To God Be the Glory!

Scripture: "Praise be to you, LORD, the God of our father Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Yours, LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, LORD, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all. Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all. Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name." I Chronicles 29:10-13

Yesterday I was reading status updates on Facebook, and my nephew in Maryland posted an incredible testimony. In the middle of the night, while his family was asleep, he put his face to the ground before God in humility and surrender. There was a storm howling outside his home, and as he prayed, he spilled his heart out, wanting to have FAITH - and at the same time, asking, "Are you even listening, Lord?" In my nephew's desperation for connection with his Savior, he asked Him, "If You're listening, calm the storm outside my window." Sure enough, the wind stopped howling, but he could still hear the wind chimes.

In his own words: "The selfish man I am thought, 'That doesn't count. The wind is obviously still blowing because I hear the chimes.' Thirty seconds later, that stopped as well. For two or three minutes I laid there in complete silence. God stopped the wind for me, a lowly nobody ...."

He had much more to say about that moment, but the point in my sharing this part of his testimony is because it made me think about my own prayer life. I try. I really do. My passion for Christ is always in flux. Sometimes I feel like I'm walking the right way, and other times, I find myself in the brambles, off the road HE would have me on, barely hearing His voice, and I have to ask myself, "Now how the heck did I end up HERE?"

I found myself admiring my nephew's "realness" with God and his passion to hear from the Lord. He stopped to listen and God revealed Himself.

God speaks to each of us in very unique ways. I have no desire to copy what my nephew did, but I can certainly take time to be real with God. And I've known for a while the importance of LISTENING, which has been very difficult for me these days. Lately, I start my prayers with thanks, and move into petition for others' needs and then my own.

What I love about David's prayer in I Chronicles - is the way I feel I need to speak to God; not verbatim, but with the same kind of reverence and awe. I memorized this prayer at one time - not to recite it back to God - but to emulate the holy admiration it holds. "Yours, LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours." Meditate on each of those words. Greatness. Power. Glory. Majesty. Splendor. Such powerful words to describe our Lord. These five powerful adjectives can never really be used together to describe anything on earth!!

I lost my awe and my reverence of the One who created me! I'm having a hard time hearing my Creator. I am about to turn off all my electronics on this day off - and plant my own face to the ground - and listen.

I openly share my own struggles and breakthroughs with you - in hopes that I can encourage you in your own walks. I may drift, but I never let go of my Lord, the One who created every fiber of my being. I am always aware of His omniscient presence and of His grace and mercy. When I look back and find myself straying from Him - I always see His arms open wide, because He's been patiently waiting for me to step back onto the Straight and Narrow.

We serve a mighty God, a loving God, and He deserves as much adoration and honor as we can possibly give Him every day. He is my heart beat. He is my every breath.

He is everything to me. I just need to remember that!

Prayer request: Pray for those who feel distant from Christ today. Pray for those who feel as though they are in a desert, and need to hear from the Lord. If you know them, send them an encouraging word, a card, or an email today. Pray for a breakthrough in their lives, that their ears be opened and can hear their Shepherd's voice once more.

Prayer: Lord, forgive those of us who have forgotten Your place in our lives. Help those of us who are walking through a desert and can't see nor hear You. We know You are there and hear our cries. Help us to seek You with open hearts and remind us of your glory, majesty and splendor. Not in a fearful way, but with hearts of thanks and gratitude for all You have done in our lives and all that You will do. Amen