Friday Freelance: FALLEN ON FACE

Image source: revphil2011

"By nature, worship is not some performance we do,
but a presence we experience."
~ A.W. Tozer

Friday Freelance: FALLEN ON FACE
#knowingGod

Like millions across the nation, we’ve had a house full of sickness this week. My husband John went first, then the kids, one by one. By God’s grace (and with a few natural remedies) I’ve thus far evaded being sick, despite sleeping between two sick people.

Four-year-old Daniel slips into my bed so quietly that I don’t realize he’s there until his warmth pressed into mine wakes me up. Sickness isn’t the only reason he’ll wind up there. Funny noises outside his window will bring him. The rare bad dream dispatches him in search for safety. And returning from a nighttime trip to the bathroom is simply an excuse to snuggle.

We’ve always had an open door policy with our kids during the wee hours. Our philosophy is that they’ll know God is always available to them in a dark times by learning it first from us. There are other times when the door is locked, for Mom and Dad to have a serious talk or serious affection. In those hours our children learn that however important our relationship with them, the relationship with each other comes first.

When all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down,
and the glory of the LORD on the temple,
they bowed their faces to the ground on the pavement,
and worshiped and praised the LORD.
~ 2 Chronicles 7:3 (NKJV)

There is another place in the house which our children know to respect when it is closed. I’m usually already out of my prayer closet when they awaken, but if I tarry they’ll come to give me a good morning kiss (the youngest two will also cuddle quietly a bit), then slip away and allow me my time with the Lord. They understand that my relationship with Him comes first.

I try to "pray without ceasing" in mental chatter with the Lord all day, but of course it’s interrupted. I have lazy mornings when I try to get away with prayer time in bed, and as often as not it lapses back into sleep. I most enjoy morning prayer time in the eastern family room which offers sunrise in the summer and wood stove warmth in the winter.

But that prayer closet ...

This is the place of serious talk and serious intimacy. Unlike my numerous computer Bibles, the paper and ink version stored here is stuffed with notes and covered with writing. Like a suitcase plastered with travel stickers from around the globe, it evidences the places the Lord has taken me and the things we’ve seen together. A prayer journal ensures no one is overlooked (including you, dear readers). And the square of padded carpet behind tapestry curtain provides a comfortable place to sit—or a place for my face.

Say what you will about the Lord is everywhere and hears us no matter our position. For me, if I need to hear from Him, I fall on my face before Him. Something in this posture not only shuts out lesser things, but brings my heart to a place where either His whispers become clear, or His Spirit and mine find such unity that I needn't hear His voice. Like a comfortable couple who've reached the place where words are no longer necessary, I feel His pleasure, comfort, understanding, stretching, challenge, grief, peace. If you've felt any of these things, you know they are real.

If you desire these things, quietly slip into His presence with a humble heart until you feel His warmth pressed into yours.

Contrasting points-of-view, questions and feedback are invited. Post to BuildingHisBody.com "Comments" or e-mail to BuildingHisBody@gmail.com. Copyright 2009, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.