As I was praying today the thought occurred to me, that the most “alive” I have ever felt at any one time has been when the Lord entered the room, during my prayer time. In life, the opportunity to feel loved, nourished, accepted, treasured, restored, forgiven, and filled with absolute joy all at the same time, is something that just doesn’t happen that often! Even as a person of prayer these emotions aren’t a given. But it does happen!  If you’ve never experienced it, let me tell you, you need this! Though it cannot be forced, I can tell you what was going on when it has happened. And what you can do to prepare the way for it to happen.

The very first thing is to not be in a hurry. Just relax into your time with God. Prayer with no set finish time. Time to, “Be still and know that I am God”.

Living life in 2015, everything is so hurried, so much, that eventually, the hurry alone, becomes exhaustive to the mind, body and spirit. We have to let go of the concept, that time is either wasted or accomplished. And understand, that living life well also involves the ability, to just enjoy… the passage of time. So relax into your prayer time. Relax your mind, body and spirit as you speak to him.

The next thing to do is to begin to tell the Lord in simple meaningful words, what all he means to you as if he were in the room. Not in the formal prayer talk, with vibrato added;)! Just sweetly quietly reminding him of the times when you were so afraid, and how you cried out to him, and then remind him of how he turned your whole circumstance around. Or the time when you desperately needed a word, and God let someone that very day, speak hope and life, into your situation. Remembering these things, without fail, makes me cry. Because life brings us, to such desperate moments, of loss, fear, struggle, hurt and despair.

We don’t often take the time to properly tell God what he means to us. I’ve said to him often enough, “Lord there are no words to tell you, how much you mean to me”. But then one day I realized he wanted me to use words to tell him!  And now I love this part. So I begin to slowly and meaningfully, speak to him, choosing beautiful words and descriptive terms, to tell him of my love, how much he means to me, and how my life is complete, because of him. My appreciation for the cross, and for what all he has sacrificed for my sake, the mercy he has extended to me. Gratitude.

You will begin to realize that even as you struggle to put your love into words, something otherworldly begins to happen. You will sense him quietly entering the room. Listening. Watching. Don’t let anything interrupt you at this moment! Not the phone…. nothing. For this is such a precious event. So special, that even if you allow your mind to drift off point for just a few seconds, this moment can pass you by. You will still have a lovely prayer time, and be blessed, but this special experience, which I am speaking of, now, will not happen.

For what I am talking about is not the normal love or emotion that you feel every time you pray. Rather it is an experience, in which his presence enters the room like a sweet perfume. Where you sit there, overwhelmed by him, surrounded by him. Loving him with such an intense emotion, that you eventually become speechless in his presence. Many times I have just held my bible to my chest and cried softly as his presence came in the room. Unable to speak, except to say, I love you, over and over. Yet in those moments I am more nourished, healed, and made whole than at any other time.

The Bible refers to this as “joy unspeakable”, and tries to explain this experience to us, when it says, “In his presence there is fullness of joy”. Yes! A joy so intense, a healing, and nourishment of the soul, so rich, that even a few minutes of it, does incredible things. It is unbelievable, it is indescribable, it is something beyond words.

Sadly I am not relaxed enough for this to happen everyday. Though I need it to! I crave it. Once it happens to you, you will daydream about it, and long for it to happen again, for it is an experience that captivates the mind. I don’t know if it’s ever lasted for even 20 minutes during my prayer time, sometimes it comes only for a very few minutes. For the human brain without even meaning to, drifts on, to other thoughts and then the intensity of that connection, is, in a second, gone. Though your prayer time will move on, into its many component parts, this particular time, when the Lord’s presence comes into your space, specifically, to hear of your love for him, is one of the most precious, healing, nourishing, experiences on earth. For in those few minutes, you are made whole in body, mind and soul.

I hope you will take the time this week to pray until this happens. Just writing this makes me long for him. I will be entreating his presence this week too. Seeking him. And like you, I have lists on top of lists, of things to do before a certain date. And it exhausts me right now, even thinking about it. Yet something inside can’t stop this longing, and without even realizing it, my mind begins to daydream… and then my heart jumps at the thought, that tomorrow I will give my love to him again, until he comes to me…