The Quiet Stillness

When we just stop...stop long enough to take our focus off of ourselves or the circumstances around us, we will be changed. The huge mountains of anxiety, frustration, anger, fear and a ton of other emotions will begin to fade. When we simply and honestly come to God in a place of quiet our perspective begins to change. As The Message says in Matthew 6:6, we begin to sense His grace. All of these emotions have their place, but their place is not to control us. They are to stir us to action. They are to stir us to come to God with authenticity. God wants us to talk, yell, scream, sing or sob...what He wants is our heart. Coming before Him and laying out our heart can me a difficult thing to do...but think about this, it is safer with Him than with any other human on earth! God cares for us like a father, not like a father of abandonment and abuse...but a father who passionately cares for us.

Dumping our load on God does help us feel some better...when we believe He truly cares. When we don't fully believe and dump our load anyway, we are taking a step of faith...and it's a start. But after we dump our load...don't stop and walk away...wait.

After pour our heart out...we need to be silent. Silent to hear what God is saying in our heart. Audible no, real yes. Something deep within will begin to whisper direction, clarity, wisdom, love and grace. Its this quiet time that most of us forget but its the time that God can minister to us. I mean really, isn't that what we want most, God to minister to us? As the focus shifts from us to God, we begin to experience His peace.

This is a portion of what I experienced in the mountains of Colorado...

Matthew 6:5-7 (The Message)

Pray with Simplicity

5"And when you come before God, don't turn that into a theatrical production either. All these people making a regular show out of their prayers, hoping for stardom! Do you think God sits in a box seat?

6"Here's what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won't be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense His grace.

7-13"The world is full of so-called prayer warriors who are prayer-ignorant. They're full of formulas and programs and advice, peddling techniques for getting what you want from God. Don't fall for that nonsense. This is your Father you are dealing with, and He knows better than you what you need. With a God like this loving you, you can pray very simply. Like this:
Our Father in heaven,
Reveal who You are.
Set the world right;
Do what's best— as above, so below.
Keep us alive with three square meals.
Keep us forgiven with You and forgiving others.
Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil.
You're in charge!
You can do anything You want!
You're ablaze in beauty!
Yes. Yes. Yes.