FINDING YOUR PERSONAL HOLY PLACE

 


Let’s pause at this juncture in the article to establish a truth backed by Scripture and personal experience: God meets with people in special ways and in special places.  David found solitary prayerful pastures as a shepherd and then again when he fled from King Saul. 







Jesus regularly met with the Father in a garden.  Moses retreated to the dark inner chamber of the Holy of Holies.  What about you?  Do you have a quiet, special place where you meet with the Lord?  Search out a sanctified place, a designated location where you can quiet yourself and engage in conversations with the Almighty.  Perhaps you’ll discover a garden, an attic, a basement, a treehouse, closet, bedroom, library, trail, beach or nearby park as your secret place with God.


“He that dwelleth in the secret place

of the most High

shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.”

(Psalm 91:1)

 













“I smiled to myself, jamming my hands into my back pockets. I came here for solace, seeking refuge from all the that clamored for my attention inland, back at my home, my office.  They could wait. Here, there was only the sea and the wind. And the voice of God.


I scooped up a mussel shell - well, half of one. The dark blue, almost black, outer surface was rather pretty - except for the barnacles on it. I turned the shell over, feeling its roughness with my fingertips, and gasped. The inside of the shell shimmered in purple, pink, blue and gold. I had known what to expect, yet, for some reason, the reality hit me with a new power.  “Why, it’s just like me,” I thought.






I flipped the shell back over to the barnacle side. The outside is what everyone sees, my physical being and my actions, but the inside is where I actually live.  All my dreams and fears, my thoughts and plans, the very essence of who I am, swirl inside.  And, my ”shell” is all too often marred by the ugliness of my harsh words, bad solutions and selfish actions.  But inside is where God works, where His Spirit makes all things beautiful.


As I turned the shell over and over in my fingers, seeing my life in relation to this small remnant of the sea, a flake of the black skin on the exterior broke free and drifted to the ground.  I examined the newly bared spot and got another surprise.


The purples and pinks glimmered faintly in the darker fabric of the outer surface as well. In a flash, I saw how God peels away the ugliness of my life, whether it’s something I cling to myself, or something that has been forced on me from outside. In place of the dark corners, the false front, and the protective layers, He gives me beauty that shows from the inside out.”



PRAYER ADVENTURE CHALLENGE

If you already have a great place where you meet with God, terrific! 

If not, or if you think your time with Him could be improved upon,

then pray about where to pray. 


Find the perfect place where you and God can share hearts.   

 

In a place stripped of pretense,

it was easier to peel away my protective layers. 


“I stepped out of the car and breathed in the cold salty air. A frigid wind swirled around me, lifting my hair straight out from my head. I smiled and opened my eyes. I was beat.


The rocky shoreline stretched before me. Dark water struck the beach in foamy waves. The water pounded against unyielding rock. Gulls glided overhead. Two cold drops of rain hit me, one on my cheek, the other on the top of my head.


A park ranger was the only other person in sight. I left my car in the parking lot, glad to turn off my thoughts to simply enjoy the scene around me.


My problems always seemed so far away when I came here. The beach looked cold, bleak, lonely. But this seemly desolate spot invited me to come closer, to look beneath the surface. Coming here always made me feel closer to God. I glimpsed a side of Him most people don't see, or don't want to see: raw power. His hand was displayed in the turbulent ocean, in the voice of wind and thrust of waves. His Spirit was always strong here. In a place stripped of human edifice and pretense, it was easier to remember God is very real and very near.


I walked along the waterline, dried seaweed crunching beneath my shoes. The ranger stood over-looking the beach, watching me.  Perhaps he thought I might fling myself into the icy gray water.”

In the article below, “Prayer - Beneath the Surface” (by Debbie Kees, War Cry Of The Salvation Army Magazine, January 8, 2011), we discover a great secret in prayer: finding your personal holy place where you and God share hearts.  Enjoy the adventure.