Have you ever sat down to spend time with God and found yourself struggling because you don’t feel “spiritual” enough? Your mind is cluttered. The external noises around you are distracting. You make every effort to sound sincere in your prayers, yet your feelings don’t line up. And soon, your thoughts drift to wondering how you will ever be able to sense His presence.
Listen to what The Message Bible has to say about this in Mathew 6:6. “Here’s what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won’t be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace.”
By this passage we learn that being in God’s presence doen’t have to be complicated. We don’t have to work at “being spiritual,” we just have to keep it simple. When my son, Isaiah was just a little tyke, he revealed this truth to me in a unique way.
One evening as the family settled around the dining room table we asked him if would like t pray over our meal. This was a big deal for him. He was thrilled. He placed his elbows on the table, folded his tiny hands together, then prayed the following prayer:
“Dear Jesus, bless this food, blah, blah, blah. Amen.”
The family broke out in laughter to the point of tears over his sincere prayer of “blah, blah, blah.” After the roaring laughter died down however, I must admit I was convinced. My son was simple and honest about his desire. He wanted God to bless the important stuff — the food. The rest of the dinner prayer was just blah, blah, blah to him. He knew it and God knew it.
In Ephesians 6:18, we learn of the need to pray without ceasing. This means that our hearts, minds and souls, should be focused on fellowshipping with God at all times. Fellowshipping isn’t complicated or an overly spiritual feeling. It simply means, “being with, and enjoying the presence of God.” If we’re not doing that, we’re spinning our wheels trying to sound or feel super-spiritual. God knows what we’re doing, and when it comes down to it, it’s all a bunch of “blah, blah, blah” to God.
Even as I began this article, I was reminded of how simple being in God’s presence is, and how complicated I tend to make it.
Sitting in a park, pounding the keys to this article on my laptop, I encountered a group of mentally handicapped adults. They were having a blast as they visited the park, but the noise was a bit distracting for me as I was trying to “feel” super-spiritual while typing.
In the midst of my feelings, I looked up and two of the adults, a man and a woman, were staring at my laptop. I said “Hello,” which brought about a huge smile and caused them to step closer.
Unable to take her eyes off of my laptop, the woman asked in childlike amazement, “Is that a computer?”
“Yes,” I responded. Her eyes grew wide with excitement. She clasped her hands together and said, “I don’t know nothing about computers, but he does. He has one at home and one at school, but I don’t know nothing about computers.”
She then pointed to the man next to her who looked just as eager to be a part of the conversation.
In simplicity and honesty they had approached me, fellowshipped with me, and left giggling as they wandered off. And here I had been wasting my time, trying to feel spiritual, and sense the presence of God while He was there all along.
It is no wonder we are to approach God like children, in simplicity and honesty. He already knows our hearts and anything else is just “blah, blah blah.”
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