Many faiths hold fast to a process of meditation and practiced prayer. Though we are called to pray and meditate, I have discovered in the most recent portion of my life, that I have never been taught to meditated, to fast, or to pray.
I desperately look for places where I can be alone. Without clutter, without the internet or cell phones, or people. Just quiet, and the presence of the Lord.
Sometimes my heart yearns for a quiet church with open doors, where I can go and pray. In college we had chapels in every dorm which were fairly easy to get into. But in real life, most churches lock the doors when no one is there. It's not that I don't know that God is always with me, it's that I long for a space for just me and God.
My uncle is a priest, and sometimes, when we would visit him, we would stay in the rectory. I loved the calm of the uncluttered walls and simply made beds. (Although I LOVE my pillows)
I spent a week on a silent retreat. Alone. I was afraid of the monotony of it, but enjoyed virtually every minute of my days there (until the day before the last day I broke down in a panic attack worried that no one would have been able to reach me in case of an emergency.) Life went on. Everyone was fine. All I took with me was a bar of soap, tooth brush/toothpaste, shampoo, a few theology books, my bible, a journal, some pens and scrap booking supplies, a few changes of clothes, a tea pot (which I inadvertently donated to the retreat center) food for the week, a wooden cross, a bouquet of flowers, a digital picture framed loaded with friends, family and other lovely images, and a vase.
I spent my days on a Mediteranian diet, fasting in noise, company, and technology.
As I was reading Tenney's book Finding Favor with the King the other day and I was wondering at the place Esther might have found to pray.
When I lived in Los Angeles, amid the incessant lonely crowdedness, I found sanctuary in the garden of a small chapel in a cemetery. I found calm there. When I asked the questions I thought were so impossible and infuriating-the things that seemed so unfair to me-God seemed to answer me in the bits of nature that was bustling about me. He made me laugh of the rediculousness of my angry questions thrown at him. "Yes, Sarah, nature does have drama too, do you see that squirrel chiding what he doesn't even see?" "Yes, Sarah, I will provide for you, do you see the bird rooting food from the ground?"
We constantly have noise blaring. We escape into music land, t.v land, or the land of drink, or work, or the internet, and yet we rarely first think to escape into the land of God.
I'm moving into a new home soon. (Yay!) Only my bedroom will be mine. But I would like to create a sacred space there. A space set a part for me and the Lord, without clutter, or distraction. A prayer closet if you will. A place of rest and sanctuary. A place to learn meditation. To fellowship with the lord.
Do you have such a place? Is it in your home or a found space? Where do you go to be alone with God?
Carve out time for the Lord.
Carve out a special place for prayer away from all other distractions
Below I am including some links for ideas to create this resting place.
Prayer Friendly Home
Purpose of Place
Christian Meditation
Prayer Room Pinterst Ideas
Creating a Prayer Space at Home
How to Make and Take A Retreat Place
