No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and[a] is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.  
John 1:18

”Perfect, absolute peace surrounds those whose imaginations are consumed with you; they confidently trust in you. Yes, trust in the Lord Yahweh forever and ever! For Yah, the Lord God, is your Rock of Ages!“
Isaiah 26:3-4 (TPT)

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Before I dig in, I want to share my writing prompt with you today.   

Jesus’ coming marked a new era of revelation of God. The prophets spoke about God, but Jesus took on a physical body so that people could see and know God, who is Spirit. How do you picture God? How have you come to know the Father through Jesus?

Do you ever try to picture God’s reaction to you when you enter His presence in prayer—not necessarily His physical attributes, but His essence?  I am a visual person, so I do!  Sometimes, when I prepare to pray, I imagine the Trinity behind a big velvet curtain—I approach it, gingerly opening it at the center and peering in. The vibe I get from Them as They first see my face and all throughout our time together is so important! 

Here’s the thing: how I feel about myself can affect how I picture God’s reaction to me showing up in His presence in that moment. For example, when I am disappointed with myself for not visiting Him in a while, I can project that disappointment onto God’s view of me—I see Him tapping His watch or getting ready to drop a sarcastic “It’s about time…” Or if I am frustrated with myself, I can picture Him giving me the “I am not mad, just disappointed,” speech that I got from my human parents.  

The thing is, those reactions are not what we saw from Jesus, so that is not what we would receive from God. As we study Jesus and His ways, we see (and are told!) that there is no condemnation in Him. And because Jesus is God, there is no condemnation from Him, either. He is full of grace, forgiveness, love, and delight in us. Pure goodness. There is even goodness at the root of His angry Old Testament actions! Until I truly began to see God as the goodness that He is, my misconceptions could delay my excitement about and willingness to come into His presence.

I once heard it said, “Goodness is God’s superpower.” I can tell you with all the fervor that my faith life was transformed when I began accurately visualizing God’s reaction to me when I came into His presence. Delighted whenever I arrive, He, Jesus, and His Holy Spirit pull back the rest of the curtain with energetic, welcoming joy and begin listening intently to my words and my heart. Compassion and understanding abound as I share my experiences, feelings, and deepest desires. Nothing I say is unimportant; I have Their full attention until I choose to take my leave (or fall asleep—which is totally OK because what parent doesn’t love holding their child while they sleep?). Once I began picturing and conversing with a God who is consistently delighted in me (even when I am not very delighted with myself), I began to experience and eventually operate from the truth that I am His delightful daughter.  

How might your understanding of your God-given identity and your relationship with God change or deepen if you were to imagine His delight every time you came to Him?

Next Steps

The next time you pray, take a minute to settle yourself and create a visual in your mind of God’s presence. You could approach Him anywhere your imagination comes up with—alongside a river, in the clouds, in a pasture, a room in your home, a spot at church, even Chick-Fil-A. Use your imagination to picture and feel His delight in you when He greets you and as you talk with Him.