Friday, January 27th, 2017
AN APPOINTMENT WITH GOD
I attend a noon prayer gathering at our church on Mondays when I’m in town. At this last Monday’s session, a woman named Ellen casually used the term “an appointment with God” when mentioning what I thought was her morning prayer time.
At the conclusion of a robust time of prayer, the Holy Spirit prompted me to ask her what she did during her appointment with God. Her answer convicted me that I had miles to go in my quest to pray with more vigor.
Three or so times a week, Ellen tells her husband that she’s going upstairs for an appointment with God. Sometimes it’s for an hour; sometimes up to four hours. It depends on what else she has before her that day. During that time, she prays, reads Scripture, sometimes reads books by Christian authors, and talks to God on a personal basis as if He were right there with her – which, of course, He is.
That was convicting enough until she told me about a 40-days-of-lent exercise she performed one year. “This was my reset from all the things of the world that had been weighing on me for the past 51 years, and from my religious upbringing that was more about rules and regulations than a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.”
During those 40 days, she stopped watching television except for Christian-themed documentaries. She didn’t read anything that was not of God. And she focused as entirely as she could on her life with Jesus. Uff da! I could use a reset in my life, probably we all could…but 40 days? Maybe I’ll start with one day a week. How about you?