{"id":3898,"date":"2017-06-28T10:14:22","date_gmt":"2017-06-28T14:14:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/?p=3898"},"modified":"2017-06-28T10:14:22","modified_gmt":"2017-06-28T14:14:22","slug":"prayer-understand-god-like","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/2017\/06\/prayer-understand-god-like.html","title":{"rendered":"A Prayer to Understand What God is Like"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/i><\/b>Let Your compassion quickly meet our needs. (Psalm 79:8b)<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven\u2019s armies will make this happen! (Isaiah 9:7b)<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\"14789679173_6dc210f43c_c\"<\/a><\/p>\n

What\u2019s God like? What\u2019s your idea of Him? Angry? Preferring judgment and revenge over mercy? Taking what we love away from us to teach us lessons? An angry, one-eyed\u00a0 <\/span>schoolmaster with the rod in one hand and a spoonful of nauseating medicine\u00a0in the other? Is He poised to strike should you get out of line? <\/span><\/p>\n

It seems like God gets the bum rap for everything bad that happens in the world. Natural disasters are deemed, \u201cAn act of God,\u201d as though God goes around gleefully hurting creation like the scary next door neighbor kid in Toy Store<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

What is the character of God? <\/span><\/p>\n

One thing God has spoken,<\/span><\/strong><\/em>\u00a0<\/span>two things I have heard:<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Power belongs to you, God,\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/em>and with you, Lord, is unfailing love. (Psalm 62:11,12)<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

If you believe God is good, is it possible to believe that He is all-powerful? How can He be both? Otherwise, why do bad things happen? He\u2019s either bad or He\u2019s weak. He can\u2019t be Good and Supremely Powerful simultaneously.<\/span><\/p>\n

Which is it? Aren\u2019t those two traits incompatible? <\/span><\/p>\n

God is both. He is Supremely Good and Supremely Powerful. <\/span><\/p>\n

Bad things happen, in short, because He gave human beings charge of this planet, and we handed it over to the serpent. God\u00a0lends us\u00a0help when invited through prayer and our faith, but victory isn\u2019t always achieved this side of Heaven. Whose fault is that? <\/span><\/p>\n

Ours. We have messed things up for millennia, and it’s our responsibility\u00a0to set it aright. Rome wasn\u2019t built in a day, and neither is the earth restored to the Garden of Eden in one fell swoop\u00a0and with a handful of petitions! <\/span><\/p>\n

But we\u2019re working on it!<\/span><\/p>\n

God has compassion on you, my friend! His passionate commitment to you is to help you, walk with you, give you wisdom, give you joy, forgive all that you have done that you\u2019re not particularly proud of, and restore you to the person He thought up when He put all the pieces of who you are together in your mother\u2019s womb.<\/span><\/p>\n

All that isn\u2019t good is not God\u2019s fault! Quit blaming Him for people\u2019s choices. Quit blaming Him for your own! Believe in His compassion. Believe in His passionate commitment towards you. <\/span><\/p>\n

Just too good to be true? Pray this plain and simple prayer\u2026 <\/span><\/p>\n

Father,<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

I haven\u2019t altogether trusted in Your goodness. I\u2019ve rationalized that distrust to believe that perhaps You\u2019re just beyond my understanding. Well, You are beyond my understanding! Your goodness and kindness and justice and mercy are well beyond all I can comprehend. <\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou are good, and Your love endures.\u201d How many times have I read that, sung that, memorized that, declared that, and yet not fully embraced the truth of it?<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Today I say it with all my heart: You are good!!!<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

If anyone does attack you, it will not be my doing. (Isaiah 54:15)<\/i><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0Not all that happens in my life is good, but those things and events are not Your doing. And you recycle all the\u00a0refuse \u2013 all that is worthless \u2013 in my life, turning it into something beautiful.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/i>If I need angelic protection today, which I do, I will pray for it.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

If I need strength today, which I do, I will ask for it.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

If I need healing today, which I do, I will request\u00a0it and receive it in faith.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m asking and I\u2019m believing in Your promises. You are both strong and perfectly loving!<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Amen!<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

You do not have because you do not ask God. (James 4:2)<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\n

\n

Photo credit: Internet Archive Book Images<\/a> via Foter.com<\/a> \/ No known copyright restrictions<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Let Your compassion quickly meet our needs. (Psalm 79:8b) The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven\u2019s armies will make this happen! (Isaiah 9:7b) What\u2019s God like? What\u2019s your idea of Him? Angry? Preferring judgment and revenge over mercy? Taking what we love away from us to teach us lessons? An angry, one-eyed\u00a0 schoolmaster with…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":478,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,15,7,4,25,3,1],"tags":[2137,2136,2138,2135],"class_list":["post-3898","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible","category-bible-prayer","category-daily-prayer","category-god","category-jesus","category-prayer","category-uncategorized","tag-dotheboys-hall","tag-mrs-squeers","tag-toy-story","tag-what-is-god-like-who-is-god-is-god-good-character-of-god"],"yoast_head":"\nA Prayer to Understand What God is Like<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Prayer to Understand What God is Like\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Let Your compassion quickly meet our needs. 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