Felt the strong need to share this with you because I often put my mouth into a situation instead of my arms and heart.
While doing this Prayer study by David Healey a question seemingly out of the blue stated this: Imagine you have a Christian friend who feels that God is remote from his/her situation and has no sense of God's presence in their daily life. Consequently prayer is difficult. How can you help that person to pray?
This question really broke my heart because I've been here.....maybe more often than I'd like to admit.
Prayer can become so hard during this time....you can think it's bouncing off walls, or maybe it's just lack of wisdom in knowing what to say because it sounds stupid or too easy or does God even care about me? Sometimes I just can't pray. I don't have words. But do we really need words? (oops I sorta trailed here...but yes I believe you can pray without words...God knows and listens to your hearts cry)
So back to the above question. How can you help that person?....period. At this point, God has taught me that words even with wisdom and love sometimes feel like rocks being thrown at a heart longing for acceptance and love.
It comes down to the saying that God gave us 2 hands and 1 mouth for a reason... I tend to let my mouth do alot more than my hands...maybe because it's easier and way less awkward than......putting your arms around someone and holding them tight and saying something like this to them...."This is what God wants to give you! Lots of love! He wants to hold you tight!" Because God does! Never have I been touched more than by God's love. But you have to ask Him to reveal His love to you sometimes and then you have to be willing to open your eyes to the small things that God does in your life.
Yes. I know that is very hard. You are at your lowest....you need something spectacular to lift your spirits....to know that you are loved....but He will....it just may start out with a gentle touch.
As a horse trainer, I can tell you that horses who are having the most difficult/really struggling/overwhelmed tend to not be able to handle a "quick" one step fix. They need a gentle slow moving method as not to rush their nerves.....you don't hit your friend who is struggling with your hand or words or methods of wisdom, you first need to show them that you care and are going to try to help them in a loving gentle manner one step at a time. So don't shove your friend into praying right away....Show them God's love first! No words are needed, just pour out some of the love that God gives to you and share it with them. God will do the rest. He's the best heart doctor around!
As a sidenote, if you are struggling with knowing if God loves you, I'd encourage you to ask Him to reveal His love to you! God loves to do this for us! Even if it's something as simple as a sunny day! (He knows I love sunny days to ride my horses!) ;)
