I have been reading “The Message”, the Bible paraphrase by Eugene Peterson a bit more the past month. A friend told me that he had been continually reading through the four gospels for quite a few years now. This sounded inviting so I decided to do the same to see how it worked out. One verse I read a couple weeks ago arrested my attention. It was Luke 11:10. In “The Message” it reads as follows:
Don’t bargain with God. Be direct. Ask for what you need.
So that is what I’m doing. It does seem to cut down on my prayer time, although I do not think that prayer efficiency was the intent of the verse. More to the point I want to build a relationship with God that is honest and forthright. There is nothing I can say or do that is a surprise to God. He knows me better than I know myself, so I might as well just put my requests out there. What do I have to lose ?
This is what I have to lose; distance ! I think that if I am direct I will lose some of the distance between me and God. Hope a few of you can lose some distance too.
TJ