Giving God What We Seek from Him

Hey men…sorry it’s been so long. Lot’s going on right now. I hope all you guys are well and taking great care of your quiver of arrows.
I was sitting in church this past Sunday and thinking about my relationship with God. Having only met my father once, and having no relationship with him whatsoever, my relationship with God suffered mightily. We all tend to project onto God, the images we carry of our fathers. If our dads were approachable and loving, we see God as someone to take our troubles to and a safe haven. If our fathers were difficult and distant, we typically aren’t men of prayer because we never saw a pattern of a father who answers our requests.
This Sunday I was considering that, and considering also, how God has removed that thought pattern from me. It took a lot of time…many years in fact…and it took a lot of breaking. When it all boils down to soup and nuts, the wall started to crumble when I started giving to God, that which I desired to receive from him. I needed His love and blessing. I needed to feel His presence. I needed to hear Him tell me He loves me. I needed to be able to see Him as my Father. So one day I began…haltingly, and very much against my will…to offer those things back to Him. I reasoned it like this; the fastest way for my daughter to hear me tell her I love her is to say it to me. I tell her several times each day, but if she ever needs it “right now” she never has to beg, or plead, or perform. She just walks into the room and says “I love you daddy” and the response will always be “I love you too sweetheart” followed by a hug. It never fails. Hearing her tell me that she loves me sends me a signal that she needs to hear it to, and I reciprocate. She sends me a child sized portion and I return an adult sized.
The same works for our relationship with God. The changes came for me, when I forced my hands up in praise, when I made myself say…through clenched teeth at first… “I love you” and when I began to praise Him. I needed a Father…I prayed to become His child. I realized that I had never once in my life felt like a son. (At least not until I meat Bob and Pop.) So I asked Him to show me how to be His son. I started calling Him “father” and it was foreign at first. But He broke through. He took my stumbling step of faith and blessed it and used the open door to heal my heart. My relationship with Him is a thousand times better. I am blessed.
Men…learn a valuable lesson from your children. When they need your love, they give you theirs. Practice this with your Heavenly Father and watch what happens.