Thoughts from My Morning Prayer Time

This morning as I was praying, a couple of things hit me.

I was reading through a prayer guide and it was stressing our need to acknowledge how we truly are...Are you light-hearted, peaceful, joyful, frustrated, disappointed, angry? After asking this, it encouraged the reader to tell God how you really are. The guide reminds the readers that "It is the real me that the Lord loves."

This reminded me of our need to be honest, not only in our prayers, but also in our worship and our daily interactions. So often, we put on a happy face, we turn that frown upside-down and present ourselves as being okay when maybe we're dying inside. Some may know that I've been frustrated about a few things lately. This morning, I was reminded that it is okay to be frustrated. But, I need to be taking my frustrations to God in prayer. I need to let Him know how I'm truly feeling.

Then, this mornings Scripture came from John 1:45-51. It's the story of Jesus calling Philip and Nathanael. In the story, Philip encounters Jesus and immediately goes to find Nathanael to let him know that he has found the Messiah. Nathanael is skeptical...Philip urges him, "Come and see!" So, Nathanael goes and meets Jesus face to face and is forever changed.

This passage reminded me of my need to invite others to "come and see." Sometimes, I use various issues as an excuse not to invite others to "come and see." I feel like we've got to have things perfect in our services before I invite others to come along. How ridiculous is that? God is going to do what He needs to do in a persons life regardless of how perfect or imperfect our ministries are! It's like I've had this attitude that God can't invade the lives of my friends unless we've got our stuff together.

Now, there is a need for us to be relevant to the needs of those around us...So, I'm not saying that we shouldn't make changes and do our best to reach those in our community in effective ways. I'm just saying that I shouldn't use our current state as an excuse to not invite others to "come and see."