Week of Prayer is one of my favourite things that we do together as a church.  I love picking a time slot where I know I can set aside whatever I’m doing to pick a quiet spot in the house, put on some peaceful music, light a candle or two and spend time with God.  It’s a time where I can re-evaluate where I am at with God and where I’d like to be.

This year I went into the Week of Prayer really hoping that God would answer some questions for me;  that he would give me a little glimpse of His plans for me, what I should be doing, who I should talk to, where I should spend more time, anything!  So I slotted myself an hour each day with the hopes that the more I did, the more He’d share with me.

As I began my first hour of prayer on Sunday, I quickly realized that God had another agenda.  Why I was surprised by that I’m not really sure. I always tend to make plans thinking that I have it all figured out just to realize that God had something else in mind.  As I continued to pray throughout the week, I started to notice a pattern with words that were being repeated.  Phrases like ‘come’ and ‘make space’ and ‘seek first his kingdom’.  At first I thought maybe this was God revealing his great plan for me, that there was something great that I had to MAKE SPACE for, or that He was asking me to COME on a special mission.  However, as I continued through the Week of Prayer, God made clear that this had nothing to do with a special plan for me, in fact it had nothing to do with me at all.  God was simply asking me to make space for Him, to come and seek first His kingdom.  God just wanted me to be present with Him.  That’s it.  I tend to be someone who is constantly finding new things to do and take on.  I am quick to say yes to many things and soon find my calendar filled with all kinds of different projects that I probably don’t really have time for.  So for God to be asking me to just come and be with Him, was honestly a bit disappointing.  What about all the things that I can do?  I’m fairly talented in a lot of different areas and I love helping others, why doesn’t God want to use those gifts?

Because none of those gifts are worth anything if I’m not seeking first His kingdom!  What good is it to help others if I’m doing it for my own gratification?  How helpful is it to be so busy with what seems to be great things but yet don’t spend any time just with God?  To quote our friend King David, “Meaningless! Meaningless!  Utterly meaningless!”

God is asking me to take a step back and remember who it is that I serve.  To come into His presence and bask in His glory so that others I meet might also see the glory of God.  If I’m meant to resemble Jesus, I need to get to know Him as best as I possibly can, every little detail.  I love how The Message words John 3:30 ‘This is the assigned moment for him to move into the centre, while I slip off to the sidelines.’