by: Jonathan Painter
“He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” Psalm 91:1
It is one thing to say that they read their Bible and prayed every day, but it is another thing to truly have a walk with God. When I was in my teen years, I struggled with this. It was not something that I developed over night. Sometimes it really was a struggle to walk with God; however, I promise you that you will be able to take your Christian life to a new level when you get to the point where you are having a steady walk with God. If one is to accomplish this it takes sincerity, determination and discipline.
If you do not truly have a desire to live for God, then you will not be interested in having a walk with God. If an individual does not have an interest in having a walk with God, they will not have a walk with God. The average Christian does exactly what I did for most of my teen years, this would be to select a portion of Scripture and skim over it, pray for two minutes over the same ten things you prayed for yesterday, and then walk away saying that you have a walk with God. Straighten your halo, you have done it too. This, my friend, cannot truly be called a walk with God; maybe a sprint with God, but not a walk with God. Let me challenge you, my friend, to seek to embark upon a true walk with God.
In my own life I was reared in church, and my father was a preacher and still is. I was taught at a young age the importance of having a walk with God. Sadly, the majority of my quiet times through my teen years were just as I have described above. When I was sixteen, God smote my heart and made me ashamed. Here I was, claiming to be called to the ministry, but unable to truly have a walk with God. It was not like magic, it took time, but that was when I began to understand what it meant to walk with God. I took the time to read my Bible and actually get something out of it that I could apply to my life. Learning how to have a consistent prayer life was something I struggled with all the way into Bible college. In Bible college, I finally began to understand what it meant to pray without ceasing. As a matter of fact, one of my college professors once said, “Never end your morning prayer with a period, but with a comma, then come back to it often during the day.” This was a tremendous help to me.
One thing I have come to understand over those years of my life was that if I am going to be a servant of God, I need to KNOW God. A steady digestion of the Word of God coupled with a constant prayer life is what enables you to get to know God better. When you make it a priority, it becomes a way of living, and you begin to unlock many of the promises found in God’s Word because you walk with Him in the secret place!
Jonathan Painter
Youth Pastor
Lincoln Baptist Church
Lincoln, NE