When many factors in our lives condition us and influence how we approach God, that's

the case today in an email from an international listener to the podcast, a teenager.

Hello, Pastor John.

I'm a 14-year-old and a rather new listener to the podcast.

I live in Southeast Asia.

I have a question about fear, specifically my fear of becoming close with God in the

Bible and through prayer.

I find myself longing to be connected with God, but constantly feeling repelled away

from Him too.

I don't get the familial feelings that I should have.

I suspect it could be because of my relationship with my parents is bad.

My mother has been abusive in the past and I never knew my father until recently he

is unstable.

My family is a real mess.

How do you think family dysfunctions affect our relationship to God?

So our young friend says, I have a fear of becoming close to God.

I find myself longing to be connected with God, but constantly feeling repelled.

I don't get the familial feelings I should have.

And I take Him to mean that He knows from the Bible that God is His Father and that He

is God's Son.

And yet as He attempts to draw near to God, this fatherly family relation doesn't feel

like it should.

...