The Pursuit of God

I've been reading a lot this summer/year, but if there is one book I would recommend above all others (besides the Bible), it would be A.W.Tozer's The Pursuit of God. Tozer paints a real and intimate picture of a relationship with Christ. He doesn't use grand stories or quotes from a ton of different authors; he is merely putting on paper what God is doing in his life. Seriously, every chapter rocked me. I don't even know what to write about right now. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be able to stop writing if I tried reviewing the whole book. I suppose I'll just talk about a couple of chapters and hope for the best.

He writes in such a simple style, but every sentence convicts you while getting you excited for a more intimate relationship with Christ. And when I say relationship, I don't mean a pray once a day, maybe read your bible, maybe think about God several times

type of relationship. No, Tozer shares some of the possibilities of a deeply personal, living, breathing relationship with the Creator of the universe. We often forget that God is a relational person, even more so than we are. It takes time to form a deep relationship with a friend, and it's no different with God. It requires time and energy; we can't just pray "God, bring me into a deeper relationship with you" once and expect a dramatic change to occur.

Case in point. I intended to write a sentence just now, and now I have a whole paragraph before me. Oh joy.

Let me try to go through a couple of chapters. Chapter 2 is titled "The Blessedness of Possessing Nothing," and it is so applicable to us, especially since we have grown up in the materialistic place that is America. Here's the quote from the second page where I knew this chapter was going to affect me:

There is with the human heart a tough, fibrous root of fallen life whose nature is to possess, always to posses. IT covets things with a deep and fierce passion. The pronouns my and mine look innocent enough in print, but their constant and universal use is significant. They express the real nature of the old Adamic man better than a thousand volumes of theology do.

Oh man. Guess who uses those pronouns way too much? This guy. And I bet that if you make an effort to think about how much you use them too, you'll be shocked and disgusted. Tozer goes on to say that the "poor in spirit" are those who have removed from their hearts every sense of possessing. Ok, Tozer says it better than I do.

[The poor in spirit] have reached an inward state of paralleling the outward circumstances of the common beggar in the streets of Jerusalem. That is what the word poor as Christ used it actually means. These blessed poor are no long slaves to the tyranny of things.

Now while each chapter has great ideas and really rock me, it's the prayers at the end of each chapter that are awesome! Seriously, after I read a chapter, I would think to myself "What do say to God in response to this?" and boom, there's Tozer with the perfect prayer to bring to God. Honestly, I feel like me praying Tozer's prayer is better than me trying to think of something to pray in response to what I just learned. That being said, Here is one of those prayers:

Father, I want to know Thee, but my cowardly heart fears to give up its toys. I cannot part with them without inward bleeding, and I do not try to hide from Thee the terror of the parting. I come trembling, but I do come. Please root from my heart all those things which I have cherished so long and which have become a very part of my living self, so that Thou mayest enter and dwell there without a rival. Then shalt Thou make the place of Thy feet glorious. Then shall my heart have no need of the sun to shine in it, for Thyself wilt be the light of it, and there shall be no night there.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

Yeah, it's fantastic. Let me give another example of Tozer's work.

Chapter 6 is titled "The Speaking Voice," and as the title implies, it's all about listening to the voice of God. God's voice is not a voice that spoke, but a voice that is speaking. He is not done speaking to us by giving us the Bible. No, He is an ever-present voice that is always speaking to us. However, we have made a cacophony (I love that word) in our daily lives that makes it difficult to hear the voice of God, although He still makes it shine through.

Religion has accepted the monstrous heresy that noise, size, activity and bluster make a man dear to God. But we may take heart. To a people caught in the tempest of the last great conflict God says, "Be still, and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10), and still He says it, as if He means to tell us that our strength and safety lie not in noise but in silence.

I know for me, this rang so true. I feel like my entire day is multitasking, and I never have time to sit down and focus on one thing. Yet that is exactly what God is asking of me. He says to give Him my complete attention so He can talk to me and bring into deeper relationship with Him. A lot of times I feel like I don't have "time" for that, because I'm so "busy," but when I do give it all of my attention to God, it is a thousand times better than trying to get a million things done as quickly as possible. How good does it feel to close your computer, turn off your cell phone, find a quiet place (which is difficult sometimes, I know. Frat houses can be loud) and spend your time solely focusing on the Lord. I think those are the times God teaches me the most. And you know what, when I go back to my crazy multitasking, I'm not stressed out like I thought I'd be after an hour of quiet time. Touche God.

Here is the prayer from the end of chapter 6. Read it, think about it, and pray it yourself. Tozer says "The Voice of God is a friendly Voice. No one need fear to listen to it unless he has already made up his mind to resist it." But know that if you are sincere about these prayers, be prepared for whatever God wants you to do. Saying you're giving more of yourself to God and actually giving more of yourself to God are completely different things. As hackneyed as this phrase has become. "You talk the talk, but do you walk the walk?" it is true with God. Sorry, that was a tangent, here's the prayer.

Lord, teach me to listen. The times are noisy and my ears are weary with the thousand raucous sounds which continuously assault them. Give me the spirit of the boy Samuel when he said to Thee, "Speak for thy servant heareth." Let me hear Thee speaking in my heart. Let me get used to the sound of Thy voice, that its tones may be familiar when the sounds of earth die away and the only sound will be the music of Thy speaking voice.

Amen.

There is a raucous in our ears as well as our hearts and minds. I really encourage you to take some time with the Lord. Only with God. Not God and your computer. Not God and your phone. Not God and your music. Just you and God. See what He shows you; I'm pretty sure it'll be sweet. (By the way, Tozer talks about the God-and-____ problem in Chapter 1)

Also, go get this book and read it. It's worth it, even if you don't like reading. Tozer shares more in 119 pages than a lot of authors could do in 300 or more. More content, less pages=great day.