Walk the Walk

How Busy are you Keeping God?

• Tina Perry

Share episode

Have you ever caught yourself whispering a prayer while waiting in line for your morning coffee or in the quiet moments before sleep? On our latest episode, we pull back the curtain on the spiritual practice of conversing with God, sharing heartfelt stories and exploring why these authentic moments of dialogue can be just as, if not more, powerful than traditional prayers. We delve into the transformative nature of using our own voice to connect with the divine, the liberation that comes with forgiving ourselves for past mistakes, and the profound effect of turning our prayers outward to focus on the needs of others. A moving account from a church prayer request vividly demonstrates the depth of trust we can have in the Almighty's grand design.

Taking a step further, we unravel the concept that real faith isn't just a matter of belief—it demands our participation. Through the parable of the man in the flood, we uncover the hard truth about recognizing and embracing the help God sends, sometimes in the most unexpected ways. This episode challenges you to actively engage with your faith and the world around you, urging you to break the cycle of repetitive sins with purposeful action. Join us as we explore how stepping beyond our comfort zones not only deepens our relationship with God but also empowers us to become the lifelines that others may be praying for.

Speaker 1:

Good morning and welcome to Walk the Walk. How busy do you keep God? If that's an odd question for you, it's not really. How busy do you keep Him? Now, you may think in your mind, when you keep somebody busy, that means you're kind of bothering them or it's just too much. But I guess that's really what God's looking for, that you keep bothering Him. And I don't say that in a negative light, but I say that in a positive way. How often are you talking to God or praying to God? Whichever way you communicate, I prefer to talk over prayer.

Speaker 1:

I find myself, if I allow myself to talk to God, I tend to do it every day and as often as I can. I find that when we use the word prayer, it means it's a short or long amount of time that you converse with God and you only do it as needed. And that's what I'm talking about. Are you only an as needed Christian or are you always conversing with God? And I'll just tell you what my conversing day might look like. When I get up in the morning, I find myself lying there thinking and I do that a lot. I'll get up early and I don't want to quite get out of bed just yet. So my mind is reeling already, talking to God, thinking about my day, wondering you know what my day is going to look like, thanking God for getting me up, thanking God for all the blessings that he has bestowed upon me. As the day goes on, I'll find myself Sometimes it almost sounds like I plead with him please, god, come on. And I hear myself say that a lot. Come on, god. You know you said, or you know you would, or you know this situation, or, please, god, come on, heal this person. And I find myself talking to him like I would somebody, and I believe personally. I believe that that's how God wants us to talk to him, just like we would anybody else. He doesn't look for these fancy prayers that that start with fancy words and go on and on. I don't think he does. If you think he does, and that's what you do, fine, it doesn't matter as long as you have a conversation with God.

Speaker 1:

But I think sometimes we get hung up on words, and how am I supposed to say it, and what does he want me and how do I go about it? I think your most unplanned conversation, unplanned words, all this flowery, beautiful talk, you know sometimes when we get in front of people where you know he says don't do that. But sometimes we get in front of people and we think, oh, have them, hear me talk like a, like a prophet, or talk like a theologian. And you know, all your words are so beautiful and and, and you pull up scripture at the drop of a hat, and there's nothing wrong with that. But I think sometimes we become too showy with our prayer or our communication.

Speaker 1:

I like to talk to God in my own words. Look, he'll know when I'm pleading, he'll know when I'm just having a conversation. He'll know when I'm depressed or upset or mad. God knows that. He knows my tone. He gave it to me. He knows my voice. He gave it to me, Even though I sound like I have a male, a man's voice, which is fine by me. He gave it to me. This is my voice. He knows the sound of my voice. He knows if I'm trying to be something else, that I'm not and that's what he doesn't want from you or for me.

Speaker 1:

Keep God busy. Oh, is that you again, tina? Yeah, it's me again, god, I've been coming to you for the same thing. Now sometimes God will say you know why you keep coming to me for the same thing Because you are the one that keeps bringing that up in your life. You keep reminding yourself of that same sin that you keep asking me to forgive you for. I've forgiven you for it. Let it go, let's move on. Don't let that sin that you have had become your current sin. I think it's a sin to keep reminding God of my sins. He wipes those away from his memory and we keep reminding him. Remember God when I did this, please forgive me. And I can imagine God rolling his eyes like again, really, again, you're gonna keep bringing this up again. It's because I can't forgive myself, or you can't forgive yourself, or you're adamant that, oh, there's just no way he could forgive me for that. But he does, and to honestly say I don't think you've forgiven me kind of is blasphemous in a way, like I don't believe you, I don't believe you've forgiven me for that. I don't believe you think I'm sorry. It's a one and done thing. Repent. Turn from your sin. God is forgiving you. Forgive yourself and start moving on to other requests and prayers for others. Quit focusing on yourself so much. If in fact, that's what you're doing. Keep God busy, keep him busy. Come to him in prayer.

Speaker 1:

There are many people that need prayer. When you go to church you hear a prayer, people asking for prayers, and sometimes they're people that are very ill. Sometimes somebody has passed without expectation. Those people also need our prayers. Those people also need us to converse with God on their behalf. Yesterday at church somebody asked for prayer for a lady who had developed this rare brain disease, like overnight. And when she talked to this lady she said I'm not afraid to die, I'm fine with that. But remember this God says if you don't ask, you will not receive. This is what the lady with the brain disease said Ask God for me, please Ask God to heal me. But she also said if he chooses not to do that, I'm fine, I'll die and go to heaven. That's the ultimate thing in our lives. Yeah, it's not easy for us to say that I don't think, but for some people it is. But she said in a way keep God busy with that request, keep God busy with your requests, keep going to Him, don't keep bringing up your sins. And oh, I'm so sorry. And Lord, help me. Help me, he's like I have.

Speaker 1:

It's kind of like that story about the storm that floods this whole area, and I mentioned this before. They flood the area. The water's up to almost the peak or the tip of the roof and this guy is sitting there on the house. Boats come and say get in, get in. No, I'm waiting on the Lord to save me, get in, get in. And the boats leave, leaving behind on the rooftop. He drowns, he goes to heaven. He said I asked you, God, to help me. He said I sent boat after boat to get you. You just would not get in. It's almost the same thing that I like to say If you want to walk on water, you've got to get out of the boat. If you want to live, you've got to get into the boat. I sent those boats, I sent those people. They were doing my work.

Speaker 1:

Get out of your own head, get out of your sin. Repent, ask for forgiveness, move on, because there's other people that need you, that need you to talk to God for them. Keep God busy, not with all of your same old, same old sins. Keep God busy with what people have asked you to pray for them, and he wants to hear what you have to say about yourself, but don't be repetitive. He does his part. You need to do your part. If you're not willing to do your part, why would we expect him to do his part? Keep God busy.