Banging Heads With God

I have been a fight-fan all of my life. From boxing and wrestling matches (the real and the fake stuff) to Mixed Martial Arts, I love to watch a good fight ...as long as I'm not the one taking the hits!

But did you know that God loves to bang-it-up in the ring, too? I know we usually talk about God's wonderful comfort and gentle embrace, but I have to admit that I have also experienced the whiplash of His 'flying headlock' and the domination of His 'rear-naked-choke-hold'. ...there have definitely been times when God put the smack-down on my life!

After surviving a few of these "brutiful" (brutal & beautiful) encounters, I discovered something subtly distinct about God's combat techniques... sometimes He fights, and at other times He wrestles. Let me explain.

Fighting and wrestling are two completely different styles of physical engagement. For the fighter, his plan is simply to beat his opponent into unconsciousness, while the wrestler's intent is to pin his opponent to the floor using strategic maneuvers. In the end, the fighter's goal is to damage his opponent, while the wrestler's quest is to simply alter and control his opponent's position. 

Throughout the Bible (and in my life), I've discovered that God sometimes rages like a Fighter and then at other times like a ground and pound Wrestler. Let's check-out these roles one at a time.

Exodus 15:3 (NIV)
      "The Lord is a Warrior; the Lord is His Name."

Personally, I am so grateful that God has a Warrior inside His nature. Don't get me wrong, I am beyond thankful for His grace and mercy - I need both of those in my life daily. But His willingness to respond passionately against the enemies of my life is a comforting and assuring thought. Just the idea that God refuses to sit back and watch me get my head beat-in by the 'hell's thugs' helps me sleep better at night.

As a Warrior, God decidedly knows how to take care of His people - He's never faced an enemy He hasn't been able to eradicate! Yep... God has a 'hot button', and when it's pushed, He's the baddest Dude that block has eva' seen!

Then there's the "other" side to God's physicality in dealing with people - the Wrestler. One of my favorite stories in the Bible tells of where God literally locks-it-up with a man named Jacob. The sports headlines read, "Smackdown 1906 B.C.: Jake vs. Jehovah!" 

Genesis 32:24 (NIV)
      "So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak."

Can you imagine telling your friends that you physically wrestled with God? The Hebrew word for wrestle in this verse means, to grapple (to get dusty). Bottom line... Jacob and God were literally rolling around in a cloud of dust - sweating, grabbing, twisting, pushing and pulling like two kids fighting over a PlayStation remote. The Bible goes on to say that when the scuffle was finished, Jacob walked away with a limp, a blessing and a new name (I'll have to blog about these three results some day!). Thankfully for Jacob, God shifted His tactic from fighting/warring against him to wrestling and engaging him hand-to-hand - which ultimately altered Jacob's character and destiny.  

Here's the Key: God fights with His enemies, but He wrestles with those He loves! 

• The Warrior uses weapons to destroy; the Wrestler uses moves to gain control.
• The Warrior keeps a distance from his opponent; the Wrestler stays close and in constant contact.
• The Warrior makes you bleed; the Wrestler makes you sweat.
• The Warrior dis-positions you; the Wrestler re-positions you.
• The Warrior makes you weaker; the Wrestler makes you stronger.

We are all going to experience some brutiful seasons with God. He's going to grapple against your will, but stay close by your side. He's going to allow you to struggle and sweat through tough seasons, while subtly re-positioning you for a better life. You simply have to believe that God's plan will never destroy you; His push is there to strengthen you; His grip is there to protect you; His squeeze is there to comfort you... and the weight of his Presence is there to cover you with His love!

The truth is, my greatest moments of change, advance and growth have only happened after I've experienced a Head-to-head "ALTAR-cation" with the Greatest Wrestler of all time...

Now, climb back in the ring and let Him finish what He started!

Putting Power & Passion in Your Prayer Life

"You need to call home!" That was a comment I heard from time to time while I was in college. Honestly, my schedule would get so busy with classes, social service clubs, work, study and sports that I often forgot to call, talk with and thank the ones who were supporting my college experience - my parents.

Well, it didn't take me long to notice that the same is true with post-college life. It's so easy to become consumed with daily demands that carving out a few extra minutes to pray can feel like another task on the to-do-list. But since prayer is essential to every aspect of our lives, we must create a daily sabbatical to unplug from life, 'call home,' talk with and thank the One who is making this life-experience possible - your Heavenly Father.

So how do you step directly out of a daily grind and into a sincere and productive time of prayer? For me, I use a prayer-plan so that my mind can focus while my spirit connects, keeping my prayer-time from feeling plastic, empty and unproductive. Here is the "prayer-plan" I personally use and teach at Free Life Chapel:

P - Praise
     Start-off your prayer with a party! Call God every Name in the book (Provider, Way-
     Maker, Friend, Strength, etc.), and then tell Him how He has been that to you. Reflect 
     on His blessings, favor and goodness in your life, family, finances and health. And 
     please smile while you praise Him... that's right, smile! You will be amazed at how 
     praising God with every natural gesture of joy you can humanly express will make your 
     prayer-time a more real experience instead of just a spiritual exercise. Clap your hands 
     for His faithfulness! Lift your hands in surrender! Bow in honor of His glory! Make your 
     praise real - to God and yourself.

          Psalms 22:3 (WBT)

               "But you are holy, you who inhabit the praises of Israel."

R - Request
     Now that the atmosphere if filled with your declaration of His greatness, use God's
     divine resumé as a weapon against every issue in your life. Invite His power and glory to 
     invade your challenges and situations. ASK BIG! Until you ask God to handle the things 
     that are 'impossible' for you to deal with, then you haven't even properly accessed His 
     power in your life. Your request for God's involvement is proof that you believe that He 
     is the Answer to every need in your life. God is awaiting your request to make you and 
     He a team in overcoming life while building His Kingdom! Ask big... I dare you!

          John 14:14 (NIV)
               "You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it."

A - Anticipate
     Many times our prayed 'requests' seem like a forgotten grocery list that we dropped-off for 
     God to fulfill. But when we add 'anticipation' to our requests, something amazing happens... 
     we develop vision for our lives. We suddenly start expecting God to show-up and show-off! 
     What does the act of anticipation look like in prayer? This happens when I change the 
     direction of my prayer from earth to heaven (requesting), and start praying from heaven to 
     earth - celebrating heaven's reply! Start seeing, declaring and celebrating your life through
     the view of answered prayer and what it will be like once God meets the need. This is where
     you build confidence in the hope that God has heard and is responding to your prayer.

          Mark 11:24 (NIV)
               "Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, 
               and it will be yours."

Y - Yearn
     Although, God's response to our request is a wonderful reality, the greater purpose and 
     benefit of prayer is our opportunity to know God. The thought of having a true 
     relationship with Almighty-God is staggering, but this is exactly His heart's desire. Tell 
     Him you want to know Him. Express to Him your hunger to change. Admit to Him the 
     void in your life without His Presence. As you do, your own awareness of Who He really 
     is and how much you desperately need Him will increase. Beyond His blessings and 
     favor, you and I must keep in mind that His Presence is the true Source of our lives and 
     must be the ultimate yearning and desire of our hearts. Prayer makes this possible.

          Psalms 16:11 (ESV)

               "You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of 

               joy; a your right hand are pleasures forevermore."

Reschedule your life to make prayer a celebrated priority. It is the gateway to everything you need in life, because God assures us that He hears us when we pray (1 John 5:14). I guess M.C. Hammer said it best in his 1990 hit... "you've got to pray just to make it today!"