My Favorite part 3
Talking about my favorite verse, "Pray without ceasing," has brought me to share the revelation that, to me, praying without ceasing means loving without ceasing. Because as important as is it to speak to God... it is every bit as important to listen to Him. To have that dialogue. That communion. And when God speaks--when we listen--its always the same thing: I love you. So prayer is about speaking the language of God. Look at John 5:30, "I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me." Jesus didn't speak on His own. He listened to the Father's voice, and repeated what He heard. He heard His heavenly Father say, "You are my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased," and He let that love equip and empower Him to love everybody He came into contact with. Filled to overflowing with love, we let that love of God flow out of us. That's the secret of life. Being loved and loving others with that same love. That's what life is. Because to live is to love and to love is to live. They aren't just connected, they are the same thing. Now look at 1 Corinthians 14:1 in the Message Bible, "Go after a life of love as if your life depended on it--because it does. Give yourselves to the gifts God gives you. Most of all, try to proclaim his truth." And, as I always say, God's truth (the ultimate truth of the universe) is His love for us. God is love and He loves you. The Father loveth the Son and hath given all things into His hands. And we can't proclaim that truth until we know it. Know it and believe it. So, to me, that's what "going after" this life of love is all about. Not getting something we dont' have, but figuring out what we do have. Receiving and releasing the gift we've been given. Receiving it BY releasing it. Releasing it by receiving it. Letting what we've already been filled with fill us to overflowing. That's the life of love. And, to be completely honest, our life DOES depend on it. You can't live without love. I've been saying and saying and saying they are the same thing. You can't have one without the other. In order to truly live, to experience the gift of abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life that we've been given... we have to let God love us and we have to love each other with that same love. Now here's the cool part: When you let God love you, you don't have to force yourself to love anybody. It happens naturally. Because love is our new (true) nature. What's inside WILL come out. When we know and believe that its inside. So giving ourselves to the gift of God means praying without ceasing. Living in His love... all of the time. Dwelling in His love. I'm telling you right now, there's no better place to be. We live because of love. Because God loves us. We love, because He first loved us. We pray by listening to our heavenly Father tell us how much He loves us, and loving each other with that love. And we pray without ceasing by letting the love inside come out with every breath we take and every move we make. That's what life is all about. That's what life is!