Expressions

1 Kings 9:³ “And God said to him, “I’ve listened to and received all your prayers, your ever-so-passionate prayers.” (MSG).

We need to express our desires to God with emotions just like Daniel did. Daniel 9:³ “And I prayed earnestly to the Lord God, pleading with him…”. Daniel was pleading with God endlessly in prayer with passion. This is the same God that made this promise of deliverance. So, why pray passionately to Him still? Remember the story of the children of Israel? God said they will be in captivity for four hundred years. After four hundred years, the time was right, but God did not hear their cry. It was after another thirty extra years, after four hundred and thirty years that God said, I have heard the cry of my people, I am going to deliver them. God is waiting to hear your cry. He is waiting to hear your passionate plea, your emotional expressions.

God has emotions and this is an aspect of God that you need to come to terms with. You cannot be all macho with no emotions. When it comes to God, you need to loosen up and let God know how you feel. Tell Him where it hurts and how it hurts. That is how to move heaven. Express your desires with emotion. God has emotions; love is an emotion and God is love. God feels our pain, yes, He does. God can be joyful. God can be sorrowful. He can look at everything happening on earth, people suffering, all the pain, and be sorrowful. God can be jealous; He says, “I am a jealous God” (Exodus 20:5; 34:14). Listen, He is the same God that was jealous then and is jealous now. God is a compassionate Father. God is an emotional God.

Jesus’ death on the cross was hugely emotional. He cried on the cross. I dare say that in prayer, God cares more about emotions than words. You want to propose to your girl, for instance, and you are saying, ‘I don’t know, will you marry me?’ She will most likely ask if you are okay. You better put some emotions, some ginger into that proposal. Why? It is because the right words with the wrong emotions will give you the wrong results. Yes, the right words spoken with the wrong emotions (the wrong vibes), produce the wrong results.

A little boy had been asking his father for a bicycle and the father kept saying there was no money. Then one day during their family devotion, the father asked the children to tell him their favourite scripture. The first child said, John 3:16. The second child said, Genesis 1:1-3. When it was the boy’s turn, he said his favourite scripture was Luke 11:9-12 (please read). And the father said, ‘I am going to buy you your bicycle tomorrow’. God responds to our emotions.

Prayer: Father, let my Words rise to You on the strength of my passion, in Jesus Name. Amen!