During my Junior Year in University, which is like 5 years ago amazing how great I look, anyway I remember listening to a sermon by a Taiwanese pastor. He was preaching at our tiny Pilipino church in the area that I lived in.
The Sermon was mainly about how we need to believe that God is our father and that there's nothing more that pleases God than to be loved by us.
While listening to the sermon I suddenly thought of my own father and my relationship with him. I reflected on my childhood and how my father's attention and love, sitting on his lap, listening to him tell stories made me feel so loved. I thought about how my Father always had a solution for every problem even buying me a pair of shoes, He was like superman and still is to me. I had always known that my father loved me and that in his love for me he also loved my attention. My father's temper used to get me soooo angry, especially when I became a teenager I just did not want him to have the last word. But every time I acted that way my mother would give me a look and I knew from that look that I had gone too far. But even then when those heated moments were over, I truly believed that my father loved us all, and He always had a way of making up time for either over working, and His way of apologizing was not an audible sorry but it was through his actions, either taking you out for a treat, taking us on a surprise shopping trip, a calorie infested meal or giving you money to waste on yourself.
While I listened to the sermon, it finally dawned on me that I had never said that I love you to my father, like actually say it I love you. I had never even said it in my own native language.
I started thinking to myself how I could possibly deeply say I love God and never had uttered those same words to my earthly father. Actually growing up the only time my father would say I love you is when he was just about to spank you or after spanking you, or disciplining you, or refusing to let you go out with your friends, so for me if He said I love you, It was because He was Pisst haha.
So during my epiphany in church I started thinking if ever I were to meet the man that I would marry someday, it would be unhealthy to tell him I love him when I haven't been able to say that to the one man whose always been there for me.
So after the sermon we sang a " Father" related song and I felt the holy spirit prompt me to call my Father and tell him that I love him and that I truly appreciate him. After the service and repenting my heart out I made that phone call and I told him that I loved him and appreciate everything He and mom have done for me. After I said this my father's first words were, “is everything ok”?? This is a normal response for a family that is lives oceans apart from each other. I said to him I felt I should call him because I just listened to a touching sermon. His response back was "Thank you Sisi(an affectionate word in my native language) praise the Lord for your phone call".
Now that was the response I was expecting knowing my for father so long. After that phone call, my mother called and told me that my father was “very touched” by my call.
WHAT’S BEHIND THE TOUCHING STORY” :)???
What does this story have anything to do with prayer?? Especially because I've shared it before, well recently on my vacation,I asked the Lord to help me to grow in prayer. I specifically asked the Lord to show me how to live a lifestyle of prayer that touched His heart, and being in his presence knowing that I'm touching the matters and concerns of his heart.
A scripture in Matthew 6:8 came to mind. "Do not be like them for your father knows what you need before you ask Him". I spent some time meditating on this scripture. Why would the Lord give me this word? I realized that a majority of my prayer time in the past has been mostly about needs. Not necessarily my needs but even interceding for the "needs" of others, the Needs of a specific vision, the needs of government, nations, family, work, healing on an on.
The Lord showed me that living a lifestyle of prayer and intimacy with Jesus that is mostly "need" oriented can get you burned out. Now my personality Just like most Women of Worth, I have a gift to see need and pull my resources together or me together:) to pray for God to intervene or I just figure out how to intervene , just simply feel the need do something about it.
THE WORD
However; reflecting on Matthew 6:8 I realized that praying from a need focused stand point gave me quantity time with the Lord, but not quality time.
Now there's nothing wrong with that, but as children of God we're meant to grow and not remain stagnant. Since I had asked the Lord to help me to grow in Him ,this was something that He pointed out has a already has a solution.
I realized that for me to CONTINUE grow and walk steadily in my intimacy with Jesus, I need to believe that God is concerned way more about my needs, than I could ever be concerned. However constantly praying about my needs or the needs of others kept me from Enlarging my territory and that is communing with God and knowing what touches his heart.
EMPOWERMENT
Basically what Matthew 6:8 is teaching me is that God is reminding me that He’s Got my back on what I need, but He wants to empower me in our intimacy walk and rejoice with Him in breakthrough prayer, He wants to empower me in my prayers by knowing the secrets of his heart, the things that are on his heart, the things that touch his heart, and those things definitely also include me.
So I asked the Lord what is on your heart?? How can I partner with you in this? One of the things the Lord said was on his heart was He desires me to journal the things He'll teach me through His word, to learn to walk in courage and not let the things of the past slow me down,to pray for the Salvation of President Nelson Mandela, My native country and for Taiwan.
It is empowering to know that not being need oriented in my lifestyle of prayer means having a valuable partnership with God and to “Be still and know that He is God”.
We'll continue with our Prayer series on how to touch the father’s heart.
You mean so much to God and you're a child of His and that means you're of Great worth. Jesus adores you.
WOW.
Recomended Reading
Eat the cookie Buy the Shoe (Joyce Meyer)
Recommended Song
Running (Mary Mary)
"The Father's Song"(Matt Redman)
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