When was the last time you were still?
Remember the words of Psalm 46:10, “Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among all the nations. I will be exalted in the earth!”
You may not be able to sit on a rock overlooking a stream today (most of us can’t do that!), but can you:
Turn off all sounds
Close your eyes
Talk to God in the quiet
Anyone can do that, anywhere. You just have to still yourself on purpose.
This Sunday, my pastor shared an insightful message about prayer. He gave us a multiple choice question about our prayer life. Does your prayer life most resemble:
A. Problem: You go to God when you have problems and that’s pretty much it.
B. Popcorn: You shoot up short prayers to God. As long as it takes for a bag of microwave popcorn to pop – that’s about how much time God gets in your day.
C. Presents: You pray when you want something from God.
D. Presence: You want to spend time with God and you do this through prayer.
Many of us long to answer D: presence. We want to practice the presence of God in our daily lives. But sometimes it seems like we’re just getting by with short popcorn prayers and going to God when we’re in trouble.
Now, don’t get confused. There’s nothing wrong with answers A, B or C.
It’s good to go to God with your problems, to send up popcorn prayers, and to let Him know what you want. But if that is the extent of your prayer life, there is something missing. We must also long for His presence.
So this week, carve out some time to spend in God’s presence. Create your own oasis in the midst of everyday life to say, “God I want to spend time with you.”
