Living Under a Burden

 There are burdens we are to cast upon the Lord as instructed in [Ps 55:22]. These could include stressors, trials, relational issues, financial concerns, health matters, and victory over sins to name a few. There are other burdens God places on us. Burdens He wants us to live under. Burdens for the things that God cares about. Burdens that drive us to our knees. I am living under several such burdens right now. 

The first is for revival. I first began studying about revival in 1988. I have been a serious student of revival since then. I have a whole shelf in my library of books devoted to the subject of revival. I've watched numerous documentaries on revival. I have written devotional literature about revival. Mostly, I have prayed for revival going on four decades. Three times in the past I experienced God sending revival in places we served. I cannot even put those times of refreshing into words. They were filled with fresh God encounters. I live under that burden again. It is on my mind night and day. It is a primary topic in prayer. 

I believe God put that burden on me. I also believe He intends to send a revival to our church, community, and the region. It propels prayer and fasting. I don't know when. I will not schedule it. I do not intend to ever schedule another revival meeting. I've both planned and preached such meetings that were not revival at all. I prefer to prayerfully wait on God to send genuine revival when He pleases. I hope to set the conditions in place to be prepared when such a time comes. 

I am also living under the burden for our students. These students are misguided, wounded, in bondage to sin, stressed out, and miserable. The numbers who have been and are still being abused crushes me. I see the pain in their eyes. They grow up in environments most of us cannot imagine. I pray for ways to connect with them. I plead for opportunities to tell them about Jesus. I feel their pain in the pit of my guts. This is a burden I want to live under. I desire to enter their pain through intercession. It is a burden I do not want God to lift. 

I also live under the burden of personal mountains. I know they are tests. Instead of having a shrinking faith I plead for faith to match the tests. These are situations where prayer gives birth to the miraculous moves of God. Such God interventions glorify Him immensely. I do not resent the trials. I embrace them as opportunities to watch God do the impossible and improbable. God will melt the mountains into miracles. That is what I believe God will do. 

Some burdens are meant to be lived under rather than cast off. Such burdens helps to focus our prayers. They are reminders of the things that God cares about and wants us to care about also. May God break our hearts with the things that break His heart. Those are the burdens we should all live under. 

Sweet Hour of Prayer

 One of my favorite rooms in our church is the prayer room. It is isolated in a quiet area. The room has two chairs, a kneeling altar, and small desk inside. It is the perfect get away when things get hectic. It is a place I love to frequent. I love to sit before the Lord. To worship Him in private. To bask in His presence. In that sacred place battles are fought and won. In that place burdens are laid down. In that secret place the promises of God are secured. [Matt 6:6] God alone sees us in the secret place. He hears us and rewards our time spent there with peace, provision, and power to serve Him. 

Time stands still in there. I never know how much time has passed. It is the highlight of my day to get away from the crowds to spend time with my Father. Time spent there is irrelevant compared to the God encounters. Those are more important than the amount of time spent there. Somedays I find that is all I want to do is sit before the Lord in that secret place. 

I attended a prayer conference in college that challenged us to spend one hour in prayer everyday. The speaker even gave us an outline to help us. It was a struggle in those days. I did spend an hour in prayer on a few occasions back then, but it felt forced and formulaic. It is different these days. Time does not even come into play most of the time. It is my most important appointment of the day. Everything else on my to do list plays second fiddle to prayer. 

What it makes it so sweet is that it is a two sided conversation. I assure you what God has to say is always more important than what I have to say. Like one author I read recently wrote, "Learn to pray with an open Bible." God speaks and prompts what to pray. I desire God to direct our time together. To learn what is on His mind and heart. This takes precedence over my pulling out my long list of requests and concerns. 

Many people see prayer as a duty and drudgery. I see it as delightful and desirable. It has taken 40 years of experimenting, exercising, and God encounters to find prayer sweet. I still feel like I have so much more to grow and progress. I am not where I want to be. There are higher heights to reach and I am resolved to reach them with God's help and guidance. I want to fully surrender in prayer. To devote myself to it and the pursuit of God more than ever before. In doing so, I know prayer will only grow sweeter in time.