Your Relationship with the Lord

I loved this article so much that I read portions of it out loud to my husband. It is so important for us to seek out a personal relationship with the Lord. It's what He wants!

Worship Through Relationship....Are You Seeking God's Face or His Hand? by Karen Wolff

Have you ever spent time with one of your kids where all you did was just "hang out?" If you have grown kids, and you ask them what they remember most about their childhood, I would bet they recall a time where you spent an afternoon participating in some fun activity.

As parents, it sometimes takes a while for us to discover that the thing our kids want most from us is our time. But oh, time always seems to be the thing we find in short supply.

I remember when my son was about 4 years old. He attended a local preschool, but it was only a few mornings a week so, very often, I had this four year old who wanted my time. Every day. All day.......

So I would play board games with him in the afternoons. I remember he and I would always claim to be "Champion of the World" when one of us would win. Of course, beating a 4 year old isn't exactly something to brag about on my resume, but nonetheless, I always made sure the title passed back and forth....sometimes.

My son and I both fondly recall those days as very special times when we built a relationship. And the truth is....I had a hard time saying no to my son after all that relationship building. I knew my son wasn't hanging out with me just for what he could get me to buy him, but the relationship we built meant that when he did ask for something, my heart was more than willing to consider it.

Why is it so difficult to see that as a parent, God is no different? There are some who see God as a giant Santa Claus. You simply submit your wish list and wake up one morning to find that all is well. They fail to realize that relationship is everything. It's the one thing God wants more than anything else. And it's when we take the time to seek God's face, which is simply that ongoing relationship with Him, that He extends His hand because His heart is open to hear all we have to say.

A few weeks ago I read an amazing book called, "Daily Inspirations for Finding Favor with the King", by Tommey Tenney. In this book it talked about the importance and relevence of Christian praise and worship in building a relationship with God. What impressed me was the author's insistence that praise and worship must be directed to God's face and NOT His hand. If your motive is to love God, to spend time with God, to truly want to be in God's presence, then your praise and worship will be met by God with open arms.

If, however, your motive is to try to earn a blessing, or to impress those around you, or even to fulfill some sense of obligation, you've missed the boat....Completely.

So how do you know if your relationship with God is centered around His face or simply His hand? What can you do to make sure your motive is pure as you praise and worship God?


Spend most of your time with God in praise and worship. Letting God know how much you love and appreciate Him never gets old to God. In fact, praise and worship is the key that opens God's heart.

Come to God just as you are with an open heart. Letting God see ALL that's in your heart, good or bad, lets God know that you value your relationship enough to let Him see it all and do whatever He needs to do.

Look for opportunities to offer God praise and worship in things around you. All you need to do is see a beautiful sunset or one of the many other wonders of nature to offer God praise and thanksgiving for that miraculous blessing. God appreciates a grateful heart.

Don't be afraid to show God how you truly feel as you worship Him. There are those who don't feel comfortable raising their hands or showing any emotion during worship services. Yet those same people can be found at sporting events or concerts whooping, clapping, and hollering as if it really mattered.
I'm not saying you have to jump up and down or shout, but simply standing with open hands shows God that your heart is open and you want to feel God's presence. And most importantly.....

Don't judge, look down on, or criticize someone else because they want to show emotions and energy as they worship. Just because you aren't in the same place in your spiritual walk as they are doesn't mean what they're doing is inappropriate or wrong. Concentrate on worshipping God yourself so your focus remains on building your own relationship with God.
Christian praise and worship can be one of the most powerful ways to help you build your relationship with God. There is nothing better than feeling the love, peace, and acceptance that you feel when God's presence is all around you.

But just remember, like a parent, God is looking for that ongoing relationship. When He sees your open heart and your desire to get to know Him for who He is, His heart opens to hear all you have to say.

What a concept......seeking God's face and then feeling the blessings from His hand.

For more help on this topic, go to "The Key to Unlocking God's Door"


About the Author
Karen Wolff is the founder of www.christian-books-for-women.com, a place where women will find info, tips, and help with issues like overcoming fear, jealousy, and building self esteem. Find book reviews, recommendations, and submit your favorite books so you can be a blessing to someone else.

Answered Prayers Aren't Always What we Expect

I posted a Verse of The Day below this post. After publishing the post, I could not get the verse or my thoughts on the verse out of my mind. I decided that I needed to expand on my thoughts.

Answered Prayers

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." Matthew 7:7

This verse brought prayer to the forefront of my mind. My life is so very blessed by the Lord. He has given me so much and has answered all of my prayers. I know the Lord will provide for me, when it is His will that I truly seek.

When I was pregnant with my son, I prayed to our Father every day that He would give me a happy and healthy child. A simple request, yes, but it was my heart’s desire. The Lord answered my prayer and today my son is both happy and healthy. There is not a day that goes by that I don’t thank the Lord for that answered prayer.

Are answered prayers always this easy? Of course not. Sometimes the Lord answers our prayers in ways that we certainly do not expect. Sometimes the answer to a prayer is so difficult that you can’t imagine why it is happening to you. At the beginning of the relationship with my husband, I prayed that the Lord would make our relationship work and make it strong. Less than one year into our relationship, my then boyfriend, an outwardly healthy 26 year old man, was diagnosed with stage 4 malignant melanoma. The cancer had spread to his lymph nodes. The cancer was going to require one year of chemotherapy type treatments. A couple of months into his treatments, my boyfriend proposed to me. My answer was an immediate yes. It never occurred to me that I should consider anything other than yes. Why would cancer effect my decision?

A very dear friend once told me, “The Lord will never give you more than you can handle.” I made it my mission to live this message and make my fiancé live it as well. As a result, I went on to be the typical “bride to be.” My focus was on the having the perfect wedding (perfect dress, perfect flowers, perfect food, perfect cake, perfect music). Three weeks prior to our wedding day, my fiancé started having headaches, blurred vision and dizzy spells. His oncologist sent him for a brain scan to rule out a brain tumor. “WHAT? No, that’s not possible!,” were my reactions. What a wake up call! Somehow, I managed to forget how serious his condition really was. We went to the brain scan together, then waited for the results from his normally deadpan doctor together. As soon as his doctor entered the room, a huge smile spread across his face. It was then, that we knew there was no brain tumor. It was the treatments that were causing his symptoms.

It was at that moment, that I realized what the Lord was doing in our relationship. He was bringing us together on a level that so many, at our young age and stage in our relationship, never get to experience. At that point, I realized that the only thing that mattered was being married to that man. The perfect wedding no longer mattered to me. I gained the prospective I needed.

Have you ever heard the saying, “Be careful what you pray for?” Answered prayers aren’t always what we expect them to be. Sometimes they are straight and to the point. Other times, they are trials in our lives. Should these trials in our lives, keep us from asking?

Verse of the Day

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you."
Matthew 7:7 (Read all of Matthew 7)
New International Version

My Thoughts:
Our God is an Awesome God. He continually answers our prayers. Prayers may not be answered right away or in the way we think they should be answered, but they are answered never-the-less.
Prior to getting married, I asked the Lord to strengthen my relationship with my soon to be husband. Shortly after, my finance was diagnosed with cancer. I know what your thinking, that's not an answered prayer. Believe me, it was hard for me to see at the time. I had to take a step back from the situation and a particulary tough moment during the bout with cancer to see that it really was an answer to a prayer. Was this the way I wanted my prayer to be answered? Of course not. However, it made me see what was really important in life; our love for the Lord and our love for each other! I believe, in my heart of hearts, that the cancer brought us closer together and made us stronger. After dealing with cancer at such a young age and so early in our relationship, we realize that there is nothing that we can't handle together.