My very own personal God

Take a number and have a seat.

“Number 44? 45? Number 46?”

You look down at your number as the lady at the DMV calls for the next person in line with not even the slightest hint of concern or interest in the person she's about to meet.

Number 97. Wonderful. You have the pleasure of waiting for another 51 people to go ahead of you before you have your own opportunity to have your automotive needs met by the irritated, impatient lady behind the counter.

You wonder, in fact, if the place will close before your number is even called.

Does this sound familiar? I mean, do you ever find yourself in God's waiting room, frustrated and doubting that he's even interested in you at all?

Many people's prayer lives are marked by a lack of power, little life and little hope due to the fact that they don't understand their connection to God.

I have my very own personal God… and so do you.

He's not a statue on the dashboard of my car and he's not some invented, mystical imagination.

Jesus is always, continually with me. Please understand, I don't mean a good biblical principle is always with me, or that an understanding of God's love is constant with me.

I literally mean that Jesus Christ is fully accessible and always there. Of course, the Spirit of God dwells within me, but to really drive home the point we need to understand that God himself is personally in my office right now as I type this. I don't have to take a number and I don't have to wonder whether or not he's communicating with me. I can simply walk up to the counter and have a conversation—for as long as I'd like and I can return as often as I'd like. In fact, when I head home, Jesus hitches a ride. When I fall asleep at night, he's right there too.

Ephesians 2:13 (ESV) But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

If this verse relays some religious principle to you, then you've missed it. The blood of Jesus literally and actually resulted in Jesus being very near to you. Not the idea of Jesus—Jesus himself! Again, to effectively communicate what I'm trying to say, I'll say it this way—if you could look with spiritual eyes, you could look just next to you and you'd see him.

The problem is that we naturally try to interpret God and his methods via human reasoning. How can a single God be personally and continually with every Christian, and give them continual attention as if nobody else existed? It just doesn't make sense.

What if we had the revelation that much of the way God operates radically defies human understanding?

Proverbs 3:5 (ESV) Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.

So, now that we are at least beginning to grasp the reality that our number is always the number that's called, and that God, unlike the DMV attendant, is smiling and excited to hear from us, how does that change our prayer life? How does it affect our faith?

For me, it feels amazing when I'm in the place where there is no doubt, no unbelief, no question as to whether God is immediately interacting with me as I engage him. It's easier to worship and smile and rejoice. I can boldly approach the throne of grace. The truth of God's unnatural methods outweigh natural fact.

So, yes, I have no problem sitting in the waiting room waiting for my number to be called. I know I'm always next and I have the joy of meeting over and over with someone who is captivated by me.