people to accept because they are unwilling to submit themselves to God in faith according to His revelation of Himself in the Bible.  In light of their pains and disappointments, they will not believe God is altogether good and gracious, a Saviour and redeemer.  They cannot comprehend how God could be good and still allow evil to occur.  Without faith in the truth of God's word, it is not difficult for these people to look at their lives, pains, losses, or those who suffer and imagine there are countless reasons to doubt God's goodness.  This is where the fight of faith in God is won, by continuing to trust God as revealed in Scripture is good, righteous, just, merciful, compassionate and faithful to His word in every instance--even when we cannot understand and it hurts.  God is never the source of evil or sin, but He is good and powerful enough to use what is meant by men and Satan for evil and make it work for good.  Without God, there could be nothing good in this world or in our lives.  Paul suffered the loss of all things and counted them as nothing compared with the knowledge of Christ and the righteousness of God by faith he received by God's grace.

When we place our faith in Jesus Christ, we do not need to try to make excuses for what God has chosen to do or allow.  Though Satan worked to destroy Job, he said by faith in God concerning his suffering and loss in Job 12:9-10, "Who among all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this, ¹⁰ in whose hand is the life of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind?"  Job credited God for causing him to suffer, not realising it was God's design to doubly bless him in the end, a man victorious by faith in God.  The prophet said in Amos 3:6, "If a trumpet is blown in a city, will not the people be afraid? If there is calamity in a city, will not the LORD have done it?"  God is able to use a foreign nation to chasten His erring people, a lying spirit in the mouths of false prophets, the sound of marching in the trees, a plague of leprosy He puts in a house (Leviticus 14:34), or Satan who filled Judas Iscariot to accomplish His awesome plans that are good and glorious.  Faith the size of a mustard seed in God is able to accept this without becoming bitter and resentful towards God or envious of others who have not suffered as we have.  If we will receive good from God's hand we should also receive evil, knowing God loves us and will refine us as gold.

David maintained this perspective of seeing God over all things even when he fled Jerusalem to prevent bloodshed by his usurping son, Absalom.  As David and a great company departed, a man named Shimei mercilessly cursed David, threw stones and kicked up dust.  When Abishai suggested he decapitate the Benjamite for speaking thus of the king, 2 Samuel 16:10-12 says:  "But the king said, "What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah? So let him curse, because the LORD has said to him, 'Curse David.' Who then shall say, 'Why have you done so?'" ¹¹ And David said to Abishai and all his servants, "See how my son who came from my own body seeks my life. How much more now may this Benjamite? Let him alone, and let him curse; for so the LORD has ordered him. ¹² It may be that the LORD will look on my affliction, and that the LORD will repay me with good for his cursing this day."  Now had the LORD God literally commanded Shimei to curse David?  I cannot say, but it is plain from the Scripture that is how David viewed the situation.  David reasoned because God allowed him to be afflicted with insults from an angry and wicked man, it provided an opportunity for God to bless him in the end.  This is what winning the fight of faith looks like.

God employs tests, trials and tribulations to serve His ends, and one purpose for them is so we can know our faith in God is genuine.  There would be no fight of faith if our lives were without troubles or pain-free since our conversion.  God tested His people by allowing enemies to remain in the land of Canaan (they refused to drive out) to see if they would keep His commands or not.  God already knew His people would depart from Him, and God who gave them His Law by which is the knowledge of sin graciously provided a way for cleansing and restoration.  God also knew He would demonstrate His love by sending His only begotten Son Jesus to die on the cross for sinners to save them forever.  Faith in God does move us to malign Him for what He does or has chosen not to do, for faith knows He loves us with an everlasting love.  The Bible teaches God is far more than the giver of good and the doer of what men see as evil:  He is only good and in Him is no darkness at all.  We are often in the dark because of our ignorance and fleshly folly, but through faith we worship our glorious God and rejoice to praise Him forever.  The fight of faith isn't primarily against the world or the devil but takes place inside us:  will we choose to trust, hope in and love God or not?

The Fight of Faith

"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith."

2 Timothy 4:7

I have observed Christians who really latch onto military language to describe their daily life with Christ.  They see themselves as "under spiritual attack" when troubles arise.  They nod in agreement when someone says something like, "Our Christian values and freedoms are under attack like never before"--when it is very difficult to make such a claim considering we are alive to make it.  Even if this general statement could be supported, it conveniently overlooks all the opposition and troubles the Body of Christ has endured and overcome for thousands of years.  When someone feels "under attack," they may become defensive or even fearful.  They also can be aggressive and brash.  Some celebrate troubles as proof they are doing something right and their every move is on Satan's radar.  "We're in a spiritual battle," they say.  It seems warfare is the only lens through which they see the world, and their focus seems to be a lot more on Satan's flaming arrows than the Holy Spirit who protects us by faith in Jesus Christ.

While there are references to Christians and spiritual warfare in the New Testament, for the amount of publicity they garner they are surprisingly few.  Indeed, some of the passages like the one referenced written by Paul shows the good fight is to keep the faith in Jesus Christ who loves us, a fight that is won by Christ inside us by our surrender to Him.  Even the well-known passage in 1 Peter 5 that refers to Satan as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour, is sandwiched by exhortations to submit to one another, to be clothed with humility, to be casting our cares upon God who cares for us, to be sober and watchful, and to resist the devil while remaining steadfast in faith.  This battle is fought in our minds and hearts, for doubts can enter and work to undermine the truth of God's word and His promises.  Our fight is to bring our thoughts into obedience to Christ, to be strong in the LORD and the power of His might, and to stand by faith in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus revealed Satan's desire was to "sift him as wheat," but Jesus prayed for him that his faith should not fail, and when Peter returned to God broken and humbled he was to strengthen his brethren in the LORD (Luke 22:32).  Rather than the conflict being viewed as us fighting off attacks of Satan, this internal fight is really to keep trusting Jesus and obeying Him no matter what.  The devil seeks whom he may devour, which implies he cannot sink his teeth into anyone without explicit permission from God.  He sought to destroy Job, yet God had a hedge of protection around Job the whole time.  The "battle" was not fought or won by Job rebuking Satan, for God graciously delivered Job who trusted in Him despite his physical suffering and personal loss.  In Paul's life, God allowed a messenger of Satan to buffet him because God's strength is made perfect in man's weakness:  when we are weak, God is strong.

God forbid we would imagine ourselves as strong and mighty spiritual warriors because of our knowledge or authority when God is the One who fights our battles and has already won!  I would not be surprised if Satan is permitted by God to take advantage of the proud Christian who imagines himself able to contend with the devil by his own strength or willpower.  Our fight is not fought by steeling ourselves against satanic attacks but by humbling ourselves before Jesus Christ in faith.  Every Christian is a member of Christ's own Body, the church.  Jesus will not allow one of His feet or hands to be severed because He is unable to protect Himself from the devil's vicious attacks, and no one can snatch us out of Christ's hand.  We are the sheep of His pasture, and He knows each one of us by name.  Satan cannot even effectively bring a charge against us (Romans 8:33), and there is no arrow that can penetrate the shield of faith God has provided us by the Holy Spirit.  It is by faith in Jesus we enter into His rest and the victory He has won, for we are more than conquerors through Jesus who loves us.