What I want at this point is to know God
and to experience God in a personal way. This is how I ended my last blog, and I want to pursue it
further.
Where do you
start? I think by being still. Psalm 46:10 advises, “Be still and know that I
am God.” Recognizing God, letting the reality of God sink in, paying attention
to God, is where we have to start. To do that, we have to stop other things for
a while, clear a space in our consciousness, let God be God, set our minds free
to know the ultimate reality over all things. It even means we don’t have to
work at it. We don’t have to do anything but be in the presence of God. Just be
still and know. This practice is often called contemplation.
Contemplation
assumes that we do know something. God has made himself known—through actions
in the history of Israel and the church, through the revealing life of Jesus
Christ, through the Scriptures, through the teachings of the church through the
ages, and by the witness of people today who know God. But contemplation looks
at that, condenses it into one supreme truth, lays aside the study notes, and
simply knows that God is God. There is a lot to know about God, but you don’t
have to know very much to experience the presence of God.
Contemplation
grows into prayer. Awareness of God calls for a response. Personal knowledge
involves two-way communication. Prayer is confession, taking honest inventory
and admitting the things that keep us from God. Prayer is adoration, pouring
out our hearts in awe and wonder at the greatness of God. Prayer is giving
thanks as we express our gratitude for God’s blessings. Prayer is petition, as
we ask God to provide for our needs and the needs of others. Most importantly,
prayer is conversation between a child of God and the loving Father.
Prayer grows into
worship and community. The knowledge of God has to be shared with others and
expressed publicly. We are helped by the presence of others who know God. We
are supported by the worshipping, witnessing community, which is the church.
The fact that God
tells us to be still and know God suggests that this is something we have to be
told. Experiencing the presence of God doesn’t just happen. It requires an intentional
movement. It also needs to be reinforced and sustained by repeated practice. It’s
not something you do once and then move on. It is a way of living that leads to
fullness of life.
Jeremiah 29:12-13
offers this promise: “Then when you call upon me and
come and pray to me, I will hear you. When you search for me, you will find me;
if you seek me with all your heart.”
