In His Presence

Those of you who truly know me know that I love to use daily life experiences to learn more of God and His ways.  Therefore, it should not be a surprise that my favorite quote from today's devotions is the following: "As you pick up your little girl's tennis shoes, pray that her feet will stay on God's path.  Ordinary things around you can be visual aids and catalysts to prayer that will help you to pray without ceasing."

This gets me to thinking about other things that could be catalysts in my life.  As I do laundry I can pray that my family will be clothed in the armor of God, wearing the breastplate of righteousness, the helmet of salvation, shield of faith, belt of truth, shoes of peace and lifting the shield of faith while wielding the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.  That they be covered through prayer in every area of their lives.

As I make my bed in the mornings, or lay down in it at night, I can pray that their sleep may be the sleep of the righteous, peaceful and restful in the knowledge that they are loved and cared for by their heavenly Father.

As I fix a meal I can pray that they will hunger after the Lord and to know more of Him and that He fulfills that hunger.

As I sweep I can ask that the Lord reveal to them when they need to sweep the dust off their relationship with Him and spend more time with Him in prayer and study.

As I drive to the store or anywhere else I can ask that the Lord be the driving force behind their actions and words they speak.

As I shop I can ask the Lord to bless them in meeting their every physical need in this life.

And I could go on and on and on. 

We truly can pray without ceasing.  He has given us this life to learn how.  What is prayer?  Simply talking with God, have a conversation with Him.  When we arrive safely in heaven, it is hopefully the first thing we are going to want to do, so we need to know how to relate to Him. 

Father, thank You for this lesson on praying unceasingly.  I begin to see that it is really a very simple process, as is everything You ask us to do when we really seek it out.  Sometimes, okay, most of the time, You make things so simple that we cannot conceive them.  We owe You so much that we want to have to struggle and yet we are so lazy that we really don't want to have to struggle, so we make it difficult.  Help us understand that it is out of Your great love for us that You make communication with You so extremely easy.  Help us to jump at the opportunities You place in front of us and use them to our fullest capabilities.  Help us strive to show You our love for You even though we will never be able to show You as much as You have given to us.

Last night, as I lay snuggled in my husband's arms, he said, "I love you."  I replied, "I know you do by how hard you are always working to show me.  I wish I could do as much for you as you do for me."  He is currently removing all the popcorn ceilings and replacing them with beautiful ones.  Extremely hard and messy work all because I mentioned it would be nice if we could get rid of them.

Once again God speaks to my heart that this is the way it is supposed to be.  Marriage demonstrates our relationship with Jesus so vividly when we search it out.  He gave us way more than we will ever be able to give back, and just as Michael is filled with joy to give, give, give to me, Jesus is thrilled to give us more than we can ever give back to Him.

I am filled to overflowing with joy and love for you all this morning and at the same time I grieve for those who do not know Him and therefore cannot experience this joy for themselves.  I pray that the eyes of their spirit man may be opened, that they might see the beauty of His holiness and desire to be cleansed of all unrighteousness and be clothed in the Fruit of His most Holy Spirit.  Revel in His love for you!!  Celebrate the day, one with which to give back a tiny portion of what He has given us.