Turning Ordinary Moments into Prayer Spaces

I thought up the phrase “prayer spaces” many years ago while driving home from work, and it’s been a phrase that has helped remind me to find time to turn my focus off of the hectic speed of life, and toward God.

Here’s what sparked me to think of that phrase. One of my favorite songs is hidden at the end of another track on a CD—after exactly 2 minutes and 46 seconds of silence.

Well, okay, it wasn’t perfectly silent in the car that day. There was the rumble of the car’s engine, the heater blowing on the front and rear windows to keep off the gathering frost, and a slight whistle of wind as I passed other cars, and as other cars passed me.

But compared to how much noise and distraction we normally face, it was almost too quiet. And I was annoyed that the fast forward button didn’t work in that car. If you didn’t hit the button just right, it would skip ahead to the next song. So, I started waiting impatiently for nearly three minutes to tick by.

And then, as I had been trying to do lately while commuting, I remembered that this was a good opportunity to talk to God. And that’s when an interesting idea struck me. Rare moments of relative silence serve as little pockets in time for reaching out to God: small prayer spaces carved out of our media-glutted society.

Think about it: how often is it that there are no noises or words demanding your attention?  How many seconds of the day are not filled by radio, television, YouTube, texts, cell phones, e-mails…? Would you even be able to hear if God whispered?

 

“Then He said, ‘Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord.’ And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.” (1 Kings 19:11-12 NKJV)

 

We set up so much clutter for God to break through. There are so many messages flooded towards us that most of it becomes so much static. The reception trouble is all on our end—too many conflicting signals! 

But for a brief 2 minutes and 46 seconds, my car became a bubble sealing everything else off.  No distractions. No noise. No interference. Isn’t connection what every soul desires?

Even better than talking to God is hearing from him. I sometimes can forget that prayer is a two-way street and God wants to share things with me too. He spoke through that silence. I saw his grace and goodness in the glowing embers of the fading clouds, felt his love in the moments He pursued me.  Felt blessed that He would reach out to me.  Our God is so good.

A strum of guitar strings broke the stillness. I smiled, hit pause, and finished the conversation.

Then, with a glance up (which afforded me a peek of the rear view mirror and a sunset that burned so brightly it was as if it were painted just for me), I asked if there was anything else He wanted to say before I pushed play.

Soon, I wasn’t just singing. I was worshipping.

I’ve been striving to recognize these prayer spaces so that I can seek God in them. Over the years, this has become easier. Having ears and hearts that are open can become more of a habit.

Plus, there is a lot more silence in my life now since chronic illness has become a part of my day to day. It reminds me that we desperately need these breaks from the chaos and noise, and the opportunity to be away from it can be a blessing in disguise. I still have a choice to make. Will I fill every moment, or let God fill more moments of my day?

I want to challenge you to do the same. Will you listen for God when he clears away all the clutter?  Will you join me in finding prayer spaces tucked into your day?

 

Blogger Tip: You probably have writing hiding on your computer that would make a good blog post.
My brain is fried this week and I couldn’t fathom writing a whole blog post, so I hunted down something I wrote years ago. After all, it was just sitting there, and it ended up only needing minor updates to be turned into this post. Especially helpful for those of us trying to blog while fighting illness!    

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