The Hunnicutt Homestead

Prayer Time

This morning driving home after dropping the boys off at school I enjoyed the snow and the quiet time to pray by myself, out loud, with no ears listening but God's.  We pray often as a family, or just with the kids, but I rarely have an uninterrupted moment to pray on my own.  Just the other night,  with the door closed after the kids had been tucked in, I was kneeling before my bed, head bowed and lips speaking my soul to the Lord.  S bursts in and I hear a "Oh, sorry", as he stumbles back out shutting the door behind him.  If I pray in bed I'm interrupted by my husband's wandering hand or a cry on the monitor from one of the kids rooms.  Peaceful interludes have not been found often in our home.  I find I treasure those quiet solitary moments when I can get them.

Despite my grumblings, I am more privileged than many.  I recently finished a book by Randy Alcorn called Safely Home (5 star rating by the way), which is a book regarding the persecuted underground Christian church in China.  With families living together in a one room home, there is no privacy.  With worship being unlawful in any group setting other than the governments few "registered" churches, it can be difficult for our brothers and sisters there to worship or pray together at all.  I'm sure the "in your head prayers" are the most common.

As I think of this I am glad that the Lord knows what we need before we even think or ask.  I am glad we are given the example of Daniel who, as he begins to pray the angel is sent to answer Daniel.  The angel says he was delayed....wow! and Daniel hasn't even finished praying yet!   I am also grateful that God's spirit intercedes for us.  I am thankful to live in a country where we are allowed to worship at home, in any church, that we are allowed to speak of our faith (although some may try to squelch this liberty). 

As everything we think ,do, or feel is noticed by our Creator, I am confident that He cares.  He knew we were going to have busy days and nights, persecution, as well as constant interruptions.  We only need to think our prayers and they are heard.  The next question is, are our hearts and heads filled with thoughts of seeking God?  Or, more commonly, are they consumed only with ourselves?  I pray that God's word would be hidden in my heart, that I would not sin against Him.  I pray that my heart would be filled with God's love so that what comes out of my mouth would be the overflowing love of God in my heart.  For me, this must be a daily prayer.  I can easily dwell on what is hindering me, what I can't do, or the obstacles in life.   Or, I can be consumed with ideas of what I would enjoy or what pleases me right now (instant gratification, anyone?  convenience?) instead of considering how I would best serve the God who loves me enough to die in shame for what I have done wrong. 

Now that I've had time for all of this written reflection, I better get off my duff and do some dishes!  It is also too easy to sit and ponder such lofty spiritual thoughts and not be a "doer of the word", actually following through on them.