a correct and proper view of God...

I just finished reading through some things and I wanted to write about it.

I was just studying through verses 6-8 of James 1. It's the verse that everyone hears in church about being like a wave tossed by the wind. Basically, in a nutshell, we should be asking God things in faith, without doubting what we ask. When we doubt, the bible compares us to a wave being tossed in and out then in the end of verse of eight being called double-minded and unstable. Whoa. Seriously? That immediately reminded me of the verse in Revelation about being lukewarm and God spitting us out of his mouth. No thank you. I don't want to be considered lukewarm, double-minded, or unstable. However, I see myself and others slipping into this doubt so often and its so dangerous. I never realized how much I doubted my prayers until I actually sat down and thought about it was writing out some thoughts about it. I tell myself that God is faithful and I trust him...and I do, but I'm not so sure that it comes out in my prayers about how confident I am in HIM and HIM only.

So, without writing about everything I wrote down, it immediately hit me. Something that Brody Holloway (Director of SWO) said many years ago and it just came to me. Thank you, Lord that it did. He said that every way that we see things, all the ways we see life and everything in life comes down to a correct and proper view of God. I hope I said that right. Either way, the things we question and the ways we see things in life come down to that view of God that we have. SO BIG! When I pray and secretly doubt what I'm praying or when I don't pray with complete confidence, faith and trust, my view of God is skewed. God has written so many promises, he is unchanging, he is all knowing, he is ever faithful, has a love for me that I can't comprehend. When I pray without all those things, I'm doubting who he is or letting myself be lied to about his character.

Are we really striving daily to know the TRUE character of God or are we just going off what we've heard or what we let ourselves think? This wrong mindset of who God is can really affect the way we pray and share Christ with people...and even how we see ourselves. This is something that I really need to focus on and go back and remind myself of. These are just thoughts I had and thought I'd share. I want me, and you of course, to be reminded that we should be seeking out God's character, the essence of who he really is.

I'll leave you with a book that I read one summer for staff training that was amazing and really taught me a lot about the God that I serve.
The Knowledge of the Holy by A.W. Tozer (So amazing)