The answer to all of our human struggles is simple:

We must reconnect to our Creator’s moorings.

How do we draw near to the Father so as to feel the presence of the Father, belonging to the Father, inseparable from the Father in a way where we never feel unhinged from his moorings?

One: By seeing God as Father.

The Father described by Jesus, not the one you have fabricated in your mind.

Two: By connecting with God on His terms, not ours.

By understanding how it is that we draw near to him, commune with Him, experience Him.

In the Bible, God’s words are identical with His actions.

"The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord thunders over the mighty waters.

The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is majestic.

The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars...

The voice of the Lord strikes with flashes of lightning.

The voice of the Lord shakes the desert; the Lord shakes the Desert of Kadesh.

The voice of the Lord twists the oaks and strips the forests bare.

And in his temple all cry, “Glory!”"

- Psalm 29:3-5a, 7-9 (NIV)

God’s words and actions are one and the same!

"As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth:

It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it."

- Isaiah 55:10-11 (NIV)

When the Bible speaks of “God’s word,” it is speaking of God’s active presence in the world.

To say that God’s word has gone out to do something is the same as saying God has gone out to do something.

The way back to God is the way back into the depths of any relationship: Communication.

Where do you find His words? The Bible!

"So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my understanding; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my understanding."

- I Corinthians 14:15 (NIV)

"Left to ourselves, we will pray to some god who speaks what we like hearing, or to the part of God we manage to understand. But what is critical is that we speak to the God who speaks to us, and to everything He speaks to us….there is a difference between praying to an unknown God whom we hope to discover in our praying, and praying to a known God, revealed through Israel and Jesus Christ, who speaks our language. In the first, we indulge our appetite for religious fulfillment; in the second we practice obedient faith. The first is a lot more fun, the second is a lot more important. What is essential in prayer is not that we learn to express ourselves, but that we learn to answer God."

- Eugene Peterson, Answering God: The Psalms as Tools for Prayer

You speak the language and words of God only after He has first spoken to you.

There are no shortcuts and God has provided the way whereby we can engage in this relationship in Spirit and in Truth.

How do I do that?

You must know how to approach Him.

The fact that you can approach Him is a wonderful gift provided through the cross. However, as You approach Him, you must do so with the scales lifted from your eyes!

You have to come to the realization that your heart's desires and loves are out of order.

"One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple."

- Psalm 27:4 (NIV)

If you hope to reconnect with God through Jesus Christ, you must approach Him with the attitude: All I really need is You.

“God is most glorified when we are most satisfied in Him.”

- John Piper, Desiring God

"Two things I ask of you, Lord; do not refuse me before I die:

Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread.

Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’

Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God."

- Proverbs 30:7-9 (NIV)

You must know how to approach Him.

Aware of the disorders of your heart.

You must know where true joy is found.

In communion and closeness to God.

You must reorder your approach.

Allowing God to speak first and then you respond.

How?

Instruction

Thanksgiving

Confession

Prayer

I. Instruction.

"I lift up my eyes to the mountains—where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot slip—he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.

The Lord watches over you—the Lord is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.

The Lord will keep you from all harm—he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore."

- Psalm 121 (NIV)

"A person’s days are determined; you have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed."

- Job 14:5 (NIV)

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

- Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV)

II. Thanksgiving

You determine the number of my days and the paths of my life.

III.Confession

Forgive me for trying to control everything in my life. Lead, guide, and direct my path. Forgive me for thinking that if I get everything right, my life will be good. Jesus, just give me YOU!

IV. Prayer

I begin to talk with God and He with me as I engage the words He has already spoken.

"‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come, your will be done,

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’"

- Matthew 6:9b-13 (NIV)

If this is so life transforming, what prevents this kind of life?

First: In affluence we think quantity is equal to quality.

"And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him."

- Matthew 6:7-8 (NIV)

Second: In affluence we forget God and chase other loves.

"...but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’"

- Proverbs 30:8b-9a (NIV)

Third: In affluence we want immediate gratification.

This is the story of affluence where everything is at your fingertips.

Fourth: In affluence we fail to filter out things that squelch God’s voice.

"Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will."

- Romans 12:2 (NIV)

You can reconnect to the Creator’s moorings through the discipline of hearing from Him through His word and thus, communing with God now and forevermore.

"Blessed is the one… whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night.

That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers."

- Psalm 1:1a, 2-3 (NIV)

Sometimes God allows us to get to the end of our own directions so that we will finally listen to His.

What do you truly want and are you willing to reorder your life to get it?

Make a Decision