Honest with God

Honest with God

(Genesis 15)

I find it interesting how many people pray, especially at church during the benediction. Some people are genuine while others are just showing off. Some uses fancy words while others get straight to the point. Usually, the prayer follows a certain pattern:

1. A greeting
2. A description of God
3. Giving thanks
4. A short summary of the sermon
5. Safety throughout the week
6. Description of Jesus’ name
7. Amen

After years of hearing this pattern of prayer, I began to incorporate it into my prayer life. Though it may be funny, I have to admit that many times, my prayer is just me regurgitating what I am used to hearing. I have always heard God being depicted as the “Creator of the universe”, “God on high”, “The great high priest”, etc… And because of that, I feel uncomfortable about the idea of getting honest with God. Honestly, I wonder if the God of ALL things would even care.

Yet we see the Abram pouring his heart out.

God promised a great nation, but Abram had no children. The possibility of the promise being fulfilled is becoming more and more unlikely. So Abram cried out to God. Abram got honest with God. He asked, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue to be childless…?” In essence, Abram is telling God that he don’t see how this promise is going to be carried out.

Then God answered. The God of the universe did not ignore nor did He condemn Abram. Instead, God reassured Abram of His promise, again. Not only that, God brought Abram outside and told him to look up and count the stars. Then God said to Abram, “…if you are able to number them, so shall your offspring be.”

Abram believed and God counted it to him as righteousness.

God cares and I believe that for any relationship to progress, we have to be honest. I believe that God wants us to pour our heart out to Him, He wants us to cast our cares upon Him because He cares for us. But don’t dwell on your uncertainty, stop and look up. I think God was trying to remind Abram that He made the stars and that He has everything under control.

God is not only the King of kings; He is also our Heavenly Father. Get real but don’t quit trusting. Don’t hold anything back. Question. Doubt. Vent. Cry. Complain. But pause enough to look up and let the power of God resonant in your mind. Let the God of the universe remind you that He has everything under control.

Get honest with God.