Blending the Word and prayer. (Saint Elzear, 1370-73, Met.)
The iGod and the Real God
Nehemiah 1
Matthew Raley (10-14-12)
Many Christians think of their relationship this way: In the Bible, God talks to us. There we get his side of things. In prayer, we talk to God and tell him our side of things. Although this is not altogether wrong, it’s not close enough to the alternative fulfillment of Christianity which we have been exploring in this series.
The problem with this version of prayer mirrors the whole problem with consumer spirituality – there is too much of our agenda in it. The real God cannot be customized like our flexible iGods. Ultimately, it is God who needs to adjust me.
The truth about prayer is more like this: In the Bible, we interact with God about his will. In prayer, we continue to interact with God about his will. The principle is for our bible reading to be so saturated with prayer, and for our prayer to be so saturated with biblical understanding that the two are indistinguishable.
Our model this morning is, once again, Nehemiah. He was the one who told the people in Chapter 8 to rejoice when they understood the words of Scripture, because understanding is the beginning of change. Today, in Chapter 1, we find out that he knew experientially what he was talking about.
