In His Likeness w/ AntTBri

Listen in on any womans prayer and it is very likely her petition includes “God give me a man after your own heart” or “make him a man after your heart”.  The imagery that accompanies that assertion and assessment is the stuff fantasies are made of.  We picture the perfect man who says and does all the right things ALL THE TIME.  A man intuned to God’s directive to love us as Christ loves the church. Yes he’s got to be saved (pure), sanctified(perfect) and sacrificial in his nature (push over) to wear the title correctly. What a bias perspective to maintain. How shallow a request if made from immaturity. Have we really considered the implication?

Conceptual understanding of a man after God’s heart would lead one to think they are praying correctly.  The right man should know God in the pardoning of his sins.  He has a relationship with the risen Savior.  He knows his purpose, is personable, passionate and persistent in faith. His giftedness is interchangeable he is a prophet, priest, protector and provider. He is definitely a God kind of man.  He lives and loves reverently.  He reverences God, the gift of life and his ability to represent, replicate and reproduce love advantageously.  He is a gift, a treasure and an amicable counterpart.

Contextually, he is still JUST A MAN. A man who in the strength of his character slays giants, conquers territory, wins battles and wars and leads his nation to victory. He works in conjunction with the HolySpirit and brngs about the God plan. In and of himself he is just a man. It’s God’s Spirit in him, working through him that makes him special, spectacular and sensitive to life and love. He is a contender, a champion of sorts, what we’ve come to know as more than a conqueror.  There is a fierceness, robustness and agression to the masculine expression that has to be tempered by the power of grace. A strength (power), stature (presence), stigma (position) and substance (passion) fueling the plight of living and loving as God’s man.  Sometimes it balances perfectly other times it’s a work in progress.  At all times he remains just a man. He needs understanding when he gets it wrong, undergirding when he is trying to get or make it right. He needs consideration, wise counsel a place to comfortably lay his head and release the contents of his heart.  Headstrong and heart heavy is the normal occurrence of being just a man.  After God’s heart is the distinction of honor.

A man after God’s own heart knows what to do with his flaws, fluctuations and frailty.  Ask King David.  Who in the weakness of his humanity lied, killed and cheated to satisfy his own desire.  He took another man’s wife, failed to vindicate his daughter after she was violated by his son and this same man David was penned to be a man after God’s own heart. We applaud everything he was in the strength of God’s gifting and struggle to reconcile the depiction that contradicts the image of perfection we long to see. David of the bible, the David’s of today are shepherd boys who learn to be sensitive to the needs of their family, friends and flock.  They become skilled in their leadership and decision making.  They evolve into the purposed being after overcoming external and internal threats to their person, purpose and passion.  The man that you see is constantly growing and becoming more.  He is just a man dependent upon the way, work and Word of God to hold life and love together.

Perfection is not a requirement of love effort is. Perspective enlightens one perception.  At best we should petition God for a man who is aware, can accept and address his own weakness in light of the strength of God.  Such man should regularly position his heart posture in his need for mercy and grace. This man can stand, state and secure life and love beyond his limitations. David a man after God’s own heart knew how to humble himself, he knew how to give voice to his heart aches, anger and acquisitions.  The man knew how to articulate, approach and gain an audience with God.  He was a Word master an expert in his craft. He was honest and in hurry to make things right because he realized if he needed anything more than life itself it was his creator and confidant.  He had more than a casual relationship he had a reliance on the GIVER of life and love.  That’s the type of man I want for my sisters and myself. Just a man desiring, determined and demonstrating he’s after God’s heart.

So in making your request for a man after God’s own heart remember to maintain a panoramic view. However, gifted a man he maybe he is still just a man.  A man that needs your prayers, respect and admiration when he is at his best or worst.  He has his strengths and struggles, faith and fears, purpose and problems, mission and mess ups.  He is just a man but if you pray correctly He will ALWAYS BE GOD’S MAN. Someone you can love, support and respect because you’re trusting in the COMPLETE FINISHED Work of Jesus to manifest and materialize.

A man after God’s own heart can teach us something about God’s unfailing love. He gives lively witness to what it means to exemplify purpose in process.  You get to witness the miraculous power of God’s ability to transform and change the hardness of his head and heart while accompanying him hand in hand as you both aim to live and love in God’s likeness.

There are benefits to life and love with a man after God’s own heart.  The fact that he is just a man ensures adventure, discovery and a journey worth taking.  Perfect can get boring, become routine and stiffle passion this way we get to face each day knowing God is continuously working the will to do in us what is HIS good pleasure.  Keep petitioning God for a man or woman after His own heart and be prepared for the totality of their making.  See God bring and birth something life changing about because you chose to believe in the power of relationship. First with God, then with oneself and then with others. A man and woman after God’s heart is the perfect petition when prayed in maturity.  It implies that our commitment is based upon God not our fluctuating feelings, desires or wants.  It’s a life promise that I’ll believe and trust in the God plan and purpose for and in you.  It’s the banner of love that covers, cares and comforts us in our weaknesses and strengths. It’s the affirmation that you need be nothing more than just a man or woman God dependent for me to accept, acknowledge and applaud my choice to love you ALWAYS. We will grow into more together God willing, God working and God’s way is the prayer one prays when considering life and love in perspective~AntTBri