As a member of the Pastoral Ministries team I often get asked to open in prayer at various meetings I attend. I guess it is just a part of my job description. Of course I don’t mind doing it. Sometimes though when I am asked to pray in public like that I get a feeling that reminds me of when my wife and I were dating. For a while we had a “long distance relationship”. During that time we would go stretches without seeing each other. Sometimes when we finally were able to be in the same room there were a lot of family or friends around so that we could not really talk about some of the things we wanted to. Whether it was tension between us about something, or a great moment we wanted to share, it would have to wait. It was sometimes odd to have the typical light conversations in a group when we wanted to go sit in the corner and talk about what was really on our minds. That is the way I sometimes feel when I begin to pray in public. There is sometimes something I haven’t spoken to the Lord privately about (sometimes good, sometimes bad) and speaking to Him in public brings it to the forefront of my mind. Of course the difference between public prayer and a long distance relationships that God is always available for me to speak to. I just haven’t done it.
In the blog this week I am writing about ways to be more conscious of God’s presence in our minute to minute lives. One way I have been trying lately is to let God ask me two questions whenever I pray. The first question is a question that God asks in Genesis chapter 3.
8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?" Genesis 3:8-9 (NIV)
“Where are you?” I always take special note in the Bible whenever God asks a question. God obviously knows where they are so why does He ask? He asks because He wants Adam to answer. This question gets to the heart of that feeling when I pray in public. Where am I and where have I been since I was last aware of His presence? I don’t only ask this in a convicting way. I am glad to say it is not always with shame that I think of what I have been doing. Often it is me remembering difficulties that I have gone through that God has resolved without my asking. Other times it may remind me of a situation I am going through that I need to pray about. I have found though that the more I begin my prayers with that question, the more I am aware that God is with me in-between. I have always struggled with how I can “pray without ceasing” but I have found that this helps.
Mark Wallace
In the blog this week I am writing about ways to be more conscious of God’s presence in our minute to minute lives. One way I have been trying lately is to let God ask me two questions whenever I pray. The first question is a question that God asks in Genesis chapter 3.
8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?" Genesis 3:8-9 (NIV)
“Where are you?” I always take special note in the Bible whenever God asks a question. God obviously knows where they are so why does He ask? He asks because He wants Adam to answer. This question gets to the heart of that feeling when I pray in public. Where am I and where have I been since I was last aware of His presence? I don’t only ask this in a convicting way. I am glad to say it is not always with shame that I think of what I have been doing. Often it is me remembering difficulties that I have gone through that God has resolved without my asking. Other times it may remind me of a situation I am going through that I need to pray about. I have found though that the more I begin my prayers with that question, the more I am aware that God is with me in-between. I have always struggled with how I can “pray without ceasing” but I have found that this helps.
Mark Wallace
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