Words

September 28, 2009
I honestly don't know if other people are obsessed with language like I am. I'm sure there are some that are. Last week, 3 birthdays happened in my family, so..three birthday parties happened 3 nights in a row. By the third night, i left the party thinking, "I said Happy Birthday, but did I really mean it?" or is it something you just say, like "how are you" or "say hi to your family for me." That night, I laid down and went through my routine nightly prayers. My quiet time is in the morning, so by the evening, it's become one of those catch-alls I'm afraid. I prayed my normal things and really thought about what I was saying. What if we did that each time? We get into this routine of saying a small prayer before the meal, or before we leave for a trip, or bed...and we forget that those few words just teleported you into the throne room of GOD! How amazing? How sad that we just popped our heads in, gave a quick wave, and popped back out? I'm so guilty of that sooo very often. If I could physically see what's happening spiritually each time, would I act differently? Would I pop my head in, see that God is looking at me and I have His full attention, come in, bow to Him and speak about my love for Him and from my heart instead of just leaving? Probably. Instead, we bow our heads and say the typical two sentences and dig into the turkey legs. Or at night, what if when I prayed for God to watch over my sleeping baby while we slept, I stopped for a second and actually thought about what I was acknowledging in that? In saying, "Please watch over London tonight, Lord," I'm saying, "You are God. You can see things that I can not. You can protect her when I can not. You can put a spiritual warrior outside of her window and protect her from evil and I can not. I need you. Our family needs you to watch over our baby girl." What if when I said, "Thank you for this food," I realized that I was saying, "Oh Lord...people are starving. People are being starved. People are even starving themselves, and You have given me food. Not just food, but turkey legs! My favorite! How utterly amazing that you work in the lives of kings and queens and You've given a college student/mommy turkey legs!"


"Lord, forgive me for getting into a routine with You. Forgive me for squeezing something as amazing as prayer into a small 32 second box unless it's an official 'quiet time.' Shake me, and as hard as it is to say, do whatever You need to do to make me understand at all times that I'm not reciting a Sunday School poem prayer, but entering a room where even the angels are shielding their faces from Your Holiness. I don't want to be so caught up in being bff's with You that I forget that even the stars know Your Name. Break me Lord, until I remember at all times that you are God. I pray this for our church and for our city and for our nation, in your Holy and perfect Name. Amen."