10 February - Is Your Imagination of God Starved?

How have your prayers been lately? I couldn't help but think about how ineffective mine have been as of late, except when I get them out of myself. We have had a few families to pray for the past couple of weeks and when I was praying for them, my heart was full with peace and joy. Then I started praying on other things and was completely stupefied.

Well, let's be real, shall we? I started praying for myself, my small little self, and all the power went out of the effort. "One of the reasons of stultification in prayer is that there is no imagination, no power of putting ourselves deliberately before God." Yeah, do you know what stultification means. Man, when I read the definition, I just shook my head ... ya ready?

1. To render useless or ineffectual; cripple.
2. To cause to appear stupid, inconsistent, or ridiculous.
3. Law To allege or prove insane and so not legally responsible.

I can see how God could fit my prayers into each one of those definitions. I've been so worried about what is going on with work and school and my marriage and my family that I haven't been thinking about what I can do to build the kingdom of God on the Earth. Only when I went outside myself and forgot myself was I NOT useless, ridiculous or insane.

And as I read the quote from the devotional today again, I thought about using my imagination to put myself "deliberately before God," as if I were really at His feet praying. If I am that close to His presence, working hard mentally to stay off the "irresponsible" aspects of my life, then perhaps I can stay more focused on the useful, smart and amazing causes of the Lord. Granted, the Lord needs to hear my concerns, but not in the context of an idolatrous relationship with my problems, but one of surrendering those problems at the feet of God.

Hhmm, I'm looking forward to praying tonight ;-)