I've been serving the Lord since my 20s. I remember when I encountered him, he made known to me my sin, restored me and called me his own. I had been walking aimlessly through life. I did not really know it. Truly if you asked me if I knew the Lord, I would have said yes. I did not know my sin. He showed me how much he loved me and that he wanted me for himself.
Sometimes we go around life just doing stuff without any
real purpose and more importantly in the absence of joy.
Last Christmas I received a gift from my husband. It was
something that I chose.
So, what did he get me, you ask? Well, he got me a RoboVac. No laughing. He's not trying to get me to
clean. I keep I neat home, but I could always use more help.
So, we unpacked this robot. I downloaded the app. I even instructed
Google how to command it to vacuum.
Well, was it worth it?
The RoboVac does work!
It’s interesting how the Spirit of the Lord speaks. He’ll use any circumstance or object lesson
to get to us. As I was having my coffee,
God showed me in a practical way what he meant when he spoke about ”babbling
like pagans” when it comes to prayer.
Uh?
In the book of Matthew, the Lord is instructing the people
how to pray, how to help the needy and give to others. He was encouraging us
not to look for applause for doing what we are supposed to do.
Pride usually
whispers, “What’s in it for me?”
He wants authentic, raw prayers. Remember, he wants a relationship with us, not just religious acts.
“But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and
pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in
secret, will reward you. 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
6:6-8)
My RoboVac is doing a great job. But it's still missing some
areas that have dirt. When I use the manual vacuum I can get to areas where
this automatic robot is missing.
I'm vacuuming with intention.
Sometimes when I pray, I may be in a rush, so I just spew
out a list of things I want God to do for me. First of all, we just read that
God already knows what I need. Yet, I proceed with my list.
Sometimes my prayer life can be just like my RoboVac. Oh, I am praying but I'm so robotic I wonder
if I'm even getting God's attention. Babbling
is what the Lord calls it.
When I purposely sit to hear the heartbeat of the Father,
the Bible says he inclines his ear to me. He's listening and he wants me to
hear my heart's desires. The intention must be to hear from God.
God is not a genie, and I should not behave like a robot.
Sometimes I justify my rush, rush prayer to the fact that
life is busy.
Wow, Jesus who walked in the flesh, having an assignment
from God to rescue us from this fallen world, took time to pray and to be still
before God, to hear his instructions, to be edified and strengthened in his
quiet time with his Father.
I must do the same.
The RoboVac has a pattern that it follows. It goes up and down in linear lines to do its
cleaning.
According to Matthew, the Lord has a map for me to follow as
well. I must remember how to honor him. Yes, I can ask him for anything, he is
my Father! What the Father wants is my heart. Open and bare before him.
Outside of the routine and mundane we find the ever-flowing
Spirit of the Lord that wants to meet with us and guide us.
Unplug from the robotics and allow the Holy Spirit to
lead.
I must pray with intention.
It’s better to be an open book and let the Lord see all the
dirt then to try to impress a God who already knows my weakness and brokenness.
Lord sweep over me. This is me Lord and you know me well.
Talk to the Father he is waiting.
God bless you!~Liz
