Thursday, May 6, 2010

Confession 98: Before the Throne of God

I've been thinking about prayer a lot this week. It was a key focus of our Revelation lesson. I don't know about you, but sometimes my prayer life becomes like a task on my to-do list. I shoot something off in the morning while I'm getting ready for the day to check it off my list and then give a quick "Thanks" at the end of the day. I'm afraid between work, kids, church, dogs and cats, I don't always take the time to cultivate the relationship that keeps everything I'm juggling up in the air. And, when I'm not truly centered on God, I don't seem to be centered on anything else.

In Revelation chapters 4 and 5, the throne room of God is described. The floor is made of precious jewels, there are heavenly beings crowned sitting all around. Heavenly creatures proclaim in booming voices the glory of God. It is resplendent. Majestic. Awesome. And those biblical characters who have seen it have fallen at the feet of the one who sits enthroned, surrounded by light that fills the room.

There is a lake, as smooth as glass, in front of the throne of the Most High where all of our iniquities, all of our sins, are thrown away forever. And there are bowls of amber incense sitting on each side of The King. The incense, a fragrant offering of prayer lifted up to the Creator by his created. When we pray, it is into this throne room we enter. And our prayers rise up as incense before God. He keeps them beside him--gifts from his beloved children.

I'm suddenly feeling convicted of all of those morning prayers offered up on the porcelain throne:-) Or the time last week when I prayed that I could actually get the carseat clip hooked to the seat latch. (Although, I have to say, God did answer that prayer!) In a culture where flippancy has become a well-practiced form through Twitter and Facebook, I think we should take more care with our prayers. Not that praying for timeliness in the mad dash to work is bad, but it needs to be countered with some serious down on our knees at the feet of the great I AM time. When we pray, we are standing on holy ground, and if our bodies can't reflect that, then our spirits should.

Prayer is powerful. I think I could use a dose of that! :-)

Blessings and Peace,
Sara

4 comments:

  1. Well said. Thanks for the good thoughts and the reminder to stay focused.

    Sorry for not getting back to you before on your question about moving. I moved a lot as a child and survived emotionally. We moved 18 times in 18 years. Some moves were in the same area so weren't as hard as the ones that involved new schools and new friends. Frequent moves did tend to make me shy. I've moved 8 times in our 25 years of marriage.

    So in my experience, and from stuff I've read, moving is hardest on high schoolers. My 10 and 12 year olds handled it beautifully. They made friends right off the bat, jumped in with both feet, and are happy here. Took my high schoolers almost a whole year to settle in.

    I'm thinking your little guys may show some wear and tear from moving but should regroup pretty quick. Little kids are pretty resilient and usually make friends much easier than adults do.

    Probably key to their transition is your attitude. If Mom is doing okay, they'll most likely be okay.

    I've included some links of stuff I found helpful.

    Hope things are going okay. Where are you at in the moving process?

    I've enjoyed getting to know you via blogs.
    Take care,
    Angie

    http://www.focusonthefamily.com/parenting/articles/kids-and-moving.aspx

    http://family.christianbook.com/but-mom-dont-want-to-move/susan-miller/9781589971660/pd/71662?p=1143702&event=ORC

    http://family.christianbook.com/after-the-boxes-are-unpacked-moving/susan-miller/9781561794058/pd/94058/1067228900?event=CF

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  2. Sara,
    Thanks so much for visiting my blog today! I loved what you said about prayer. It's just a great reminder about not being casual about approaching an Almighty God. I especially liked what you said about getting on our knees with our spirit.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm back again. I tagged you on my blog today.
    http://messycarsandmuddyshoes.blogspot.com/2010/05/three-game.html

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  4. Hey Sara,
    I read your comment on Lisa's blog. I think you and I are in the same boat and I would love to connect with you! If you're interested, (and have the time - LOL!) you can find my email address on my blog. I look forward to hearing from you!
    Penny

    ReplyDelete

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