Sunday, February 5, 2012
Day 5
"The people God uses
the most are the people who spend the most time in His presence. Why?
Because the more time you spend in God's presence the more you know Him
and the more He can trust you. We need to be people of His presence, and prayer
is one way you get into the presence of God. For the record, you'll get further
into the presence of God when prayer is combined with worship and fasting.
When I was in college, I was
determined to spend as much time in prayer as I possibly could. During my
senior year, most lunch hours were spent in a darkened, empty chapel. I'd pace and pray in the chapel balcony
seeking the heart of God. I was
desperate to know God, to be used by God.
The story that inspired me more than
any other was Exodus 33:7-11:
Now Moses used to
take a tent and pitch it outside the camp some distance away, calling it the
“tent of meeting.” Anyone inquiring of the LORD would go to the tent of meeting
outside the camp. And whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people rose
and stood at the entrances to their tents, watching Moses until he entered the
tent. As Moses went into the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and stay
at the entrance, while the LORD spoke with Moses. Whenever the people saw the
pillar of cloud standing at the entrance to the tent, they all stood and
worshiped, each at the entrance to their tent.
The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend.
Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua son of Nun did
not leave the tent.
Did you catch the last phrase? Joshua "did not leave the
tent." Why did God choose Joshua to
succeed Moses? I think it's because
Joshua spent more time with Him than anyone else in Israel.
I wonder if our generation has
forgotten how to linger in worship and tarry in prayer. You can't just pray. You need to pray
through. Now please don't misread what
I'm writing. It's not a contest to see who can pray the longest. It's not like
you clock in and clock out logging hours.
But I just don't think you can have quality time with God if you don't
have quantity time. And like the
Psalmist said: "Better is one day in the courts of the Lord than a
thousand elsewhere."
I believe everyone needs their own
tent of meeting. You need to find a
place and find a time where you have a standing meeting with God. If you need to, add it to your calendar or
set an alarm. After all, it's the most
important meeting of the day hands down!
The goal of the 21-Day prayer challenge isn't praying for 21 days. It's establishing a daily habit for the rest
of the year."
Mark Batterson-Circle Maker
