Since childhood one of my mottos has been, “There is a place for everything and everything in its place.” As a schoolgirl, I remember waking up early, making my bed, cleaning the entire house, rearranging the furniture, putting on my school uniform and all this before my family would arise. My early morning adventures were sometimes disturbing to my mother, especially when the furniture was moved. But I found comfort and peace in cleanliness, and the proper order of things.
My wiring, or should I say, God’s wiring of me, has not changed since reaching adulthood. In fact, clutter still stands little chance in our home. My husband used to find it necessary to hold his water cup, rather than have it thrown away prematurely. While I am better about the water cups, the thought of wasting time, or being disorganized, would sometimes stir up anxious thoughts, or cause me to feel out of order.
A few years ago I began to incorporate Social Media as part of my ministry work for God. I wanted to give people the Word of God, and words of encouragement, to help build their faith and hope in Him. Soon the daily process became more challenging, with other endeavors filling up my day, and I became anxious about how I would find time to make all the daily postings. During this time I began reading a book from a best- selling author about pre-posting a month in advance. I thought, “Wow, this is an efficient, logical way to prepare postings, without needing to do it every day.” For my personality, it was perfect!
As the months went by, I started feeling disconnected from the posting even though the material was very good. In my prayer time, as I sought His will, the pre-planned posting was not what God was placing in my heart for that day. God’s Word is always good, and true, but the pre-planned scripture was very general and not the personal word God had given me. I was convicted by the Holy Spirit to listen to God, and post what God wanted posted for that day. There are no shortcuts, and no thirty day agendas. While I crave order and efficiency, my timing is not God’s timing, and He wants to have personal time with us every day!
God’s divine plans are not always the plans we make. For instance, a church will make arrangements for a Women’s Conference to address a specific topic. I will prepare an outline, study, pray, and then the day of the conference, the Holy Spirit will tell me to throw out my notes and follow God’s lead. We must be sensitive to God’s plan and His daily direction. Yes, we must be prepared, but that doesn’t mean we should be inattentive to the Holy Spirit.
So, how do we connect with God? Well, ask yourself, “How do I bond with my child?” For most people the answer would be, “spending time with them.” God wants you to spend time with him in prayer, while also reading and studying his word. We know this by the way Jesus would withdraw from the disciples and talk alone with his Father. He not only was setting the example for the disciples, but drawing strength from his relationship with the Father in Heaven.
Jesus was a living house of prayer, offering us the purest example of intimacy with the Father. He was also passionate about His Father’s House. We first read about the house of prayer in the Old Testament in Isaiah 56:7, “For my house will be called a house of prayer for all peoples.” The next time we hear this it is spoken by Jesus in Matthew 21:13, “My house shall be called a house of prayer; but you are making it a robbers den.”
God is waiting for us to pray. He is waiting for us to call out to Him for our children, grandchildren, neighbors, friends, and enemies. He is ready to open the gates of Heaven and pour out a flood of the Holy Spirit. He wants us to follow Jesus and be houses of prayer. The next great awakening is just prayers away.
What is God’s divine plan? It can be summed up in these two verses, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.”
Yes, your prayers planted along the great river flowing through heaven, will spring forth in new life here, during harvest season. It is God’s divine plan!