What God Asks Of Us

In essence, there is only one thing God asks of us--that we be men and women of prayer, people who live close to God, people for whom God is everything and for whom God is enough. ~ Brennan Manning, the Ragamuffin Gospel

The Ragamuffin Gospel changed my life and completely changed how I view God. There is a lot about being a Christian and living a Christian life that I find hard to understand and confusing. There is a lot about following Christ that I never feel like I will be able to do enough of - helping the poor, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked. There are so many ways in which I fail at living up to the expectation I have for myself when it comes to my faith. And, in the midst of all of that, I read The Ragamuffin Gospel and felt peace.

There are a lot of commands, a lot of things that are good for Christians to do and a lot of ways we are called to be set apart, different, and unique. The foundation of that 'being different' is prayer - reaching out to an unseen hand and asking for His guidance in all we say and do.

It's easy to get caught up in the do's and don'ts of religion - it's easy to dwell on the ways we fail, the ways we fall short, and the ways we do not make a difference. When the essence of our call as a Christian is boiled down to the above quote - be a people of prayer - live close to God - God is everything - God is enough - those are things I think I can handle, goals I think I can meet, expectations I think I can exceed.

Choose today to be a person for whom God is enough and God is everything. Choose today to be a people of prayer. Choose today to live close to God. In doing those things, the rest of your Christian walk may become easier to see, even if the 'doing' part still seems almost impossible!

Prayer: Help me today to focus on the reality of what You expect of me - that I am a person of prayer - that I live close to You and that I rest in the fact that You are enough for me. Amen.