Experiencing God's Love

In the last lesson, I promised to explain how we learn to experience God's love.

I like to read academic philosophy. I've enjoyed it since I was a teenager. It's so satisfying to follow the crisp, clean logic of analytical thinking.

But sometimes, this gets me in trouble. I'm like a stereotypical absent-minded professor who keeps forgetting things and getting lost (except that I'm not a professor). The only reason I first bought a smartphone was to get turn-by-turn GPS guidance.

The point is, it's easier for me to work with abstract concepts - like "God loves me" - than to experience God's love in my heart.

But after years of therapy, talking to friends, and, yes, reading books, I've learned a key lesson:

**The secret to connecting with God is to vulnerably share our hearts with him.**

Here's how I put it:

**I can tell God anything and everything.**

That insight is the difference between going through the motions and experiencing God's love.

For me, prayer has three movements:

**First, remember that God loves me.**
**Second, gain awareness of what's going on in my heart. What am I feeling?**
**Third, share the honest truth of my heart with the God who loves me.**

Sometimes, the best I can do is to tell God, "I feel numb. But I want to know that you're with me, even when I can't feel much at all."

At other times, I can wholeheartedly pray with David:

*You reveal the path of life to me; in your presence is abundant joy; at your right hand are eternal pleasures.*

There are two places I recommend to anyone starting a new devotional habit.

**The first is the Gospels.** Because slowly reading and savoring the Gospels is the best way to fall in love with Jesus. These records show us how different people reacted to him - and that can illuminate the struggles of our own faith.

**Alternatively, try the Psalms.** They are filled with wisdom and the longings of the human heart. By reading these emotional, sometimes heart-wrenching prayers, I learn how to authentically connect with God.

Either way, picking a single book of the Bible makes it easy to know what to do in your daily devotion. All you need is a Bible and a bookmark, and you're good to go for weeks.