An area where I have wanted to grow in my spiritual life is spending time with God and prayer time. I have never been good in this area, certainly one of my weak points in my walk. It has been only recently that I have felt God's calling me to spend more time with Him. My prayer time with God would often consist of praying for others, or maybe things I needed, but never really "felt" like it was doing anything in my life. It was a rare occasion when I can actually say, "God spoke to me during that prayer time and said...". More often than not I wanted to hear Him say something, but as I look back it was more likely me thinking something that I hoped God was telling me.
There have been a couple of occasions in the last two months where God has spoken to me. In late January I applied for a job that had become available, and thought I would love to work there even though it would involve a move more than 6 hours away. I emailed my son the next day and told him that I had applied for the job. He called that night and told me of their plans to move back to Winnipeg in the spring of 2015. I then thought, "How can I move to take up a job and be 6 hours away from him and his wife and soon to be born baby". The next day I emailed my son back and said I have decided to withdraw my resume from the position, hoping I would find something closer and not have to make the bigger move. I woke early the next morning (nothing new there) with a strong sense of God saying, "Do not withdraw your resume until the date for the job posting comes due". I prayed that God would make me more content with the job that I had, but over the next two weeks I was more and more discontent with my job. I knew then that God wanted me to let my resume stand for the position and knew that if God wanted me to move then I would get the job. By the end of February I was offered the job and received all that I had hoped for that came with it.
This past week God spoke to me again, in the middle of the night. I wake up in bed quite a bit during my sleep, tossing and turning before deciding whether or not to get out of bed, even if it 3:00. I woke up and was thinking about prayer, about when our home here would sell and where we would live next. The thought of fasting came to mind,(something I have not done more than once in the last 30 years) so I brushed it off for a few minutes as I thought about all that needed to happen in the next few days before starting the new job. Again, the thought of fasting came, and this time I paid attention and prayed that "If you want me to fast, let the word fast be in my reading today". I have been reading the Daily Bible, reading the Bible through in one year. Today's reading included Psalm 109, and near the end of today's reading was the word fasting. I have to tell you, I was hoping it was not there, because I enjoying eating. I knew that God wanted me to fast, I did not know why, but I fasted, and prayed, and read that day. The house is still for sale, and there are still lots of family and friends who do not know Christ, but it was that step of obedience I took, moving in the direction God wants me to be.
Lately I have spent a lot of time thinking about the things we do and talk about, that, when you think about it, are so trivial and meaningless it makes me think we are no different than the Old Testament people of Israel who made their own gods to worship instead of God. A few things come to mind, and likely a few more will by the time I have finished this post...such as standing in line to be the first to watch the latest movie (and that gets you what?), or the way we pride ourselves in cheering for our sports team (sports has become such a big part of people's lives that God has been demoted to "when I have time"). We are now afraid to stand up for God for fear of being thought of as a self righteous looney. Christians are no longer respected for what they believe in. While most people are okay that we have an opinion, they do not want to hear us say "the Bible says".
