God abeg.

“Why are you forming for someone who can already see your heart?” 

This was the statement I heard years ago that freed me from the mental sets and notions I had about approaching God. “Take a certain physical posture, have an order of events in your fellowship time, don’t rant or talk about your problems, just act like everything is perfect, give thanks, and only pray kingdom-focused prayers.” As I progressed in my faith journey, I learned that as much as I care about my daddy’s kingdom (like Matt 6:33 admonishes), it is okay to express my heart to my father and ask my daddy questions when I don’t understand. “Daddy, where are we going,” “Dear Abba, as much as I truly want to trust you, this process is tough, please, I’m asking that you help me.” We have this image of God as one who is distant and unquestionable, a God we have to put on facades of perfection to approach and hide our pain from. 

If you ask a spiritual leader or someone who has attained maturity in the faith what the steps to spiritual growth are, they’ll most likely tell you prayer, the word, worship, fasting, having a spiritual community, and rightly so. These are all fundamental, don’t get me wrong. But a simple ingredient we sometimes seem to miss is honesty and sincerity before the Lord. Genuine, heart-felt prayers and conversations with God. 

“Lord, if you give me this money, I’ll build 100 churches, 70 schools and do this and that for your kingdom!” Yes, we should genuinely desire to serve God with our resources, but sometimes God would rather that you just say, “Father, please, I need money for this,” than not knowing how to genuinely ask your daddy for your needs. As a child of the Father, there is a beautiful blend between the son who has authority and the child that the father can rock. It is great to know the principles, doctrines, the original Greek or Hebrew words in the bible, but in all these things, it is pertinent that we do not lose our childlikeness and tenderness of heart. 

Sometimes the simplest expression of this childlike dependency on God can be a heart-felt “God abeg.” Not as a last resort for when fire prayers or fasting are seemingly not working, but from knowing that I have a daddy who owns the world and I don’t need to scribble. “God abeg” is pidgin that loosely translates to “God please” in a “jokingly-serious” way. 

Come consistently and honestly before God. Present your ALL. The good and the not-so-good. You don’t have to compartmentalize your life before God because if you don’t lay everything bare, you’ll keep reading your bible, praying, and engaging in spiritual activities, but like water poured over a rock, there’ll be no in-depth transformation; no absorption. Let God be the Lord of your spiritual life, the God of your relationships, your finances, physical and emotional life. If not, you’ll find yourself having compartments in your hearts that you have not allowed God to reach. Allow Him to see and prune you in the ways that He desires. Getting to this point is so beautiful and organic. You experience what the Bible calls the unforced rhythms of grace–that stewarding your relationship with God doesn’t have to feel like a chore because your life is intimately intertwined with Him. Prayer becomes your breath, and abiding becomes easier.