Opportunity to Serve

Praise the LORD, all you servants of the LORD who minister at night in the house of the LORD.

Lift up your hands in the sanctuary and praise the LORD.

May the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth, bless you from Zion. Psalm 134 (NIV)

I have been having dreams recently. And recently I have been awakened in the night praying for someone. This is a new season for me. I t has happened before and I admit to you that in the past I have been less than happy about disrupted sleep. This time I am humbled and grateful that God would give me a second chance to serve in this way.

Middle-of-the-night prayer is very Holy Spirit directed. My fleshy filter is ‘off’ and my heart travels wherever God wants it to go. Prayers are very intense and tears are plentiful but in those moments I feel God’s presence intimately. He is STRONG and FAITHFUL! The prayers end at God’s feet where the burden for the person is left in God’s hands with the assurance that God never sleeps and willingly releases His blessings 24/7.

Prayer that often perceived as complicated conversation with God is ordered by Paul to be done “continually”. (1Thess. 5:17) To do that would certainly lower the stress level of any given day! It may also increase the ‘weird’ assessment of people who know me. Most people think ‘aliens’ are weird, don’t they? As I learn to pray continuously, the conversations become easier as conversations do between best friends.

Prayer, as Jesus shows me in John 17, is direct and beautiful in its simplicity. Jesus shows me that it is the Father with whom I speak. If my earthly example of ‘father’ makes my prayers uncomfortable or stiff, then Jesus shows me the openness and love that is there for me to discover as I grow in my relationship with the Father.

Prayer is a time for speaking to God and listening to His wisdom and truth. If I am unsure that the words I hear are from Him, I have only to check what I heard with the words He speaks in the Bible. His present words will agree and line-up with the words and precepts He has spoken.

Give praise to the LORD!

Give praise to the name of the LORD; give him praise, you who are God’s servants and serve in His house, the kingly residence of our God!

Give praise to the LORD, for He is excellent; sing your praise to his name, for he is satisfying.

Psalm 135:1-3 (my paraphrase)