Lies Exposed

Initially, they dispelled the notion that God needed me to work
for Him. They taught—and I believed them—that God wanted
me, first and foremost, to talk and listen to Him every day. They
spoke of how much God loved them, how often He talked to
them—giving them affirmation, ideas, and important messages
for themselves and others. Not one of them spoke about their
successful ministries without attaching their stories to hours or
even months of personal and/or corporate prayer. Without
trying to impress us, or even caring about what we—the
younger generation—thought, they said, “You’ll never be
greater than your prayer life.” This convicted me. (If someone
asked me to respond, I would have answered, “What prayer
life?”)

Second, these men and women were thirty and forty years
older than me. At the time, my peers and I rarely read books by
dead people. We were most often attracted to the newest and
most innovative ideas, authors, or speakers. And I, in
particular, felt that those who were older (or dead) were
outdated and irrelevant. But the maturity of the conference
speakers, all seasoned leaders, proved that experience was an
advantage—they had proven track records! The depth and
wealth of their knowledge about the “inner life” was refreshing
and appealing and humbling. Even more inspiring were their
amazing stories of answers to prayer, moving me from
stagnation to motivation. I realized that both excitement and
adventure had been missing in my relationship with God for
too many years. I connected the dots—too little time alone
with God equaled too little passion for God.