Kingdom CurrencyFaith is the currency of God's economy. It is foundational to relationship with the Father and the Son. Faith is the very cornerstone, in fact.
If you are running a little low on faith, not to worry! It is the Holy Sprit's delight to increase your faith in the Father and the Son. You need only to ask with a sincere heart. He will be more than happy to give you a faith infusion. We have not because we ask not, according to the Scripture.
Faith, that is key to relationship with God, is the faith to believe that He truly desires to hang out with you, faith that you are significant to Him, faith that you are worthy of this Divine relationship, by the power of the Cross.
The truth is that that God's radical relational love is available to His kids 24/7. Daddy's doors are always open. His ears are always fully attentive. Even as He administrates the entire universe, God is never distracted, never preoccupied. His passion for you compels Him to be available all day every day, even on your worst days. The Father's love for you is His priority. His desire for intimate relationship with you never diminishes.
So, why, then does it sometimes feel as though God takes a vacation?
Roadblocks
Fear and shame are the major roadblocks to enjoying dynamic spiritual relationship. They are roadblocks because they deplete faith. Fear and shame are only symptoms, however. They are evidence of subtle lies that have crept into our belief system, often undetected.
The father of lies is quite proficient at his job and begins to bombard us with his subtle deceptions from shortly after birth. Assaulting our personal value and defaming God's nature and character, he imparts both misperceptions and blatant lies. This assault on our belief system continues throughout our lives.
Brick by brick and stone by stone, a stronghold is erected within our beliefs and then camouflaged. Meanwhile our faith is being sapped. Our relationship with God is affected, as our faith is depleted, for faith is the bedrock, upon which of Divine friendship is established.
These deceptions that sap our faith are nearly always attached to areas of our wounding.
Hidden Wounds and Strongholds
Father issues are one of the most likely places to examine for errant beliefs. Your earthly father, even if he was your hero, was like all of us, a weak and broken human being. The fact is, that your biggest hero could also be your biggest roadblock to intimacy with God. This is not to lay blame, in any way, on dad's who did the best they could, and gave the best of what they had to give.
My dad was my biggest hero. He was a big, personable guy, with a wonderful dry wit. He was fun loving and warm. He enjoyed treating his kids to pony rides, and amusement parks, and camping trips and greeting us each with a kiss when he came home from work late each evening.
Our friends were always welcome. They went with us on our camping trips and outings. They often expressed how they wished that they had a dad just like mine.
However, my hero had a problem with alcohol and sudden bursts of rage. Only those within our household knew of this, for we protected his reputation, and our own dignity, the best we could.
He could be extremely loving when he was sober but somehow seemed to prefer my little sister to me. She was "daddy's little girl." He never knew how badly I desired that position.
He was prone to making grand promises, that I would get really excited about. Although I would remember, with great anticipation, my hero would forget. Sometimes life's circumstances would interfere and the plan would be canceled. So, broken promises far outnumbered those that were kept.
Aware of these areas of my own wounding, I had been able to sincerely forgive my father, long before he went home with Jesus.
Many years later, when I was struggling in my relationship with the Lord, the Holy Spirit revealed that, although, I had forgiven him, I had projected my dad's character flaws onto my heavenly Father. Ouch!
My head knew that God was the perfect Father. However, in the wounds of that tender hearted child, there was this secret fear that my heavenly Father would flake out on His promises too. Another fear was that He would be angry with me, and withdraw His love, as my dad had done when He was upset. The biggest fear of all was that I was not valuable to the Father, because my little sister had always seemed to be far more valuable than I. Since my dad was away for long hours, or sometimes days, while drinking, there was also a fear that God would abandon me or just be too busy.
Renouncing these lies, as the Holy Spirit revealed them to me, it was then necessary to choose to believe what God's word said about Himself in these areas. I also needed to begin to believe what His word said about me. He restored my broken trust, and has given me the faith now, to know
that I am, indeed, my Daddy's girl.
Search and Rescue
Was your dad a workaholic? Was He on the road a lot? Was he emotionally unavailable? Did he listen with interest when you spoke? Did he withdraw affection when you misbehaved? Did he pass on, or perhaps, move on? Were you his favorite? Could you meet his expectations? What did your dad not know about what you might have needed from him?These are all potential hiding places for well guarded secret woundings that can affect how we relate to God. There may be some beliefs, either about God, or about your own value that are hidden in these questions. Often out of these very issues, we make silent, almost undetectable, projections about the One who loves us more than any other.
These projections are so very subtle, but they can have devastating consequences in developing intimate relationship with God, or even with others.
If you would like to enter into deeper relationship with the Lord, simply ask the Holy Spirit to illuminate any transferences you might have made that affect your capacity for relational intimacy.
He will restore you with His truth and impart to you the faith that is sufficient. He will rescue you and draw you unto Himself.
Misperceptions and Misinterpretations
Children, being the center of their own universe, tend to believe that everything is all about them somehow. They are extremely observant but are not very adept at properly interpreting what they observe. From their childish perspective nearly all things mean something about them. Take for example, a child who grows up in poverty, with parents who could not always afford new shoes when it became necessary. This child could likely translate this life circumstance to believe, "There is something defective about me because I have holes in my shoes and everybody else has shiny, nice shoes without any holes." Somehow it becomes the child's defect, in his thinking, and he is ashamed of himself as a person.
Shame is about how you perceive yourself to be defective in your innermost beliefs. Misperceptions of your value, and misinterpretation of life circumstances, that you attribute to your own worth result in shame. The enemy is great at making these suggestions.
Reflecting on my father's inability to keep promises, that were important to me, I interpreted his shortcomings as my own insignificance and personal defectiveness. That is, of course, until this was exposed to the light and exchanged for the truth of what God says about me in His word.
This subject could fill an entire book and is far too complex to expand in a web format and do justice. However, the Holy Spirit is the ultimate counselor and healer. If you would like to explore this further, He will guide you both to uncover these issues and to restore you. He will provide resources if necessary and lead you in the way you should go.
Strategy for Victory
Understanding the enemy's strategy is important in defeating him. His only real power is the power to lie. That, in a nutshell, is his strategy. God's strategy is truth. The Scripture says, "Know the truth and the truth will set you free." The Holy Spirit is the power of truth. He is only too happy to impart truth and that affects your ability to receive God's love. He will release you from fear and shame that you might enter into the fulness of relationship that God desires with you. He needs your permission to begin this work, of releasing you from fear and shame. It requires your cooperation as well. He, however, does most of the work if you are willing. The Holy Spirit will reveal the deceptions, minister God's truth and fully restore you.
The Spirit of Truth will 
release you and the Lord, Himself, will give you the faith needed to fully receive His awesome love.
Putting on the New Man
This process, of pulling up the roots of our relational weeds, is called sanctification in the Scripture. It is an ongoing process for any believer until our Savior comes. These subtle and hidden issues are referred to, in the Song of Solomon, as "the little foxes that spoil the vine". They do ruin the vine of relational connectedness.
You might be asking, "Aren't I a new creation in Christ since I became born again?"
Absolutely! You are a new creation or new man. However, the Scripture exhorts us to "put on the new man." Have you ever tried to put on new clothes without first removing the old clothes?
The "old man" comes off one garment at a time, or one issue at a time. Each time the "old man's" issue is removed, the "new man's" garment of grace and righteousness replaces the old. It is a far more comfortable fit that way. When we attempt to put on the new man without having removed the tattered and torn old rags of our broken humanity, we become frustrated and enter into striving. This too often becomes religiosity and legalism. Not a good fit for a believer saved by grace!
Jesus took your sin and your shame to the cross. However, just as you gave Him your sins to put to death, you need also to give Him any shame that may be revealed. The shame can then be washed into the sea of forgetfulness with your sin
He will give you a garment of praise in exchange. You will be transformed from glory to glory, to grow in wonderful relationship with the One who loves you unconditionally.
I bless you in your pursuit of deeper intimacy the the One who loves you more than a brother. May you enjoy the fulness of love that He has for you and enjoy the abundant life that He has purchased in your behalf and unspeakable joy as you grow in that love!
If you feel that you need either counseling or prayer for any of these issues please contact our friends at:
SwordnLightMinistries
***Recommended reading:
"Father's Love" by Henri Nouwen
"Return of the Prodigal" by Henri Nouwen
"Experiencing the father's Embrace" by Jack Frost
"Enjoying Intimacy" by S. J. Hill
"The Central Event" by Ed Piorek
"Healing the Shame that Binds" by John Bradshaw
