In his book "Christian Doctrine", Dr. Shirley Guthrie says:
"God is not a great heavenly Tyrant who threatens and terrifies us with arbitrary unpredictable divine power that may be for or against us. Nor is God a great heavenly Granddaddy (or Grandmother) who does everything for us and makes our lives smooth, painless, and easy, without expecting or demanding anything of us. Both of these gods are dead idols."
I wonder, who is the God you pause and pray to today? When we pray to the god of righteous judgment and infinite power, either asking god to wield that power against our enemies, or begging god not to use that power against us, we are dismembering the loving nature of the true God we know in Jesus. Yet, when we pray to the god of steadfast love and unconditional mercy, either assuming our words and actions are automatically forgiven by this pushover god, or dismissing the sin and evil in our world as god's problem not ours, we are disgracing the true God we know in Jesus.
Today, when you pray, pray to the God of ridiculous love, grace, and forgiveness AND the God of unyielding justice, holiness, and righteousness. If you find your prayers leaning toward one god without the other, remember, both of those little gods are dead idols.
However, if we can somehow hold them together as one God of love AND justice, then our prayers just might be with the God we know in Jesus.
Blessing, Laughter, and Loving be yours,
Rev. Joel L. Tolbert