HOW TO ENJOY THE LORD
I was raised without a father. My parents were divorced when I was a baby. I grew up longing for a father. So great
was my yearning, I was actually jealous when other kids spoke of being spanked. I wanted a dad who would paddle me, take me camping and be a pal to me. I needed someone to show me how to get along with others, to grow
up and face daily problems. Well, I never had that privilege until I was 30 years old. That's when I was born of God's Spirit, the day I was saved. The joy of having a Father at last was
overwhelming. I was thrilled at being able to address someone as "Father." I reveled in my new found relationship with the Lord. It was fun having a Father Who was so rich and famous.
In time, however, I began to take Him for granted. I fell into the practice of thinking what I could get out of Him. I was so busy figuring out ways T0 PRAY AND GET THE ANSWERS, it never occurred to me He might have needs too.
Then one day I was studying the book of Samuel. I came to the place where it says, "The boy Samuel MINISTERED UNTO THE LORD" (1 Sam. 3:1). I was arrested by that name, because my middle name is Samuel. As I pondered those
words, the Holy Spirit began to rebuke me for the callous way I was treating my Father. From that day on I began to be mindful of the Lord's needs. OUR LORD DOES HAVE NEEDS
When I was a lad, there was a rich man who lived in a big white house on a knoll at the edge of our town. He practically owned the city. We used to envy his
wealth and power. As kids do, we'd speculate as to how nice it would be to have all that money and be able to buy anything we wanted. We thought Mr. Z . . .
was the luckiest man in the world. But one day, I had come in from hunting and cut through his peach orchard. I ran across Mr. Z ... sitting on a box behind a shed at the rear of his big house.
He was crying. He tried to hide his tears, but finally he confided to me that his heart was breaking out of loneliness. He had lots of relatives and people trying
to GET things out of him, but no one who truly loved him for himself. I never again thought of him as the luckiest man in the world. Now isn't it true that we think of God the same way? Don't we see Him as rich
and powerful and living in the big white house on the hill? With all of His wealth and power, He can have anything He wants. Why, He owns "the cattle on a
thousand hills!" What could He possibly need from us? We don't think of Him as needing anything, do we? But that just isn't true. He doesn't have everything He
needs. Our God is a person and He has the same needs as any other person regardless of His wealth and power. Please don't be offended, but here are some things I feel are genuine needs of God:
HOW TO MINISTER TO THE LORD
If you tend to think of God as a formal, stuffy Person, I hope you'll get over it. He hates formality. Formality separates people. Try getting formal with your husband or wife and see what it does. It won't draw you closer 
together. The Lord wants us to be ourselves around Him. He likes to have us INFORMAL—well, INTIMATE is a better word. After all, we're
ONE SPIRIT with Him. That's closer than being "ONE FLESH" with a wife (1 Cor. 6:17). So formality is out. When it comes to ministering to the Lord, INTIMACY is the
key.
© Linda Lovett, 2000
Did not the apostle Paul teach us to address God as "Papa?" That's the meaning of the Aramaic word, "Abba!" (Rom.
8:15). That's pretty informal, right? What I am suggesting is that when we pray, we forget formality and try loving Him for Who He is. Our God is really delightful—as a Person. There is no one like Him anywhere. There are things
about Him that just won't quit, things such as His patience, faithfulness, gentleness and mercy. There is absolutely NO LIMIT to His mercy. If you were to ask His forgiveness 100 times in a single day, it would not be too much
for Him. And the last time He forgave, would be as wholehearted as the first. Beyond that He has no favorites, showing no partiality whatsoever. He has no ups or downs, for He never changes. He is the "same yesterday, today
and forever!" (Heb. 13:8). Our Lord is the most charming Person one could meet. You can fall in love with someone like that easily. Chatting with the Lord should be as natural as breathing. If we go to the store to purchase something and a choice has to be made, we should consult with Him. He can
give wisdom in a flash. That's FUN for Him and us. When we dine out with others, we should do more than toss Him a token blessing and then forget Him. He wants to be included in our good times. And
it hurts Him to be treated as a spectator. He's not a wet blanket. He enjoys humor, after all He invented it. And He can share it with us. When we sing, it shouldn't be merely for our own
enjoyment. Some of our singing should be love songs—to Him. And when we have problems, it honors Him so when we bring them to Him and say, "Father, this is beyond me.
You're going to have to handle it." Then as you relax and trust Him, He'll whisper to your spirit ... "Stand aside son, I'll show you how this is done." For your joy and
amazement, He'll take great delight in solving your problem before your eyes. Are you shocked that I would speak of our God in such human terms. I'm aware of His greatness and majesty. I
know He's the Most High God. But He is in a place to be hurt. And He gets hurt plenty—especially by us. We grieve Him more than we care to admit. I love my heavenly Father and I'm not about to insult Him or be disrespectful to Him.
What I'm talking about is LOVING HIM and taking real good care of Him. I'm using words I think will alert Christians to the fact that He has needs and we must minister to them. We're all He has. We should take the trouble to shower
affection and praise on Him because He needs it—and deserves it. HOW I MAKE MYSELF AWARE OF HIM
AS NATURAL AS BREATHING
My daughter Linda did a nice thing for me. She presented me with an oil painting of the Lord that hangs over my computer. I'm looking at it this moment. It's called
"ALONE WITH HIM." It shows Jesus in prayer. It is that scene when Jesus went into the mountain to be alone with His Father after feeding the multitude (Matt. 14:23).
I think of Him as praying for me and it draws my heart to Him. You may laugh at that, but this picture does much to keep the Lord before me all the time.
Sometimes I get so busy working FOR the Lord, I forget all about Him. Then my eye catches sight of the painting and I STOP my work and take a moment for fellowship WITH HIM. I praise Him for His patience and understanding. I give
Him the attention and praise He longs for and He floods my soul with the PRESENCE I crave. I can feel those everlasting arms crushing me to His big
heart. That's not a bit irreverent. It is exactly what James asks us to do ... "Draw nigh to the Lord and He will draw nigh to you" (James 4:8). I think that verse is an invitation to CUDDLE WITH CHRIST!
The Lord prompted me to write a book called LONGING TO BE LOVED. It shows Christians how to "cuddle up" to Jesus in the "secret place" of their imaginations.
Another thing that makes me more attentive to the Lord is my personal witnessing. He says to us, "If a man loves Me he will obey Me" (John 14:21). So I try to make my witnessing an ACT OF LOVE, a gift for Jesus. The.
discipline of it keeps His Spirit in touch with mine. That's because there is no way to witness apart from His Spirit. It is part of the "romance" to be looking for new ways to
share Him with others. You know how an attentive husband is always bringing his wife things to keep their marriage exciting. I look for opportunities to do "little things" for
Jesus. It might be something as simple as helping someone who has run out of gas or leaving a tract in a phone booth. But I have never done anything like that without feeling His intense pleasure in my soul. He lets me
know He enjoys the thought. I've shared with you three things that
help me to be more attentive to Jesus—Linda's painting, prayer and simple acts of witnessing. They might also help your "romance" with Him. But no matter how you choose to remind yourself of Him,
make sure it draws your heart to Him, Someone Who desperately loves you and needs you. Make yourself aware of His SPECIFIC GLORIES such as His patience, gentleness, faithfulness and mercy, and you'll love Him for
WHO HE IS rather than His abilities. We don't love our children for their abilities do we? No, we love them because they are ours. And so should it be with the Lord. Rather than going to our Father only when we need
something from Him, let's develop the habit of going to Him because He NEEDS US. And then lavish our love and affection on Him. When you think what it does to His heart to have us come because we adore Him and want to heap
our praise on Him, something is added to our lives ... C. S. Lovett © C. S. Lovett 1997 This article appeared in our Maranatha Family
Mini-Magazine for April 1997. Go to our 
REMEMBER—HE NEEDS YOU
THE THRILL OF ENJOYING THE LORD!
This article is Copyright 2000 by Dr. C. S. Lovett and is found on www.cslovettbooks.com