God’s love…and its impact on your prayers

Last of a 4-part teaching series

by Jeana Kamp

God is love – all the time! He is the source of it, and it is what moved Him to reach out to the lost…to you, revealing Himself more and more to those who accept Him.

A true concept of God is crucial, for only an understanding of this Creator can give purpose and meaning to your existence and strengthen your faith as a praying American.

All attributes are compatible

The attribute of love is compatible with all His other attributes. As God is eternal, so is His love. “I have loved you with an everlasting love.” (Jeremiah 31:3) This Old Testament word for love is infused with the intensity and stability of the character of God.

His love is infinite. A verse in Frederick W. Faber’s hymn “There’s a Wideness in God’s Mercy” emphasizes the fact that there is no boundary to God’s love:

For the love of God is broader

Than the measures of man’s mind,

And the heart of the Eternal

Is most wonderfully kind.”

Every loving thought

Understand that all that God does, even His discipline of the believer, is an expression of His love. “For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives…that we may share his holiness.” (Hebrews 12:6, 10) Every thought He has of you is one of love.

The prophets of old had a sense of God’s love in every event (Malachi 1:2-3; Hosea 11:1). New Testament believers expanded the meaning of the Greek word agapē to convey the unique dimensions and overwhelming depth of His love. John speaks of it in this way: “In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation [the atoning sacrifice] for our sins.” (I John 4:9-10) The depth of this love is evident in that the sacrifice was made not for God’s friends but for His enemies (Romans 5:8).

His love – impact on you

Now relate the characteristics of the Lord to the impact they should have on you and the way you pray:

• Know the God is sensitive to your sufferings (Psalm 31:7)
• Rejoice in the fact that He answers your prayers (Psalm 66:20; 69:16)
• Grasp in your heart that He remains committed to fulfill his purpose in you (Psalm 138:8)
• Be assured that if you are enveloped in His love, He will cast out all your fears for there is no fear in perfect love (I John 4:18)
• Respond to the love God initiated by loving Him with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind (Matthew 22:37)
• Love and pray for your neighbor (Matthew 22:38)
• Keep yourself in the love of God, allowing Christ to keep you refreshed and renewed in the power of His love (Jude 21-23)
• Pray with confidence, knowing that God will graciously give you all things (Romans 8:31-32)
• Be convinced that nothing will be able to separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:38-39)

The greatest love – and your response

Beloved One, as you pray and study God’s Word, realize that Christ Jesus came in love. He came to reflect the image of God and be an example to you. Now you are called to reflect His love to others. Be motivated to no longer live for yourself but for Him (II Corinthians 5:14-15).

If you feel far from God, remember Christ’s parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32) and come back to the One who loves you and will welcome you with open arms. Know you can come home to the Lord who is passionate over you…whose love never grows cold.

For further study:

• Psalm 36:5
• II Timothy 1:7
• I John 2:15 and 4:7-21
• I Corinthians 13:4-8
• Jude 24-25

Jeana Kamp is a devotional and teaching article writer whose desire for her writing is that the love of God will be evident to each reader. A widow for 12 years but recently remarried, Jeana and her husband live in Gilbert, AZ.