Tuesday, December 1, 2009
From: XXXX
Sent: Monday, November 30, 2009 8:31 AM
To: Nicole Casper
Subject: so..
So, this morning you said you read and prayed all morning.
When you read, do you pray?
Please don’t think I’m dumb – I really want to get to know God, and feel like I am kinda far away from knowing him..
From: Nicole Casper
Sent: Monday, November 30, 2009 8:52 AM
To: XXXX
Subject: RE: so..
Nothing you ever ask about God will I EVER think is dumb.
Sometimes, This morning for example, I started to read and in John 16-17 (somewhere in between there, I think 16) it talks about how god chose us. I stopped reading and started talking with God. I just told him how overwhelmed I was with the fact that he chose me. That I could have never known him and how thankful I was that he was my king. It’s always good to pray before you start reading the bible. It tells us that the holy spirit will talk to us and if we ask God to give us wisdom when we read; make these words and paragraphs more than just data, that God will do that for us. For instance, I prayed that God would illuminate the words that he needed me to focus on today. That he would teach me something new. I asked for wisdom and discernment as I read and that truth would settle in.
I kinda like to just sit in silence before God for a while and let my heart become vulnerable and allow the things that are bugging me or that I’ve been worried about surface. Sometimes things come up that I didn’t even know was on my heart. I’ll talk to God about those things, then I’ll read and it’s more of like just continuing to talk to God as I read things. For instance, this morning I read at the beginning of 14 and at the end it tells us to not let our hearts be troubled, trust God. I just said, “okay God. Help me do that.” And then kept on reading. There really is no “correct way to spend your time with God. There’s things like praying before you read and knowing what God says so you can get the most out of what he offers you, but you can sit, stand, kneel, fall on your face, yell, whisper, cry, pray before, during, after, not say anything at all, talk too much, speak in one word sentences, run-ons, read one verse, one chapter, one book. God just wants your time. And the more you get to know him, the more you’ll understand ways he enjoys being worshipped. But it starts with seeking Him.