Is seeing God in a different way in order to help me pray to him sinful?

[Alexander]

Mmmmmm... The thinking mind is always the best state to be in when doing almost anything.

Last night I was IMing with one of my friends outside of CAA and we were giving advice on prayer. And in the conversation, I told him that when I pray to God, talking to him in his natural form (as being this incredible being) was too much for me to handle. You see, it might be because of my Asperger's, or it might not, but when I'm around a crowd or even a new person, I get extremely anxious. So when I imagine God, in comparison to me, as being compared to a grain of sand to the whole universe. That feeling made it impossible for me to feel comfortable talking to Him. So I told my friend that in order for me to feel comfortable praying to Him, I imagined Him as someone my own size. And most of the time I would see Him as a child. Because I feel the most comfortable around them, and I can pray much easier.

But a question did arise, and one I've been a little concerned about. Is this right? Is it okay to see God in a different way in order to help me pray? Is it even sinful?

I always viewed it as a way to help me come closer to Him when I was too nervous to try. And especially when I was in desperate need of prayer and hadn't been able to talk to Him in quite some time.

What do you think?

[K. Ayato]

I don't think there's anything sinful in that. I know that the way one personally views God can either help or hinder one's personal relationship with Him.

Alec, you don't need or have to picture the Lord as some powerful yet distant figure on a throne. Try to instead communicate with Him as you would with your best friend. I see no harm in communicating with Him as if He were someone your own age either .

[termyt]

God is big enough to handle all your worries and small enough to be approached with them.

[Sheol777]

God revealed himself in many forms in the new and old testaments.

...one of which was a baby, which becme a child.....which became Jesus Christ.

[ADXC]

Yeah, I think its good to view Him as someone you can come to with anything like a friend. In fact He should be your friend. I don't have a problem with it, as long as thats as far as it goes. You know like don't treat Him exactly like a friend, because sometimes people misuse friendships and sometimes take advantage of a friend. So I think its good to view Him as a friend when praying so you can talk to Him easier, but treat Him with the upmost respect too. You see He's sorta like your teacher who says, "Okay I can be your friend this year as long as you do what I tell you, but if you disobey me than you will face the consequences." So as long as you do that then I have no problem with it.

[EricTheFred]

Here's a thought for you:

We think of "Thee" and "Thou" as some sort of ultra formal speech, because the older-fashioned Bibles such as KJV and RSV use these pronouns, but that is utterly wrong. The early English Protestant translators chose this standard for the opposite reason. At that time, using "You" singular and "You" plural was being ultra-formal. Using "Thee" and "Thou" singular and "Ye" plural was informal.

In other words, these guys felt that when the Lord spoke to a human, or a human spoke to the Lord, it should be on a personal basis, as with a family member. If He were a distant king, He would have used the formal (royal) We, and humans would have addressed him as You.

This is by no means the earliest example I could have cited, just the most familiar. Your way of thinking has a very old tradition backing it up.

[AsianBlossom]

I totally don't think there's anything wrong with that. In fact, I've heard that everyone sees God in a different way. And since Jesus is God, there are many different ways you could see Him as well, including the Infant Jesus.

*is reminded of what she heard in Talladega Nights: the Ballad of Ricky Bobby*
I had heard that everyone was discussing at one point how they saw Jesus, and someone said that they like seeing Him as the "little Christmas Jesus". ^^ So yeah, no harm in seeing Him as a child, since He became one Himself.

[Puguni]

Actually, I was wondering the very same thing and I'm glad that it has been clarified.

Is it blasphemous to picture Jesus other than a brown haired white man with a beard?

[Tenshi no Ai]

Is it blasphemous to picture Jesus other than a brown haired white man with a beard?

Since he's Hebrew, wouldn't have have a different shade of skin anyways? Either way, I would hear stories that the image we see is just an image and probably isn't even accurate. Could almost go into a racial/political debate, but all I know is that He's from the Middle East. The only key I know of is the verse that says that in his appearance, he was something that no one would desire, or something along those lines^^

I know many saw that He's all powerful and is to be feared, but that almost brings an image of a pointing finger and smiting, in a sense. One reason I heard of of why He came to earth, was to look just like anyone else. Born as a vulnerable baby, just like each of us. I've heard some speakers say how well, along with many other reasons, He did this to be someone we wouldn't be intimidated by. The true figure of God is something to hard to comprehend, so isn't it easy to see Him as someone as our own? That's just how I see it^^

[Yeshua-Knight]

even in the old testament God came and would spend time with abraham and moses and they would talk to him as they would a friend, this is the way he wants us to relate to him, being outright and honest with him like we could be with no other. he is aware of our weaknesses and wants to work through us and use those weaknesses to draw others to himself. you wonder if it's sinful to think of God as a child, but Jesus himself told the disciples that we must become like children in order to enter into the kingdom, who knows, there may very well be others who feel intimidated at the thought of communicating with an all powerful being who sees and knows all, and through this you can show others that God wants us to approach him and to be His friend

[Alexander]

Thank you for the support everyone. I would have commented on your posts individually, but it filled up a little too much for me. XD

You've reassured me though completely, and now I feel that prayer is going to be a lot more easy with me a result.

Although, when I think about it, would the general vision of God and Jesus be incorrect then? That's a serious question to answer. But I think I can already provide one. Christians do want a general image or idea of what God would "look" like, and so we have this general idea of what He looks like. But this conception of an all-powerful being is correct, it doesn't fill all the gaps and holes for some people. Me being one of them. I have to admit that I'm very surprised that my Church hadn't shown me this before, or maybe they did but I failed to recognize it?

[EricTheFred]

Look at it this way:

God is great enough, and powerful enough, and almighty enough, that he can speak as a friend, or a still voice in the storm wind or become a baby in the manger without diminishing his grandeur and glory one bit. You aren't seeing him as less this way, but as more than we can truly comprehend.

[Mave]

If it'll make you feel better, I usually pray that God will forgive me if I view Him any less than what I should and to pls correct me. I've found that I'm quite fine talking to Him as if He's a friend right next to me.

I'll even confess that I've imagined him as my body pillow and hugged it, "God, forgive me if I shouldn't use this pillow to represent you. But I need to hug You. *waahhhh!* [bawling ensues] Pls be next to me as I sleep." *talks to pillow before dozing off*

You are now allowed to laugh. XD I'm not trying to say that God is my teddy bear but this helps me to talk/pray to God better. Of course, one should always be careful not to idol the tangible item. I think I'm Ok so far since I'm not worshipping my pillow and I don't use that representative all the time.

I can't believe I just shared that.

[RomanticRocker7]

What I have constantly caught myself doing during prayer is talking to God as if he were a friend. Just like you, I cant seem to articulate my thoughts into words if I have to speak in a certain way. As soon as I started praying in this fashion, it seemed easier for me to talk to God not only better, but I could pray more often (if that makes any sense)

God is pictured in all different skin tones and haircolors, as is his son. Nothing should stop you from picturing God as you do.