Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.     Romans 12:10

We must also consider how to encourage each other to show love and to do good things. We should not stop gathering together with other believers as some of you are doing. Instead, we must continue to encourage each other even more as we see the day of the Lord coming.–Hebrews 10:24-25

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us–whatever we ask–we know that we have what we asked him.-John 5:14-15

 

Love is God

I have cried for love,
I have lied for love,
But the world denied me love.
I had to find my love in God.

I have sought for love,
I have fought for love,
But it never brought me love.
I had to find my love in God.

All the masks and pretending
Only brought more distress
As weak attempts to impress
With a thinly built façade.

Using distraction to disguise
The demons I was fighting.
They sometimes felt exciting;
But none brought me close to God.

I was heading for a dead end
And I needed a new start.
I Asked God with a pure heart.
By Grace, He called me saved.

Without a moment’s hesitation
I was adopted as His own,
With open arms welcomed home.
His love defied the grave.

I no longer cry for love
And I don’t have to lie for love
The world still denies me love.
But I’ve found that love is God.
©Linda Troxell 03/21/2016

 

We often hear people talk about not being able to live without everything from chocolate to cell phones, from reality shows to their dog. But, the truth is, there are only a few things we need to sustain life. We need oxygen, of course, food, water and, believe it or not, we need love expressed through affection. There have been many studies proving that when babies do not get enough nurturing, in the form of human touch, their development is affected. In fact, babies who were raised in orphanages during and after World War II with only minimal care failed to thrive. And many of them died. That led to studies proving that without enough love and affection, from caretakers, babies cannot develop properly and may even die.

Of course, adults will not die if they don’t receive affection or love. But, those who don’t get an adequate amount of human touch, are proven to be sadder, more often depressed, lonelier and more frequently ill than those for who the need for human contact is met. This suggests that for humans love is more than emotional fulfillment, it is life sustaining. It also explains why most of us seek love throughout our entire lives.

We are social beings. God made us interdependent so we would need one another to get our needs met. And He exhorts us to provide one another with the affection we need. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.–Romans 12:10.  But not everyone is able to find love and affection from others in their lives. Some don’t have anyone physically or emotionally close enough from who they can receive affection. Others, don’t have the social skills to establish relationships in which they can receive affection. And for all of us, we cannot depend on the fact that those who now give us affection will always be with us.

God would never make us with a need that he was unwilling to help us meet. So, if we are not getting the love that we need from our fellow human beings, it doesn’t mean that we must give up. God is waiting to give us all of the love we need. He knows that His children are becoming more and more isolated from one another. And while He would rather have us draw closer together without His intervention, He surely will not allow us to remain sad, depressed and ill while waiting for that to happen. God is love, He will fill us with all of the love we need if we just turn to Him in prayer. But that is not really the cure. For, while God’s love, and a strong relationship with Him, can supply us with everything we need to live, human contact is still a part of what we need to thrive.

Still, prayer and a stronger relationship with God is the first part of the answer. Because the more we feel loved by God, the less we will feel sad and depressed. When we are not depressed it is more likely we can find the motivation and confidence to establish relationships with others. This is important because we cannot ask God to help us to find more human affection and then spend all of our time sitting at home alone. God very much wants to help us, but He does expect us to do our part. If we want to have more love and affection in our lives, we must have interaction with others; thus, we need to go the places where we might find the interactions which can lead to relationships, which can lead to love and affection. The Bible tells us: We must also consider how to encourage each other to show love and to do good things. We should not stop gathering together with other believers as some of you are doing. Instead, we must continue to encourage each other even more as we see the day of the Lord coming.-Hebrews 10:24-25

That said, we still need to begin as we always begin, by asking God to help us. We can include our need for affection in our normal prayer time but we also need to kick it up a notch. First, we need to confess to God that we are lonely and in need of affection. Then we need to ask Him to help us to find that affection. Don’t forget what John told us about prayer: This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us-whatever we ask-we know that we have what we asked him.-John 5:14-15. We know that having affection is according to God’s will because He made us to be dependent on one another.

By humbling ourselves before God and admitting that we are lonely, we show God that we trust Him. By asking Him to help, we let Him know we are asking for His help rather than merely venting to Him about our loneliness. These are the actions that activate God’s help. Next, we need to find out what God Word says about what we are asking for. We need to study the Bible regarding loneliness, affection, interdependence, or anything relevant to our request for love and affection. Then we can wait for God to tell us what He wants us to do, to tell us what our part is in resolving our problem?

God is always there to help us with our problems. But He wants us to join with Him in solving the problem. God wants to meet our needs, but he is not Santa Clause. We can’t just make a list of our desires and sit back and wait for him to deliver. We must always be willing to work with God to meet our needs. If we pray to God, telling Him what is missing in our lives and asking Him for His help that begins the process. Then studying His word gives us insight into what He has to say about the issue, allowing us to pray according to His will. The two things together help us to be more open to what God is asking us to do in order to help Him solve our problem. And finally, we act on what God tells us.

If we are willing to take these steps, God will meet us where we are and help us to get where we want to be. But, God will not interfere in our lives until He is invited. That means we have to say, “God I am asking for your help.” and then tell Him what we need. This activates God to join us in solving our problem. If we add God’s own words to the prayer, it supercharges it. That’s because angels hearken to God’s word. They don’t respond to our complaining, they don’t hear our grumbling, or notice our tears; but when they hear God’s word, they are all in. Now, we have a very powerful prayer and we are ready to listen carefully to hear God’s instructions and to follow through on what He asks of us. If we ask God for help in this manner and then join with Him in changing our situation, we will almost certainly manifest what we prayed for.

 

 

Points for Prayer and Pondering

1. What need do you have, right now, that you would like to ask God to help you with?
2. Why have you not yet prayed for God’s help in this area? Would you be willing to try the method you just read about to ask God for help with this need or problem?
3. Write out a prayer telling God what you need and asking Him to help you get it. Then look up at least 4 Bible verses about the thing for which you are asking and copy them under the prayer you wrote.
4. Did you learn anything about God’s will from the verses? Did the verses help to clarify anything for you?
5. Now revise the prayer you wrote using some of the words from one or more of the verses you copied. Now you have a powerful prayer containing God’s own words and you’re ready to use it to pray to God asking Him to help you get your need met or your desire fulfilled. After you have prayed this prayer to God, ask Him what He wants you to do. Now, sit back and just listen for a bit so He can tell you what your part is.