Pastor Herk continues that we should carry on a daily conversation with God over your daily life. It is of inestimable value. Don’t worry about proper praying, just talk to God freely and openly about the daily stuff in your life because He wants to hear from you and what you have to say about your day. Share your thoughts in prayer. Your heavenly Father listens to you with compassion and love, while He delights in our presence. By praying, we are learning how to pray better. The more we pray to God, the better we get at it, because we learn most by doing and gaining experience.
Psalm 121:1-2 “I will lift up my eyes to the hills—From whence comes my help? My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.”
Lift up your eyes to heaven and give God your full attention. There are times, each and every day, stop what we are doing, look up to the Lord and contemplate. We can get so “laser-focused” on distractions of this busy life, monopolizing our attention so much that we forget about our relationship with our Maker. We forget about how compassionate the Lord is to take care of every detail of our lives. That little act of lifting up our eyes changes our perspective, as we focus on Someone else, the One truly in control. Psalm 121:7-8 tells us that the Lord shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul. The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in from this time forth, and even forevermore.” This reality is comforting.
If you are feeling anxious or stressed and need some space to process a situation, get up, get out and take a walk and have a talk with the Lord, inviting Him in. Also, set aside some time daily to put away distractions, and sit in silent devotional prayer. There really is no excuse to not be able to have some quiet time daily with our heavenly Father and get refocused. When and where do you feel at peace? Psalm 62:1 says, “Truly my soul silently waits for God; from Him comes my salvation.”
You may even find a trusted brother or sister in Christ that could help you be accountable to daily stillness before the Lord. These regular times of quiet and stillness are incredibly powerful for our overall health. We cannot be running all out, “full blast” all day long. Psalm 46:10 says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” We subconsciously switch off the busyness and cares of this world when we lift up our hearts and contemplate upon the Almighty Creator and Sustainer of all. Our soul, our innermost being, is at rest when we are quiet and still before God. Silence is golden and silence is sacred, but it is hard to find it in the fast-paced, busy world. The Lord is in the gentle whisper. We have got to slow down from our chaotic lives, so that we have the space to entertain that gentle whisper. It takes intentional effect to carve out that time that we need to connect with the Lord, but how powerful it is.
We may think sometimes that all the hundreds of things that we are doing during the day are what is most important and what is most valuable (some of them are very important and some are very valuable), but we have to prioritize. God is waiting; are you willing? Let’s be brutally honest about something: Is all of your striving, all of your hustle, all of your activities, all of your appointments, and all of your actions making you a peaceful and relaxed person? There is so much going on around us in our lives. We all long for a peaceful life, grounded in faith. Jesus tells us in Matthew 11:28-30 “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Be still with God.
In Christ, Brian
No comments:
Post a Comment