Where Do You Pray?

Often, I search out the perfect place to pray. I want the lighting to be a certain way, candles lit, and the perfect worship song playing softly. All because I, for some reason believe that it will help usher in the presence of God. The truth is, all he needs and desires is just for his people to pray. We are carriers of His presence wherever we go and we are able to pray anytime that we want. So why do we think it has to be in a certain setting?

I don’t know, maybe it’s just me. Maybe I’m the only one that struggles with things like this. Don’t get me wrong, I pray in my car, I pray in the shower, I pray in my kitchen, and so many other places, and I know that the presence of God is there. So, why is it when I think something is really important that I feel that I need to go to a certain place, find the perfect song, and have the perfect lighting? I think what I am doing is trying to re-create a certain time of my life where the presence of God was so tangible.

Years ago, I did not have to work a job in the marketplace. When I did work, it was in the church and I had a flexible schedule. I could pray and study the Word of God anytime I wanted. Now things are different. I work 9-10 hours a day starting at 7am, and generally get up at 5am. When I get home I am tired, so I try to do my devotions in the morning. I will read from my You Version app and pray for a few minutes, and then get ready for work. Here’s the problem. I don’t feel I pray enough. I don’t really press in to the presence of God. While at work I will pray quietly inside as I am lead and when I am able. When I get home, I would like to pray more, but I don’t because I’m tired, and I want to just cook dinner and relax. Before you know it, it’s time to go to bed and I have not prayed in my “special place, with the special lighting, and the special song.”

So, back to the beginning of why I started this post. I am off work today so I was able to spend more time in prayer and getting everything set up the way that I wanted it. As I finished praying, I looked around and thought about how pretty everything looked. I had the lighting just right and had a nice time worshiping and praying. That’s when God said to me, “It’s not about the place, it is about My habitation.”

If you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit resides on the inside of you. Before Christ, the Spirit of God was represented by the Ark of the Covenant and was carried around from place to place,and King Solomon built a temple for the Ark to reside… a place for God. Now, we are the temple and his presence resides in us.

As I wrote this, I realized that although I have come a long way and shed a lot of my Pharisaical spirit, I still have remnants that have remained and I need to pray and ask God to cleanse me from it all. Maybe this is the whole purpose he nudged me to write this blog. So he could help me look closer in the mirror and realize some of what has been holding me back from his presence. Me.