Prayer Time

Scripture: “After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside to pray. When evening came, he was there alone …”(Matthew 14:23)

I didn’t have a blog for today.

So I wasn’t going to write one.

But then I remembered at church on Sunday a skit a friend told me about a long time ago on Youtube. The skit was filmed at a church with the song, “Everything” by Lifehouse playing in the background. We sing “Everything” at church, so I am very familiar with the song, it’s one of my favorites. My friend shared how incredibly moving the video was, so I had a moment of time to find it on the internet.

I watched 45 seconds of a 5 minute presentation, and had to hit pause because I was going to start bawling. But it was a good thing. It took me probably 20 to 30 minutes to watch it, because I had to keep hitting “pause” to compose myself. No kidding!

Have you ever found yourself going on with your life, and then something out of the blue hits you, and I mean really strikes a chord in you, where you realize you have this weak spot that only GOD knew about, and He presents it to you in such an undeniable way, you just want to fall to your knees and sob at His feet?

Yeah. Like that. That’s what this presentation did to me. Now, I’m not going to build it up and make it sound like everyone who sees it is going to need a couple boxes of tissue next to them, because it’s probably not going to strike everyone the same way. I think this video will touch people in different ways, on different levels. I won’t tell you much about it, either. I am compelled to share it with you because I believe it’s at least thought provoking, if not deeply touching. I also wanted to write this blog to share with you MY “weak spot”. After all, I believe it’s in the sharing of each others’ weaknesses that we can all grow and mature together as Christians. It’s through others’ struggles we often learn to walk a stronger walk.

It occurred to me today that several of my blogs, lately, surround the topic of “distraction” and “distance”. If there is one battle in my life, it’s fighting for that special, daily time with God. I find it here and there with Him, where I will praise Him, give Him thanks, run over memorized scriptures in my head to Him – but life’s distractions can be so strong and compelling. There are times I will go to bed, roll onto my side and in that quiet, calm moment (if my dog isn’t bouncing around on my bed or trying to lick my face) before I fall asleep, I will talk to God – for the first time in a while. But I am struck by how much I dislike that time between conversations with Him. I don’t want to be that far. I don’t want life to get between me and Him. After all, He is the reason I HAVE life at all!!

I didn’t see this struggle in my life before as strongly as I do now. But it is genuine, and now I see it in “Technicolor”: But He waits for me. He waits for me to talk to Him. Open arms, just waiting for me to dedicate my time to Him. Not in any kind of unhappy, impatient, frustrated, chastising kind of way – but just patiently waiting, just the same. He’s been there the whole time. I know that. He is a loving God, and He wants His children near. But that is the beauty of free will. We must want it, and we must want it bad enough to discipline our own lives around whatever it is we need to do to be closer to Him. And He will meet us there every time.

I can’t help but wonder how much richer my life would be if I didn’t allow time, life and distractions to get between He and I. The Youtube video isn’t so much about distractions like my own – but it is eerily similar. So if you have a little over 5 minutes and are curious as to what I am talking about, watch “Everything”.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyheJ480LYA

Some of you may have already seen it. If it’s new, maybe you can take something away from it. But because of my own life’s struggles, it struck that “chord” in me, and I wanted to share it with you.

Prayer request: For all of us who are carried away by the struggles and busy-ness of life – to find time daily to commune with our Lord.

Prayer: Lord, help each one of us to seek you out on a daily basis. Help us to carve out special “me and You” time to rejuvenate our spirits, strengthen our walk, do battle against the forces of the day, and to build a much stronger relationship with You. Help each of us to attain this goal. Amen