Don’t Hold Back
Surface-level work is ineffective. Real transformation happens at the root.
“Lord, you have examined me. You know me…You are thoroughly familiar with all my ways.”
Psalms 139:1-3, CEB.
One of the biggest misconceptions about Christianity is that perfection is the goal. I believe we bring this same wrong thinking into our prayer lives. What I mean by this is that we’re honest with God …to a certain extent. It’s not that we try and put on a facade for God intentionally, but we may hold back the full truth of what is really bothering us or what we truly want because we think these are the things we’re not supposed to say or the things we’re not supposed to think or believe. We think, if we’re truly honest, God will judge us, or, even worse, that He won’t bless us if we say what’s really on our minds.
You may not know this, but God already knows. He knows the worst of the worst about you. He knows the ugly truths. He sees the parts that you don’t even realize are there and still loves you perfectly. [“…even the darkness isn’t too dark for you[.]” v. 12, CEB.] My favorite scripture that demonstrates this is Psalms 139: “God’s perfect knowledge of man.”
The reason it’s important to understand that God already knows everything about you is that it helps you to not feel like you need to hide certain things from Him or hold back in your prayer life. I want you to know you can be as honest with God as you need to be. This is the only way we can truly be transformed.
Sometimes we think we’re waiting on God, when God is actually waiting on us to invite Him into the crevices of our lives - our most imperfect parts. Don’t hold back. While God knows us perfectly, He can’t fully move in areas that we don’t invite Him into. And while you may invite God in at a surface level, if you don’t let Him into the root of a thing by being completely honest and vulnerable, you can never fully receive Him in that place.
I highly, highly, encourage you to spend some time this week reading Psalms 139. God knows us perfectly. He does his best work in and for us when we present ourselves fully to him.
“Search me [thoroughly], O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts; and see if there is any wicked or hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way.” Psalms 139:23-24, AMP.