As followers of Jesus, we have heard from preachers and read in the Scriptures about the love of God for us, His daughters and sons. But how many of us actually experience the love of God in a way that goes beyond mere head theology to a living experience of the heart? From my personal experience and dialoging with hundreds of Christians, there seems to often be a gap between our head knowledge and our heart experience.
In the Spring of 2013, I was at a prayer conference with my wife and a colleague of mine. Toward the end of the conference when the participants were to receive prayer from prayer servants, my colleague said somewhat hesitantly, "Jared, I need to tell you something.." I could tell the Lord put something on her heart, so I said, "Go ahead and speak freely." She responded, "Jared, sometimes you're judgmental." I thanked her and I sat down to take this to the Lord. I asked the Lord if I was judgmental and He quickly confirmed! Little did I know that this confronting of my sin would begin a pursuit of knowing the love of the Father.
Fast-forward to the Fall of 2013, I was at a conference on Evangelism and Mission. At the end of a session, we joined a prayer partner to pray. As I was debriefing, I was struck with a sudden realization that there were blocks in my heart that were keeping me from the love of the Father. I was stunned. I thought I knew God's love. I had been a Christian for about fifteen years, served in ministry, seen miracles and led many people to Christ. Didn't I know God's love for me?
I then proceeded to attend a scheduled prayer appointment I had signed up for. I met with a man and woman about the age of my parents and we opened in listening prayer (simply listening to God speak, if He wishes to say anything). The man than asked if I was familiar with "prophetic prayer" (basically God giving a message to someone on behalf of another) to which I replied, "yes." The man then described a picture to which I had no idea the meaning. He then interpreted the picture, and the message was basically the exact same thing the Lord had just told me 20 minutes earlier! God was compassionately serious. There were blocks in my heart that were keeping me from receiving His love.
Thus began a journey since then of God diving deep into my sin to clean me out and healing my heart of many deep wounds, many of which I did even not know were there. And guess what? I'm still in progress.
God has shown me that there are blocks in all of our hearts that keep up from receiving His love. These blocks can be sin, unhealed wounds, incorrect perceptions of God or who we are as His daughters and sons, and the list can go on.
So take a moment and ask the Holy Spirit, "What are the blocks in my heart that are keeping me from receiving the Father's love?" (Psalm 139:23-24). Now wait until you feel He is done speaking to you and write down what He showed you. And recognize, the Holy Spirit may give you an image, a Scripture, a word, an impression. He speaks to different people in different ways.
I am learning at the core of love is worth, value and significance. As fallen humans, we often define our worth, value and significance by what we do, as opposed to who we are. In the Kingdom of God, this is quite the opposite. The Father's heart for you, as His child, is what gives you your worth, value and significance. Can you believe that? Do you believe that? If right now, you stopped doing everything and never did a single thing again for the rest of your life, that Father's love for you would still be the same.
I had a realization this morning that at the end of your lives, it will not really matter how much we did or what we did for God, but how intimately we knew Him. (Please take a moment to read Matthew 7:22-23). God is more concerned for our being with Him than our doing for Him.
"A person can only receive what is given to them from heaven" (John 3:27). We can only receive what God Himself gives us. We cannot earn it, but simply ask and wait for Him to break through our hearts and instill His love.
We must position ourselves well before the Father to receive His love. I encourage you to begin to pray daily or as the Spirit leads you, "Father, I ask that you remove all the blocks in my heart and life that are keeping me from receiving your love." Then wait. And be ready. God takes our prayers seriously and He loves to answer the prayer of lavishing you with His love! (1 John 3:1). And take caution. Praying this prayer will be like placing an onion in God's hands as He pulls back each layer, one at a time. These layers may include God confronting you in your sin and putting His healing finger in your open wounds. Some of these will be ones you already know of, and others God will reveal to you on His perfect time.
Sisters and brothers, at the end of our lives, Jesus won't really care (to an extent) how much you did for Him, but will be more concerned with how much He intimately knew you. This intimacy comes from receiving the Father's love. Let us move forward by waiting and asking God to remove all the blocks in our hearts and lives that are keeping us from receiving His love.
Jesus, may we know the Father's love as deeply as you did here on earth. Amen.
Recommended readings to grow deeper in the Father's love:
- Abba's Child, Brennan Manning
- Hiding From Love, John Townsend
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