Pastor's Corner: CREATOR

In your prayer time, have you ever paused to consider ... no, really consider, the one to whom you are addressing? Who is it that you are speaking to? Is it your heavenly Father? What does that mean exactly? Do you pray to the friend you have in Jesus? Those are pleasant conversations to have. Perhaps you pray to the indwelling Spirit - that is, if you can wrap your head around that one.

The point is, when we pause to consider who we are speaking to, it might alter the dialogue just a bit. After all, how we approach a mighty king is different than the way we might speak to a loving father, which can be different from the way we petition a magic genie. When we pause to consider who we are addressing, we enter into our conversation with different expectations and understandings.

Do you pray for more provision or protection in your life? Who better to turn to than Abba, Father? Maybe you seek direction in your life. You could appeal to Adonai - the Lord and Master. Maybe you need healing. Call out to Jehovah Rapha - the Mighty Healer. Maybe you just want to thank God for the blessings in your life. Then you could praise El Shaddai - the All Sufficient One.

These are all different names and characteristics of God that we can appeal to, but how often do you pray to Him as Creator?

Have you ever put much thought into that? Our mighty, powerful Creator who made everything that ever was - out of absolutely nothing. The only raw material our Creator ever needed to work with was the inspiration of His love and the very vapor of His breath. He said, "Let there be..." and it was so. And this Mighty Creator can number the hairs on your head because He put them there. Or, as some may testify - God giveth and God taketh away!

It was no slip of the lips that all that exists came to be. It was no faint gasp that breathed life into all that lives. And it was not by accident that you and I were made in the very image of God. It was all done with intentionality.

God created us for a purpose - to be in relationship with Him. Relationships demand communication, and how we communicate can shift according to the character of the one we are addressing.

But how do we pray to an all powerful Creator God?

I think David can give us a clue. David was in close relationship with God. He's even known as the man after God's own heart. But even David messed up. Even David made bad choices. And when he came to recognize the error of his ways, it was to Elohim - Mighty, Creator God, who David turned to.

"Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right  spirit within me," David prayed (Psalm 51:10).

David knew that God had not retired from creating. And it was to the Creator that David turned to when something inside Him needed to be made new.

You, too, have Creator God available to you. When something inside you has soured or perhaps when you need a renewed perspective on life, you can appeal to the One who can "create in me..." When circumstances seem to have put a strangle hold on you, cry out to the Creator to breathe life into that part of you that is dying.

Whatever picture of God you turn to, whether it be His creative side, His nurturing side, His healing side, maybe even his teaching and disciplining side - take comfort in the fact that it all falls under the umbrella of love. God is love (1 John 4:8, 16). And whatever God creates this year, He creates out of love.

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Theresa Danley, CLP

Milk River Churches