{"id":17293,"date":"2021-09-02T17:36:07","date_gmt":"2021-09-03T00:36:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/gospel-express\/2021-pain-copy\/"},"modified":"2021-09-02T19:47:29","modified_gmt":"2021-09-03T02:47:29","slug":"2021-attenion","status":"publish","type":"portfolio","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/gospel-express\/2021-attenion\/","title":{"rendered":"May I Have Your Attention, Please?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"flex_column av_one_full  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding first  avia-builder-el-0  avia-builder-el-no-sibling  \" style='border-radius:0px; '><section class=\"av_textblock_section \"  itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/CreativeWork\" ><div class='avia_textblock  '   itemprop=\"text\" ><p style=\"text-align: right;\">by Rev. Rick Warren<\/p>\n<p>Giving someone your attention is the greatest gift because your time is your life.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-17295 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/momandd.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"418\" height=\"290\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/momandd.jpg 418w, https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/momandd-300x208.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 418px) 100vw, 418px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>When you turn your face to someone and focus your eyes on them, it makes them feel like you genuinely care and are interested in what they have to say.<\/p>\n<p>You can do this with God\u2014you can turn your face to him in prayer. Just look up! Show him that you\u2019re checking in and ready to talk. Even though it\u2019s a good way to pray, there\u2019s nothing in the Bible that says you have to close your eyes or bow your head. When I close my eyes and think, I go to sleep. I like to pray aloud to God and look up, because it gives me a physical reminder that I\u2019m refocusing my attention.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel did this when he needed God\u2019s help and wisdom:\u00a0<em>\u201cSo I gave my attention to the Lord God, to seek Him by prayer\u201d<\/em>\u00a0(Daniel 9:3 NASB). After you listen to God through his Word, then the second step of prayer is to seek him.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-17296 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/attention-2-e1630636810275.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" \/><\/p>\n<p>God makes many promises in the Bible for those who seek him.<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201c<strong>Seek me and live<\/strong>\u201d<\/em>\u00a0(Amos 5:4 NIV). As you persistently seek God, you\u2019ll start learning how to really live.<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201c<strong>I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me<\/strong>\u201d<\/em>\u00a0(Proverbs 8:17 NIV). If you\u2019re having trouble finding God, make sure you\u2019re seeking him with the right motives\u2014wanting to know him and not just wanting to get something from him.<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201c<strong>You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart<\/strong>\u201d\u00a0<\/em>(Jeremiah 29:13 NIV). You\u2019re going to find God when you really want to know him, not just in your spare time.<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201c<strong>God . . . rewards those who earnestly seek him<\/strong>\u201d\u00a0<\/em>(Hebrews 11:6 NIV). Would you like God to reward your business, your finances, your relationships, and your future? Then seek him.<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201c<strong>Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and he will give you everything you need<\/strong>\u201d<\/em>\u00a0(Luke 12:31 NLT).<\/p>\n<p>When you pursue God first, you don\u2019t have to worry about all the other things the world says you need to stress over. Give him your attention. Turn your face to him, and show him that you want to give him first place in your life.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-17297 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/attention-3.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/attention-3.jpg 600w, https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/attention-3-300x150.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>\u201cYou will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.&#8221;<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Jeremiah 29:13 (NIV)<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":17295,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","tags":[],"portfolio_entries":[35],"class_list":["post-17293","portfolio","type-portfolio","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","portfolio_entries-english-writer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/portfolio\/17293","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/portfolio"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/portfolio"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17293"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/portfolio\/17293\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17294,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/portfolio\/17293\/revisions\/17294"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17295"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17293"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17293"},{"taxonomy":"portfolio_entries","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/portfolio_entries?post=17293"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}