Tuning Our Attention to God
Have you ever learned something new, and the concept popped up several times the following week? Or did you buy a new car and suddenly see the same model all around town? Did your knowledge or ownership suddenly increase the prevalence? Nope, you just weren’t aware of it or looking for it before. Millions of pieces of information flow to us each day, but we can’t absorb it all; so much of it gets ignored.
This is similar to attempting to multitask. Human beings actually can’t multitask. They’re just dividing their attention into smaller chunks. I think this is one of the primary reasons we often proclaim not to see God in our daily lives. We don’t see God at work because we aren’t offering God our attention. Prayer alters this outcome by tuning our attention to God.
The first part of the Lord’s prayer says this:
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come;
thy will be done;
on earth as it is in heaven.
The very act of uttering these words begins to tune our attention to God. We connect relationally. We declare the hope that everyone would know about God’s goodness. We pray for God’s kingdom, one of love, justice, and beauty, would come. Finally, we desire that heaven (i.e., God’s realm) and earth would join together. This prayer tunes us into God just like adjusting the radio dial can tune us into the Yankees game. If we don’t tune in, we miss it.
Tuning into God through prayer will transform your life.
HOPE
First, you will gain a vision of hope. In Christ’s life, death, and resurrection, we see God make a way where there was no way. This is still the mode of God’s action. Therefore we can pay attention to places where there seems to be no way and look for the new way that might be breaking in. We wait for the complete inauguration of God’s Kingdom for death and evil to be defeated, but until then, God is at work bringing restoration and turning the world back to the good.
TRANSFORMATION
Second, this transformation will cause you to wrestle. Prayer grounds us in the wrestle of loving the world. We see this from Jesus as he wrestles in the garden, knowing his death is imminent and necessary, but desiring another option. Our wrestle will be hearing our voice lobby for an easier path and God’s voice leading us in the way of love.
LOVE
Finally, tuning into God through prayer will grow you in love. God’s work in our life is to grow us in love. In prayer, we will hear God’s voice offering us words of love. What a gift to hear from our Father that we are loved, especially when we aren’t sure that’s true! We will also be encouraged to love the world that God loves.
A closing tip: use a journal (digital or paper). It’s easy for our attention to drift, but when writing or typing, we focus more. Use these two questions in your time of prayer:
Where might God be bringing resurrection?
How might I grow in love?
