Over the past several weeks I’ve been dealing with myself on the amount of time I spend praying. For quite awhile, I had the mindset that it’s not the quantity as much as its the quality…true, but not always right. Because in my “quality of prayer”, I found that I wasn’t giving God nearly as much of my time as I COULD & SHOULD – so was it true quality? And so, I have made concentrated attempts to increase my frequency of prayer(s) throughout the day…I’m not saying that I pray for 30 minutes every other hour, but I am making a point of finding those “extra” moments with God…instead of listening to a CD while I run errands, I chat with Him like my best friend in the front seat. Or while I fold laundry…it goes by much faster when I share the time with the Lord. No, it’s not deep intercessory prayer each time I open my mouth, but as children of God, can’t we carry on a “basic” conversation with our Heavenly Father, as our own children would chat with us about their day at school, etc?
With this new focus that I’m trying to maintain though, I have found that the devil has flinging things into my path, as a tactic to throw me off course. It’s not hard to see that the enemy sees my fresh determination and his main goal will be to disrupt my faith and hinder my progress. So, last night, after experiencing a slight “meltdown”, I just sat on the edge of my daughters’ bed and began to cry out to my Jehovah Shalom…my prince of peace…and as I looked up I saw my Bible laying on the dresser. I noticed that one of my girls had stuck a storybook into the pages, so in my distraction, I opened my Bible and removed the book. The pages were opened to Job, at a portion of scripture when Job’s friends were telling him all of the reasons he should just give up (great friends, eh? On a side note, be careful whom you let “counsel” you – Sometimes those friends can become the devil’s advocate…). Anyway, as I began to read over these words, I came to Jobs response……..now mind you, I have in no way, experienced 1/10 of what Job went through, but I think “in the heat of the moment” all of us have gone through some sort of devastating experiences in our lives that feel as if our world and our lives are being turned upside down, with no hope in sight (ok, that sounds a bit dramatic, but come on, we’ve all been there, if we really want to admit it). But Job had hope…and faith…and trust…and peace, that the same God who gave him life, would be the same God with him in death if so be it. Of course, not everything becomes a “near-death experience”, sometimes our life circumstances can bring things topsy-turvy over something as “day-to-day” as a career choice, marriage, finances, etc. But when you are in the midst of making a decision, or when you’re faced with unexpected mountains, it can feel pretty unsettling at that particular moment. And that’s when those quiet conversations with God can turn into the deep, intimate, heart-to-heart prayer that the situation calls for. And the groundwork has already been laid…the foundation of friendship between a Father and His child has been formed…and you can boldly go into the throne room of Heaven, and cry out to the one you are familiar with!
I know that if I’m ever in need, my first instinct is to call my husband, my mom, and my best friend. It never occurs to me to call my next-door neighbor or my dentist. I want to call on the ones that I am bonded with, the ones who know me, and the ones who I know that I can trust and depend on. So how much more comforting would prayer be if we would take time to increase the bond we have with the Lord just in the “everyday moments” of life. The great thing about God is that He wants to share every aspect of our lives with us…simple pleasures like thanking him for a nice vehicle, or a grateful heart praising Him for saving us from a life of sin, or even singing Him a song of adoration letting Him know how much we love and adore Him.
The old hymn comes to mind now – “Where could I go, Where could I go, Seeking a refuge for my soul, Needing a friend, To help me in the end, tell me where could I go, but to the Lord”!!!
