Christian for the Wrong Reasons

joshhuntnm

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My lazy attempts to seek the Lord are either motivated by fear of hell or done out of guilt. I sometimes feel guilty for ignoring God so I pray. I don't seek him because I love him or want him. I seek him out of selfish ambition. I've asked that he help change my perspective on him so that I can love and trust him but my heart has grown harder against him. Are my attempts to seek him in vain?

For me, the question comes down to this: is God a good, good Father? Are His ways good? Is following Him good for me? Is it in my best interest to live the Christian life? I believe it is.
 
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dxtrinc

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My lazy attempts to seek the Lord are either motivated by fear of hell or done out of guilt. I sometimes feel guilty for ignoring God so I pray. I don't seek him because I love him or want him. I seek him out of selfish ambition. I've asked that he help change my perspective on him so that I can love and trust him but my heart has grown harder against him. Are my attempts to seek him in vain?

I'd like to PM if you if thats ok! I don't think I can until you follow me or something?

God Bless
 
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paul1149

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My lazy attempts to seek the Lord are either motivated by fear of hell or done out of guilt. I sometimes feel guilty for ignoring God so I pray. I don't seek him because I love him or want him. I seek him out of selfish ambition. I've asked that he help change my perspective on him so that I can love and trust him but my heart has grown harder against him. Are my attempts to seek him in vain?

Jeremiah 29 is clear that you will find God when you seek with all your heart. Not head, but heart. Therefore the way forward is to keep attending to your heart. This is why Jesus said the Parable of the Sower is the key to understanding all the parables. Keep checking the soil condition of the heart, whether it's being watered and weeded.

Some seek God with their heads, others with good deeds. Those are good things, but the Bible reveals that the key to making progress is to open your heart to the Lord.

The answer isn't to give up seeking, but to make sure you are seeking from a sincere heart. Don't be discouraged when you find self-interest involved. That's natural and can be overcome, as long as you don't give up the search. It will take all the qualities of persistence, patience and endurance.
 
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Darren Court

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Nobody can judge you but I suspect you really don't want to be bothered with God but do want an insurance policy in case He exists.

If you read the bible you'll see things like "seek FIRST the kingdom of God", "Love your God with ALL your heart, mind and soul", etc. Now if you think these words direct from God to you mean somehow He's okay with you not really being bothered then please don't let anyone burst your delusion.

I'm sorry I can't tell you that God is okay with you being disinterested in Him..... does this really surprise you?
 
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marineimaging

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What's standing in the way? My selfishness. I prefer to dedicate more time to my own pleasure seeking. I tell myself that if I don't pray for the right reasons, don't pray at all. I don't think I have eternal life yet though. I haven't even received the holy spirit yet.
Please, don't make that mistake of thinking you must be 110% or nothing. Otherwise you are being a hypocrite. That is devilspeak. We are all babes in Christ. The disciples walked with him daily and continued to learn and be chastised and to be corrected even after seeing Him resurrected. Never never stop seeking God. I used to as well at 30 and 40 and 50 but one day I started thinking more about my place in my soul and more about how great God is to have allowed me time to realize where I was. Today, I want nothing more than to be with our Lord and to love others as God loves me. It is sad that it took all these years to get here and yet, I still have a long ways to go. Never give up. Never give up. Never give up.
 
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Kit Sigmon

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My lazy attempts to seek the Lord are either motivated by fear of hell or done out of guilt. I sometimes feel guilty for ignoring God so I pray. I don't seek him because I love him or want him. I seek him out of selfish ambition. I've asked that he help change my perspective on him so that I can love and trust him but my heart has grown harder against him. Are my attempts to seek him in vain?

God knows what you be doing, it's not like you can actually deceive Him.
Best thing to do is to pray and ask God to be merciful to you a sinner and ask Him to create in you a clean heart and to renew in you a willing and steadfast spirit.
 
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Robienfold Papenfuse

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You have to force yourself to love him. The Bible tells us we must love him with all of our might heart soul energy and power. Just keep telling yourself how much you love him and pray that he changes your heart to love. Hope that helps!
 
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MarjMorris

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My lazy attempts to seek the Lord are either motivated by fear of hell or done out of guilt. I sometimes feel guilty for ignoring God so I pray. I don't seek him because I love him or want him. I seek him out of selfish ambition. I've asked that he help change my perspective on him so that I can love and trust him but my heart has grown harder against him. Are my attempts to seek him in vain?
If you just buckle down and pray and read His word out of obedience for now, soon the love and proper desire for a relationship will come.
 
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devin553344

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My lazy attempts to seek the Lord are either motivated by fear of hell or done out of guilt. I sometimes feel guilty for ignoring God so I pray. I don't seek him because I love him or want him. I seek him out of selfish ambition. I've asked that he help change my perspective on him so that I can love and trust him but my heart has grown harder against him. Are my attempts to seek him in vain?

Or is it possible that you have the wrong God that your attempting to worship? Only you would know the God you have decided to worship. And it is just an idea. But it would seem that your prayers should be answered by God correctly. Who is God to you?
 
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1213

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My lazy attempts to seek the Lord are either motivated by fear of hell or done out of guilt. I sometimes feel guilty for ignoring God so I pray. I don't seek him because I love him or want him. I seek him out of selfish ambition. I've asked that he help change my perspective on him so that I can love and trust him but my heart has grown harder against him. Are my attempts to seek him in vain?

What do you mean with seeking God? What are you expecting to find?
 
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It does sound a bit like the OP has encountered some wrong doctrine at some stage that you are saying these things. What kind of church are you attending. Is it one of those prosperity gospel churches, that seem to equate God with money. Many have a false view of God as if religion is like something to GET. It isnt. You cannot GET God, it isnt even a matter of trying. GOd has already given us His son, we just need to say YES LORD!

My advice would be to think on Jesus, read the Bible and let God show you how much He loves you. He sent his only son JEsus to die for our sins, including being lazy and selfish even to the point of being unbelieving and doubting. He was raised to life on the third day. That is amazing because NOTHING could keep Jesus down. It is by Gods grace through faith we are saved, and the first step is to believing on His name. Amen?
 
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ToBeLoved

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My lazy attempts to seek the Lord are either motivated by fear of hell or done out of guilt. I sometimes feel guilty for ignoring God so I pray. I don't seek him because I love him or want him. I seek him out of selfish ambition. I've asked that he help change my perspective on him so that I can love and trust him but my heart has grown harder against him. Are my attempts to seek him in vain?
First, there is nothing wrong with coming to God out of fear.

Proverbs 9:10
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

Knowing that God holds our fate in His hands is the beginning of wisdom. Now should that fear probably turn to love? Yes. What does Jesus say the most important commandment is? Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind.

Do you believe for some reason that God punishes or is punishing you for something?

I have found that the fear of God after we are saved is usually because we do not understand what the Bible says about the matter.

In the New Covenant God does not punish us for our sins. Our sin naturally leads us to problems and other people's sin does affect us, but God only gives us good things.
 
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ToBeLoved

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Usually by venting to him. I've tried fasting a couple of times. I ask him to respond through text.
God is on no one's time. God says that we should not test Him and He often makes us wait.

Maybe it is that God is not acting or responding in the way you think He should? Could that be it?
 
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Jezmeyah

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My lazy attempts to seek the Lord are either motivated by fear of hell or done out of guilt. I sometimes feel guilty for ignoring God so I pray. I don't seek him because I love him or want him. I seek him out of selfish ambition. I've asked that he help change my perspective on him so that I can love and trust him but my heart has grown harder against him. Are my attempts to seek him in vain?
Your profile states that you are a Christian. So my reply will be according to that.

Why are you paying any attention to you're fear of hell? If you are a Christian, then your citizenship is in heaven.

As for guilt.. well, everyone experiences that at one time or another. But guilt occurs because you have a perfectly working conscience to tell you when you've done wrong.

When you say that you don't seek God because you love Him or want Him.. what are you basing that on?.. feelings?

The love that has been planted in the heart of the believer is there as a tiny seed that must be nurtured in order that it will develope.

The word of God is spiritual food that must be eaten in order that the Christian grow in grace and the knowledge of the Lord.

If you are saved and don't feel like you love God, then it's a matter of remembering your moment of getting saved with words of thanksgiving unto God. To reminisce about that joyful event.

And if you don't feel any desire to read God's word, then it's a matter of finding the answer in God's word to deal with that by making it your confession. "I delight in the law of the Lord according to my inner man."

God's word is also like seed that needs to be planted so that in the right environment it will grow and produce fruit. The admonishment is "Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you."

A change in perspective begins with prayer, but needs to be put into action by reading and digesting God's word.

Your attempts to seek Him seem to be vain or empty because you aren't doing your part. You aren't planting any seed so you're not getting any results.

So far, your faith has been without works, and therefore, you feel nothing for God. Just like the scripture says, faith without works is dead.
 
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tonnerkiller

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I feel like if my praying and fasting isn't motivated by love, it's pointless.
Right.
Recently, I tried reading again but I stop out of boredom. If I'm forcing it, is there a point?
Not at all. What I wonder is: Why do you force? I mean, if you were an atheist you wouldn't even bother and hadn't started this thread. So I presume you are a believer. But if you believe, what is the problem? Do you think you are not doing enough? Works won't safe anybody, Paul is very clear on that.

You seem to think you need to do more than you actually do, but why? You even think it so much that you force yourself doing things, but why? What are you after? Where do you want to get?

God bless
 
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Aldebaran

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I used to but would often stop out of boredom. I'd even pray he kept me focused while reading which worked for awhile. Then I backslid. Recently, I tried reading again but I stop out of boredom. If I'm forcing it, is there a point?

I can relate to you very well, and I've been saved for 27 years. One specific verse that comes to mind about what Jesus did for us is from 1 John 4:10--"This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins."

What I take from this is that people don't have the love in them to give as we should. We are selfish by nature. But God Himself is love. He's always going to love us more than we do Him.

Most of the time, I don't want to read the bible. But then when I get bored and am looking for something to do, a little voice in my head says, "You could read the bible." Then I do it (usually) because I figure it's the Holy Spirit telling me this and we're told not to quench the Holy Spirit. I guess you could say that I'm doing it out of guilt that way.
 
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yeshuaslavejeff

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My lazy attempts to seek the Lord are either motivated by fear of hell or done out of guilt. I sometimes feel guilty for ignoring God so I pray. I don't seek him because I love him or want him. I seek him out of selfish ambition. I've asked that he help change my perspective on him so that I can love and trust him but my heart has grown harder against him. Are my attempts to seek him in vain?
No, not in vain, even if not useful yet.

Keep asking for and seeking God's Kingdom, as there is nothing else to seek that is worth anything without His Kingdom ....
 
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dannheim

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I don't know how to force a feeling of love towards God. I feel like that's something that has to naturally manifest within me. I'm sure I have the Jezebel spirit on my back. Whether these feelings stem from it or not, I agree with it a lot.

I feel like if my praying and fasting isn't motivated by love, it's pointless.
Just a wild guess but what kind of relationship do you have with your Earthly father?
 
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Midnafan97

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I became that way. I got tired of fearing hell and feeling guilty. I thought I really didn't love God because of that. My views are as good as nothing to many, but all I have to say to you is I have felt the same. I started becoming mad at God because I felt like he was threatening me with hell if I didn't think exactly how he wanted me to think. I stopped believing in hell a long time ago and my anxiety is now gone because of it.
 
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