May 19, How Fast Time Flies!!!

Psalm 33: 1and 4-5 Let the godly sing with joy to the LORD, for it is fitting to praise Him...For the word of the LORD holds true, and everything He does is worth of our trust. He loves whatever is just and good, and his unfailing love fills the earth.

I can't believe it has been a week since I last wrote here, but let me tell you it has been a full week. Last weekend, I spent every spare minute trying to think and clean and shop ahead, knowing that this last week, I would be at school every day from 8am to nearly 9pm for our Leadership Training Week. That said, it has been an unbelievably sweet week with God.

How do you sleep the night before Christmas? or vacation? or your birthday? I don't know about you, but it takes little to mess with my sleep routine, and this week was no exception. I had lots of presentations to make, housing to finalize, and lots of involvement in the entire week...and weekend to come. So, lots of time to pray.

Now, there was another God thing that enhanced all that night-time prayer opportunities. We had our leadership team read MAKING DISCIPLES, ONE CONVERSATION AT A TIME. One of those chapters talked about visualization as a helpful tool. The author encourages people to visualize ahead of time the conversations they are going to make as they minister to people. The point is to take the fear out of it, to make the actual conversation much more comfortable because you have anticipated it, have rehearsed it.

As I thought about that, I thought about visualization as a useful tool even in my prayer time. Instead of praying to a God Who is somewhere, I started visualizing God in person, of imagining what it would be like to actually be in His presence. Now I have believed and taught that God is everywhere present. And I know that when I pray, I am talking to Him, but let me tell you, it has been so different this week, thinking through the reality that I am in God's presence, the One who loves me without condition.

Let me encourage you to think through Who you are praying to, and how much that concept is influenced by your relationship with other humans, your own dad perhaps. When I thought about what it would be like in His presence, after I leave this life, it occurred to me how great the difference between here and there would be. Think about what it would be like to be without sin and doubt and fear and insecurity in your own mind. Then think about being in that place, that Holy Place, in His Presence - how sweet, how pure, how inviting, how accepting, how loved you will feel! And we don't have to wait until His return or death releases us to that place. We have access to it now, every time we meet Him in conversation, whether we are speaking or listening.