“How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD Almighty! My soul years, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. Psalm 84:1-2, NIV.
Just now in prayer, I said, “God, I miss my time with you.” It is 6:06am and both of my babies (3 and 1 year old) are still sleeping. I relish moments alone with God, but alone time, in general, is fleeting these days.
However, throughout my day, I am intentional about spending time with the Lord. It is sometimes amongst laundry piles, a three-year-old trying to help fold clothes, and a curious one-year old hoisting himself up to touch clean clothes with sticky fingers… making a quick journey back to the dirty pile. All the while, I’m praying aloud to God, with splintered prayers of, “God, lead m—“… “no, Levi, don’t touch that”… “Lord, bring healing to Sister—“… “Jubilee, give your brother back his toy NOW”… “God, I want more of you, help me feel close to You again.” End Scene.
Trying to focus, and hear the Lord’s voice amidst the cutest chaos there ever was has proven to be difficult. But, I still do it because my soul longs for God and I desire my kids souls to long for God. I’m learning the best way to teach my kids to spend time with the Lord front in center, and not always in a secret place (how I prefer). Right now, I am their living example. This is not my season to get lost in worship, this is my season to be present and teach my children how to worship and that is through quick, teachable moments throughout the day.
But, I still miss my alone time with the Lord.
Maybe you don’t have two toddlers at home, but I assume there is a leviathan of things that are demanding your attention. At the end of the day, you are left with fragments of semi-accomplished tasks, a daunting to-do list, and maybe half-prayed-prayers from a full, overburdened heart. But, you’re exhausted, so you take a melatonin and try to catch up on fifteen years of sleep in six hours.
Regardless of how much free time you have or how full your schedule is, we are all called to spend time with the Lord in prayer and in His word; that is how we cultivate a close intimacy with Him. Relationship with God is the sole reason why we were created.
I was listening to Don’t Just Do Something, Stand There by Rev. Raymond Woodward and he said,
“The call to prayer and loneliness feel the same. Some of you mistake the call to prayer for loneliness and when you feel loneliness, you want to go do something. You want to pick up your phone and check what everybody is doing on social media… God sometimes calls you to come to him and you mistake it for boredom, but it’s the call to prayer, and if you learn to listen to that still small voice, God has some appointments for you.”
Bro. Woodward’s message really ministered to me. How many times have we felt lonely; so we call a friend, watch a show, or scroll through pictures and reels on Instagram. All these things will leave us empty and lonely because the presence of God is the only thing that can fill the void in our hearts. We need God. We need prayer. We need His word.
Oh God, I miss spending time with You.
Prayer: Lord, I long for You. I pray that You would draw me nearer than ever before. Give me the spiritual insight I need that when I feel lonely, I turn to You; when I feel overwhelmed, I turn to You; when I feel afraid and confused, I turn to You. My soul longs to be in your presence and it cries out for You, the living God.
Comments are closed.