Prayer Vlog

BE STILL… and know that I am God!

When I start my prayer time, I will start by getting a cup of tea and sitting down in a very dark and quiet living room. I sit down and can usually see a sky full of stars. I take a minute to just quiet my soul and consider my God. I like to start with playing a song quietly on my iphone. I usually choose an old hymn because I love the deep, poetic spiritual truths about God. Something like

“The love of God is greater far
Than tongue or pen can ever tell
It goes beyond the highest star
And reaches to the lowest hell…”

I take time to quiet all the thoughts going on in that crazy head of mine, and focus on the truth of who God is, and what He’s like. Whatever crazy situation that is currently playing in my mind usually calms right down in the face of God’s truth.

I then like to turn to something to meditate on. This is new for me, but a very old Biblical practice. Joshua 1:8, for example, says “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” Sounds worth pursuing to me! My favourite places to find a short passage to meditate on is from Isaiah, a Psalm, or one of the Gospels. Because I have coloured through most of my Bible with purple showing God, I will choose something about God, most often.

When I say ‘meditate,’ I just try to suck all the marrow out of the bone! I take it really slowly, turning the words over in my mind. I use my imagination and imagine myself in the situation-or simply make it real by making a picture in my mind of what I’m reading. I’ll put a little video on some thoughts on meditating on here soon. So it’s not anything New Age or mystical. It’s simply spending a chunk on time considering deeply whatever truth is being presented in the verse I’m reading. (So know your context! Don’t, for example, meditate on something Job’s friend was saying to him, that wasn’t true! Context is important!)

After I meditate on a scripture, I might just listen to the Lord. It’s a good idea to have a notebook and pen to write stuff down. He will often just start bringing verses to mind, and I will consider what He’s saying. (So memorizing Bible verses and spending time reading your Bible definitely makes it much easier for the Lord to speak to you through them!)

After this, I might use a prayer method such as praying through the Lord’s Prayer, or using the ACTS (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving Supplication) organization for praying. I’ll put a video on that below. My meditation might have simply let me into praying through it and bringing up different things. The key is to set aside a chunk of time to quiet your mind before your God. Listen. Worship. Talk.

All too soon, kids are getting up and turning on lights. The sun might have been rising all the while. An hour flies by. I had started getting up at 6 to do this, but soon I realized I wanted more time, so I try to get up at 5-then I can usually guarantee a solid hour of peace flowing into my spirit.

I hope this is helpful to you. These are just some things I do that I love. You’ll find your own way if you take the time to try, and ask the Spirit to lead you.

As I’m preparing this, praying through what to say, I heard Ray Bentley come through on ‘The Bridge’ Radio App I listen to as I clean the kitchen, and he spoke today on ‘Be Still And Know that I am God,’ and it’s very good. I found a video link here: