Getting REAL with God

Nakita Kolov, the Russian nightmare.

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Share it. But most of all, thank you for listening to the Truth Podcast Network. And now, here's James. It's one of the most challenging things about prayer, but it's also one of the best. Today, we're going to talk about getting real with God when you pray and what that looks like.

So, James, why don't you take it from here? Well, Robbie, it's a funny thing, but sometimes we can pray without really thinking about what we're doing. For example, have you ever prayed the Lord's Prayer without really realizing what you were saying? Sometimes, you know, I think of that when I pray, forgive me my sins, just like I forgive. I mean, I'm saying, Lord, I want you to forgive me, just like I forgive everyone else.

You can't pray that too quickly. Sometimes you pray that and you get this check in your spirit. But the point is that what can happen is that we fall into talking to God a certain way, and though we don't mean to do it, it's almost as if we're on autopilot, and the words aren't really sinking in. You know, have I really forgiven whom I need to forgive, and I'm praying that way?

Yeah, no doubt I've done that. In fact, probably just about every morning, because I actually start my prayer always with the Lord's Prayer, and I'll get down to the bottom, and I'm like, I think I skipped the whole—like, I forgot, aren't you supposed to be involved in this, God? And I just, you know, it's just, it's a really scary thing, but it's almost like, that's one of the hardest things that I can pray because of that very issue you just described, and so I like to start with it, because it kind of focuses me in, like, okay, Robbie, you've really got to be here. And so our hearts aren't far from him, right? Well, yeah, I mean, and God talks about that.

When he talks about prayer in one place, he says, you honor me with your lips, but your hearts are far from me. And ouch, you know, I mean, if we're honest, we've all been there sometimes. So when I think about this, sometimes I think of an illustration from the children's book, The Velveteen Rabbit. So it's a book, if some of our listeners don't know it, about a children's toy, a stuffed rabbit, that eventually becomes real. But at one point, it talks about how you become real by being loved for a very long time, and it adds this description. It says, you know, when you're real, you become loose in the joints and very shabby, and starts talking about parts that fall off.

And the point is that real is honest. So when it comes to prayer, this means that we have to learn to be who we really are before God without pretending to be something where someone we're not. I had a pastor friend and mentor, an older man, who told me once, and he really loved me, so I was able to accept it. He said, James, sometimes you sound holier than you really are. He was exactly right, and it was some of the best advice I was ever given, and it ended up really helping me when I prayed.

Oh wow, I bet. That probably wasn't easy to hear, however, but it makes me think of something that the missionary William Carey once said about prayer. Prayer, secret fervent believing prayer, lies at the root of all personal godliness. That's a great quote, and if you think about it, it all goes back to the Garden of Eden. When God started looking for Adam and Eve after they'd eaten the forbidden fruit, he asks them, why are you hiding?

And the only reason he would ask them this is because he was used to being with them, but what did they tell him in response? Right, they said they were hiding because they were naked and afraid. And that tells us that before, Adam and Eve used to spend time with God, and they didn't have anything on, and they didn't even know it.

That was their natural state with God, and if you think about it, that's the way God wants it to be. God always sees right through us, if you will. We're naked before him, always in one sense when we pray, because he misses nothing.

And this makes me think of something Eugene Peterson wrote. He said, prayer requires that we deal with God, this God who is determined on nothing less than the total renovation of our lives. And then he adds, we would rather have a religious bull session.

That makes sense, especially if you think about how easy it is for us to use a religious jargon sometimes, even when and especially when we pray. So how do we get more real? First, we need to be honest with God about our sins. Talk with him openly about the areas where we've struggled, and ask for his help as soon as we mess up.

We need to stay as open as we possibly can with him. I like what John Bunyan said about this. He said, prayer will make a man cease from sin, or sin will entice a man to cease from prayer. Wow, isn't that true?

It really is. So being real with God starts with honesty, you know, our naked selves before him. Samuel Chadwick said that hurry is the death of prayer.

Think about that. Hurry is the death of prayer. And we have to learn how to slow down and take our time before God. And as we do, we'll find that we're actually praying more and more, living more in his presence. And of course, we're always learning and growing in this, but he will help us with this.

As Corey Ten Boom once said, beware the barrenness of a busy life. Yeah, so confess, slow down. Now this is starting to sound like a three-point sermon, or maybe what I tell people about their driving. So is there a third? And here's the challenging part. Can you tell us without sounding holier than you really are? That is the challenge, but yes, there's definitely a third point.

Here it is. Cling. Just cling. Keep going back to God again and again, no matter what your circumstances, no matter what is going on in the day. And this will help you be as real with him as you possibly can. So confess, slow down, and cling. So does this conclude this morning's sermon?

Just about, except for this. In the Chronicles of Narnia, C.S. Lewis entertains this question about the character Aslan, who is a lion, but he represents Jesus. And the question is, is he a tame lion?

No, the answer comes. He is not tame, but he is good. So being real with God when we pray is a little like that.

It's scary. But we also have to remember that God loves it when we come to him, and he is good. So if we come to him, you know, just as we are without one plea, as the old hymn says, then he loves that. As we make ourselves real with him, he makes himself increasingly real with us. And we see him at work in new ways, and we feel his presence like we never have before, and that is absolutely wonderful.

So let me wrap things up. Jesus, thank you. Father, how wonderful it is that we can come and try to get more real with you, and that you would actually help us get more real, period, with other people as well, as only, you know, then can real transformation happen. So Lord, I pray that this is so difficult that you would help us, that you would help us to see our false self, what that looks like, so that we can engage with you in what you really designed us to be. And I ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. You can hear more from Pastor James by visiting his website, jamesbanks.org, or by visiting Peace Church in Durham, North Carolina. May God bless you and encourage you as you pray. This is the Truth Network.