Some people are so use to keeping a “stiff upper lip” that they feel they have to pretend with God. You don’t HAVE to protect yourself from the Protector. GOD LOVES YOU. In the book of Genesis, Adam and Eve had an intimate relationship with God. They were naked before Him and they were not ashamed of their nakedness. They were transparent before Him. They freely communicated with Him in the intimacy of their relationship with their Creator and there was NO shame.
Shame and hiding came with the fall. Hiding and uncertainty came with sin and death. But Jesus, through His obedience to the Father, His living a sin-less life, His willingness to die on the cross for forgiveness of our sins, and His resurrection purchased restoration through His sacrifice for us! He paved the way that had been broken by Adam and Eve’s fall so that we can have a restored relationship with the Father. He redeemed us! Enabling us to enter into an intimate relationship with the Father!
Do you fumble with finding the words to pray? IT’S OKAY. You CAN talk to your Father. HE WANTS YOU TO! We get so use to having to watch our words with those around us, some feel as though they have to put on a brave front – that’s not the case with God. He wants you to be transparent with Him, that’s part of trusting Him, we get so use to expecting God treat us as people do, that we place Him in the same box as others. This is where Holy Spirit shows us the areas within us that either need healing or they are areas where we need to work on trusting God. With the feeling of vulnerability comes fear, and the only “fear” God wants you to feel for Him – is respect. If you are feeling any other kind of fear, THAT is not of God, it is a spirit. The spirit of fear is one that will keep you feeling as though you cannot approach God, that is a lie from the pit of hell. When you feel that way, rebuke it in the mighty name of Jesus.
“Father, I thank You that you are El Roi – The God that sees me. I thank You that I CAN trust You. That I can freely talk to You without fear of Your response. I thank You that You are a loving God, a caring God, a God that forgives. I come before You and praise Your Holy Name that You even loved me enough to leave the glories of Heaven and come down in the form of man – Jesus. You loved me enough to be born of the virgin Mary, live a sin-less life and die on the cross for forgiveness of MY sins. That you rose from the dead and were victorious over the devil. You did ALL this for me, because You love me! How can I thank You? How can I show You my love? My gratitude? Forgive me for struggling to find the words to grow our relationship. Help me not to be afraid of what to say to You, when You paid such a high price for me to be able to have a right relationship with You. I CAN talk to You, I CAN be transparent, I CAN be honest. Please work with me Holy Spirit and help me to deepen my relationship with You by pouring my heart out to You. Please help me not to be afraid to do so. I want to lay EVERYTHING on the table before You. I know that Your Word says in Psalm 139:2-5:
“You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you, LORD, know it completely. You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me.”
“So help me Father, to pour my heart out to You without hesitation. Tear down any walls I have built up unknowingly and where I am weak, strengthen me. I know that as I draw nearer to You, Your Word tells me You will draw nearer to me. Still the voice of the accuser and help me to see and hear only You. I desire to trust You more, help me to do so! In Jesus’ precious name I pray, AMEN.”
You don’t have to hold back from the One who holds you in the palm of His hand. God did not create us to function independently from Him. You don’t have to do as Adam and Eve did in the garden of Eden after the fall – you don’t have to hide from God. HE SEES YOU. HE IS BECKONING YOU FORWARD. Romans 8:1-2 says:
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.”
Climb right up there on the Father’s lap and pour your heart out. Let Him love on you in a love that one can ONLY receive from the One who IS love. It may feel strange at first to walk in the freedom Jesus bought for you to do so, and at first the words may come out slowly, but as you experience the Father’s response you will grow in confidence in your personal relationship with Him, and that is what it is – a “personal relationship” which requires communication, appreciation and nurturing. A relationship is a two way street or as Google defines it:
“The state of being connected.”
Communicating with the Father through prayer and through the reading of His Word, deepens and grows your relationship with Him, this is something that the devil does NOT want to occur, and he will try to keep you from spending time with the Father because he knows it will benefit you and strengthen you and deepen your relationship with God, which will also give you a discerning spirit. Ol’ slewfoot does not want you to discern what it is God has called you to do or discover a deeper understanding of who YOU are in Christ. So he will try to make you feel vulnerable and shy away from spending time with the Father. Or he will keep you so distracted and busy that you don’t have time to have quiet time with your Father, and then you feel vulnerable and weak in your spirit which then ushers in condemnation and guilt and a whole lot of other feelings that are not of God. Spending time being transparent before the Father brings about peace, love, a sound mind. Confidence in the Father’s love! Trust! The more we pour out to God, the more He can pour in to us! We are vessels for Him!
Even though those words may first come out as a little trickle, as you come before the Father in thanksgiving and praise, asking Him to forgive you for any sins you may have committed (known/unknown), and then speaking freely to Him whatever it is that is in your heart, HE WILL draw nearer to you. When you feel yourself starting to hesitate, ask Holy Spirit to help you find the words to say what your Father already knows what is in your heart! Luke 12:12 says:
“The Holy Spirit will give you the words to say at the moment when you need them.”
In John 7:38 Jesus said:
“Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”
It’s okay to feel vulnerable with the Father, but don’t allow that feeling of vulnerability to keep you from communicating with Him. Being vulnerable means you are willing to take risks and expose yourself to someone, the truth of the matter is we always have been exposed before the Father, even when we haven’t felt it – God sees ALL things, NOTHING is hidden from Him. God is merciful and if feeling vulnerable brings an awareness that you are dependent upon Him, than feeling vulnerable is not a bad thing, it is a discerning one. Trust is taking that vulnerability and using it to draw nearer from the One who gives you strength. Walking in the knowledge that GOD LOVES YOU. That GOD SEES YOU. That GOD HEARS YOU. That GOD IS FOR YOU! Because He is!
Taking that vulnerability and using its purpose to draw you into a deeper, closer relationship with God and allowing Him to take it and turn it into an armor of strength because your confidence is not in yourself, it is in Him. How do we do that? We do that through prayer. We do that through reading His Word which enables us to undergo a transforming of our minds as in Romans 12:2 it says:
“And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
Feeling vulnerable before God is not necessarily a bad thing, because it is an awareness that we are dependent upon God and not upon ourselves, instead of shying away from God and going into “hiding mode” let’s admit to Him our vulnerability and let Him love on us and increase our confidence of that restored relationship that His Son has provided so that instead of walking in vulnerability we can walk in confidence of a Father who has done and will do ANYTHING to show His love for us. Because He loves us, and He is calling us into a deeper relationship with Him. Embrace Him, and allow yourself to be embraced by Him. There is NO greater love child of God. Your Father LOVES you and desires to hear you and converse with you! Keep moving forward in Him with the confidence that Jesus has established for you, it is yours for the experiencing! Walk confidently in it!
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