A shift in thinking

I've been reading a "hot" book right now...The Shack by Wm. Paul Young. It was recommended to me by a new friend. She warned me it would "mess with my box" and I wasn't quite sure what that really meant. I'll have to admit it's not really messing with me as much as it is ministering to me.

I read a passage today that really hit me and I wanted to share my thoughts. It is a scene where the main characther, Mack, is talking with God. God asks Mack about his family and kids. Mack tells them all about each one and what they are doing as if God doesn't know. Then it hits him and he asks God...why did you ask about them when you already know? That is when God tells him that regardless of what he knows about our lives or our thoughts, he wants to hear it from us. It's all part of the relationship.

God, in the story, goes on to explain it like this - when a child experiences something for the first time and shares it with you, no matter if you already know exactly what they just learned, you listen intently and enjoy every moment of hearing their version of their own experience, because it came from them. I think about when my own child discovers something for the first time, or tells me a story of something we experienced together as if I wasn't even there, how much I enjoy hearing it in her own words through her eyes. I'm absolutely delighted and want her to go on and on.

That's what God does when we talk to him. No matter what he already knows about our life (because he was there), he loves for us to talk to him and tell him about it. He wants to hear it in our own words. He longs for our relationship. So many times the thought crosses my mind, "why pray and talk to God when he already knows?" Well, this illustration completely changed my thoughts on all of that.

I do pray often, but I find myself praying FOR something, not just talking to God and telling him about my life. Now I think I can begin to grasp, even in a small way, why it is so important to talk to God about everything. It's how we truly have a relationship with him. If all my own kids did when they talked to me was complain or ask for stuff, I'd probably want to cut their tongues out. It is really those times when we just talk that I truly delight in them. Now put yourself in God's place. Do you think he wants to cut your tongue out? I'm pretty sure he does mine.

Just something to think about.