I’ve been trying to follow Jesus wholeheartedly for 18 years, and prayer has always been difficult for me. I project my disconnected, distant father’s face onto God. And despite knowing that, and knowing the truth that God is with me, connecting with him has always felt intangible – I can’t experience him like he’s really there, touching and holding me. I’ve had moments, but I’ve never had an ongoing, life-giving prayer life. No matter how hard I tried, it didn’t seem to connect. But this class has given me hope because of the connection stories and the times I’ve received Immanuel here.
It’s amazing to me how profound the experiences have been where I’ve sensed God speaking to me – new things, surprising things, things I need to hear in that moment. It’s opened hope for me that I can connect with God. I don’t have to go my whole life struggling, feeling like I should be doing this but it doesn’t produce anything. No, there’s a different way to do it that will produce connection, that does produce connection. I’m grateful.
[Jeremy Roberts, a 2013 Immanuel Lifestyle student]