Small Moments

“Think often on God. By day, by night, in your business and even in your diversions. He is always near you and with you. Leave him not alone.”

Brother Lawrence (1614-1691)

“You make known to me the path of life;

You fill me with joy in your presence,

With eternal pleasure at your right hand.”

Psalm 16 v 11

Prophetic Prompt

God often speaks to me by highlighting a fragment of a sentence I’ve read, heard or just thought up. So when, after taking time to hand-print a Birthday Card, rushing to post it (a last century procedure in itself) I realised, as it was dropping in the postbox, it had been “Posted to the wrong address”.  My intended recipient had moved house.

God spoke to me through that phrase “Posted to the wrong address”. He was highlighting that some effort, though well intentioned, can be mis-directed and even small pockets of our time can be misused. He didn’t mean card making …

Maybe today we can bravely consider this in our lives. 

John Mark Comer in his book “The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry” mentions that those of us born before 1995 would remember well the concept of “boredom”. In that scroll-free life if you stood in a queue waiting that’s all you could do. If you finished a book before the end of a a journey, you looked out of the window. He remarked that these little moments of boredom were potential portals to prayer, moments to wake up to the reality of God around us. Moments now swallowed up by – in his words – “the Digital Carnivore”.

Pray: Reclaiming small moments

1.  Acknowledge when a “moment” emerges   – then fill it with prayer. Notice today how many crop up in a day. Maybe we need also, in reality, to pray for help to not automatically seize our phone. (I know I do.) 

Proactively decide to use the car journey, commute, time stacking the dishwasher, watering the garden, standing in a queue ..(you get the idea!) to pray.  Speak in tongues, offer a sentence of endearment, say thank you. Reclaim these small pockets of time to keep alert to God’s presence.

2. Think now of a time-slot that you can set aside today. Then find a quiet space, to simply sit with the Lord. It doesn’t have to be a long period of time. It just needs to be quiet. 

Just be present with Him. 

Sit silently. It’s ok to be silent.  It might feel weird to be so still, so wordless but relax and enjoy being there. No music, no scrolling. Let this shared moment restore and refresh your spirit and heighten your awareness of God’s nearness and love. 

If thoughts emerge and swim to the surface during this quietness, don’t fight them or push them away. Rather acknowledge them and hand them over to God, regardless of the form they take – thankfulness, praise, anger, fear, tension.  A person or a situation may be uppermost in your mind.  You may be troubled, (wars, economics, security) or didn’t realise how much concern you carry about a problem in your life (health, family, finances).  God will hold them. Let the clarity of this time inform and fuel future prayers.

Seek the Lord while he may be found,

Call on Him while He is near.

Isaiah 55 v 6