Sunday, December 18, 2011

Praying at Night

When you feel God calling you, don't delay. Don't hesitate. Forget the circumstances. Forget how tired you are.  Just do it.

God rewards those who obey.

I would not normally share details about my prayer life with you all, but since a few of you are praying for me and I feel like this important, I'll share.

While I was in bed last night - after quite a long day - I felt the urge to pray. It came over me so strong. I don't know exactly how to describe that call to prayer. It was a gentle nudge on my soul that I couldn't shake and couldn't forget about. My heart was heavy and God was saying, "Come to me." In a sense, I heard Him loud and clear.

For those of you who don't know, I'm horrible at praying. I'm the most ADD when I bow my head. In a lot of ways I have used my lack of focus and diligence as an excuse not to pray. And in turn, that excuse has lead me very far away from my Daddy.

I said, "I'll pray tomorrow. I'm tired." But, as soon as I started to drift to sleep, I awoke suddenly - with that same urge to pray. Finally, lazy-me consented.

Guys, if you have been reading my blog, you know that I've felt far away from God for some time now. I've been going through a dark stage where I really have no passion, no zeal, no love and no light. Yeah, maybe a little here and there, but nothing really thrusting me into the Word, evangelism and prayer.

I got right with the Lord last night. Last night, God moved me to confess my sins and identify my idols. He lead me into sweet prayer and my heart was conditioned for worship this morning.

I'm excited again. I forgot how wonderful it is to speak to the Lord. I forgot how amazing the Gospel is. I forgot how radically life-changing God's presence can be. I'm so excited about Christmas now! This morning in church I was rejoicing at the thought of Baby Jesus and was excited about death and His coming. For the first time in a while, I'm pumped about getting in the Word and praying.

I'm SO excited.

Of course, communion and intimacy with God isn't guaranteed because of an experience. I have to cultivate this little flame that popped up and pour over it in prayer. I have to dig into the Word before I get spiritually lazy and surround myself with good people and God-glorifying things. I have to re-prioritize and surrender my idols.

But, I'm SO excited.

Thanks for reading and thanks for your prayers.

Tip: Don't ignore Him.

2 comments:

Kaylin said...

Ah this post is so encouraging!!! I've had experiences like that :) and through Christt, keep that fire burning!

Love ya, cuz!

Katherine said...

Ashley! That's so exciting... I'm so glad for you! I'll be praying for you that God keeps the flame going in you. :)