Hello, is the President available?

Calling Upon the White House
Presidents  typically say they are committed to creating an open and accessible administration. So recently I called the White House to visit with President Obama about some of my personal concerns. A receptionist answered the phone, “White House.” I asked if I could talk to the President and that I had some concerns. She transferred me to another line. I received a tape recording “President’s Comment Line” and then the recording said, “We are closed.”

So much for my personal concerns.

Calling Upon God
When I call upon God in prayer, He is not that way. The call always goes through. No foreign voice on the other end. No recording. No support staff is going to answer.   He’s not out of the office when we call. He’s not disinterested in our concerns. We’re not boring him. We can never talk too long. He will hear us out. - You get my point. We are His children. He loves each of us as if there is only one of us.

Prayer is our means of calling Heavenly Father, the Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. Only a fool would not take advantage of such a resource. Think of it - a personal conversation with the creator of the universe!

Our Heavenly Father has a voice to speak, ears to hear, eyes to see, and angels to send. There really is an almighty God with whom we can have a personal relationship. I can talk to Him and He can talk to me. David O. McKay said "You cannot imagine an effective prayer without visualizing and feeling a personal God." (Treasures of Life, Deseret Book, 1963, p. 308.)

Relationship, Relationship, Relationship
Therapy research has now identified the “therapeutic relationship” or sometimes referred to as “therapeutic alliance” as being more powerful than any specific psychological technique! That is, the therapist’s relationship with the patient, rather than techniques or theoretical orientations, are the more important aspects of effectively changing another’s life.

As mental health professionals, we are trained that the alliance with the patient is most effective when the therapist exhibits some of the following traits: warmth, friendliness, genuineness, empathy, active listening skills, and concern.

If this is true for relationships on earth, it is true for relationships in heaven.

Who better than God to have a perfect relationship with YOU.
Having a relationship with God, changes YOUR life.

When God is believed in as our Eternal Father, we can to a degree understand our relationship to him—that he is the Father of our spirits, a loving parent who is interested in his children individually and whom they can love with all their hearts, might, mind, and strength. Such a belief is essential to true prayer because intelligent beings will not pray fervently to a God they do not know. Such praying will be done only by people who believe their prayers can be heard and answered by an understanding, sympathetic parent. ("Pray Always" An address delivered at general conference October 7, 1944 by Marion G. Romney.)

God Smiles When He Hears From You and I

When God hears us calling Him, he rejoices. Even if we’ve done wrong. Like the prodigal son coming home. The father wanted to see his son and celebrated his return. “But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him” (Luke 15: 20).

That’s the picture we need to have of God when we visualize Him in prayer.

As we make a habit of approaching God in prayer, we will come to know Him and draw ever nearer to Him. If you don’t feel the power of His relationship - the therapeutic alliance - keep calling back, keep asking for God. Eventually, a personal relationship will come. Promise. It cannot NOT happen! (Eternal truths are just that way.)

As a shrink, I promise regardless of the challenges you face, the most powerful life changing resource I could ever offer you would be, developing a personal relationship with God.

“And this is life eternal, that [YOU and I] might know thee the only true God, … “ (John 17:3.)

So we have some time. :)

Check out this video: Prayer

 

Challenge
Develop YOUR relationship with God by doing the following:
1) Find a place that you can be alone for just a minute or two. Go there.
2) Imagine like you are the prodigal son/daughter and He anxiously awaits your visit.
3) Feel of His PERFECT love for you -

“Think of the purest, most all-consuming love you can imagine. Now multiply that love by an infinite amount—that is the measure of God’s love for you … Though we are incomplete, God loves us completely. Though we are imperfect, He loves us perfectly. Though we may feel lost and without compass, God love encompasses us completely. He loves us because He is filled with an infinite measure of holy, pure, and indescribable love." (Dieter F. Uchtdorf, The Love of God, October 2009)

4) Follow these steps again, tomorrow and the next day, and the next day...5) Be aware of and follow your impressions.


dr rick