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| Sterling State Park, Monroe |
Next week it will be my privilege to speak and teach at two pastor's conferences. I am always grateful for the opportunity to do this. I know God will give me some personal take-aways when I'm there. I'll be spoken to by God. God will teach me some things that will stay with me. I'll be with colleagues who are pastors, and that always serves to instruct and enrich my life.
Later in the spring I will attend a conference and listen to others preach and teach. I will have an open heart and discern what God wants me to learn from this time. I feel certain this will be good for me, since God is calling me to attend.
As good as these events are for me, the heart and soul of my God-encountering spiritual life remains my solitary prayer times with God. Today, right now as I type, I am attending the Solitary God Conference. God is an excellent conference speaker, with an impressive bio.
Yet...
Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.
Mark 5:16
Therefore, as a follower of Jesus, I do, too.
I agree with Greg Boyd, who writes:
The fact is, if we can’t discern God’s presence in our day-to-day lives, it’s unlikely that we’ll find him at a revival. We may find a lot of excitement, great speakers, superb music, and maybe even some “signs and wonders.” But unless a person learns to find God as much in the ordinary as in the exciting, the exciting will do nothing more than serve as a momentary distraction."
- Greg Boyd, Present Perfect: Finding God in the Now, p. 135
I need God, today. Now. Presently. The good news is that God's presence is available to me, 24/7.
God is doing something in me, now. God desires to speak to me, now.
Assume this when you pray.
