Gentle Nudges in the Night

A gentle nudge in the night....As if to say, "Come away with me my daughter for a sweet time of communion."  That's what I sense at 3:15 about once a week now.  I told a prayer warrior friend of mine just the other day (we were both awake at the same time one early morning) it's as if the Lord walks by your bed and gives you a gentle nudge.   I am in a deep sleep and for no "apparent" reason my eyes are opened and I head down stairs to my favorite spot, bible opened, fresh journal page ready and waiting for the Lord to speak to my heart.  Me and the Lord in sweet communion.  It is something I now look forward to.  A precious and priceless time of intercessory prayer.

It was about 7 years ago when God began to wake me up in the middle of the night always around the 3:00 am hour.  At first, I didn't realize it was the Lord.  I would wake up and look around the room, pull the covers over my head and fall back to sleep.  Overtime though, I began to realize it was the Lord gently nudging me to come away and spend time in prayer.  

As my children grew older and were "making their way in this world" my heart would grow heavy and I would feel burdened to pray during those early morning hours for their very souls. I would pray for their protection, choices, hearts to be softened by the Holy Spirit.    I remember many  nights being so overcome with a desperation for God to move in their lives that I was as Beth Moore calls it, "nose to carpet", prostrate on the floor crying out to the only One who could make a difference in their lives.  On those nights it wasn't always with such a gentle nudge but with an alarming alertness to drop to my knees and begin interceding on behalf of my children or anyone else the Lord laid on my heart.  I will never know this side of eternity how those hours in intercessory prayer kept one of them from the evil one; the one who like a roaring lion is roaming to and fro looking for someone to devour.  Only God knows those things.  I am grateful for that.  

For several months it was really a discipline to overcome sleep and be obedient to get up and pray.  Now, I am simply devoted to respond to those gentle nudges of the Lord. I have learned that God will show up and  if I don't get up I will miss out on what He is wanting to show me or share with me. I don't want to miss a thing!  It's through those times on my face before His throne or sitting in my favorite quiet time spot with bible opened, pen in hand and journal ready and waiting I have learned to sit at the Savior's feet.  I have learned how to hear the Shepherd's voice.  I have been as Andrew Murray calls it, "in the school of prayer" and I am still there.  Always learning, desperate to hear from my Adonai'.  I am learning how to trust the Lord with ALL my life.  I am learning what it truly means to "love the Lord with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind and all your strength."  I am always learning at the feet of Jesus.  It's a great place to be!

I am learning how to persevere in prayer.  To pray without doubting but in faith.  To pray back God's Word to Him in every situation or circumstance.  To just praise Him through His Word.  To simply spend time calling out His greatness and goodness.  I am learning to pray privately what I can't pray publicly.  To pray hard things.  For example: "God reveal the hidden sins in my family tree, grant us the gift of repentance and the fruit from repentance so You Oh Lord can re-landscape our family tree for the next generation and those that follow after us."  I have seen God answer over the past few years in ways that made me gasp for air.  Things that have made me desperate for more of God's presence, promises and peace!  There have been some answers to prayer that truthfully, at first I said to myself, "Oh, why did I pray such a thing" because He showed up and revealed things that hurt down to the core of my heart, yet in the end it is a good thing.  God promises to do good to those who love Him and are called according to His purposes ~ Romans 8:28-30. 

To tell you the truth; I am always amazed that the maker of heaven and of earth hears the cries of this woman's heart.  I am utterly amazed that He cares about the details of my life but He does and I am forever thankful and grateful for that.  I am His and He is mine because of the "blood of Christ Jesus".  

To sum it all up, to be a student and a disciple of Christ is an honor and a privilege.  There is no place I would rather be at 3:15 am than in sweet communion with My Savior and Lord Jesus Christ.  

So, when you feel a gentle nudge in the night don't ignore it.  Get up and go away with the Savior for a sweet time of fellowship.  You will be filled with more Jesus, more love and more of God's presence, promises, peace and power!  Don't sleep when the Shepherd of your soul asks you to come and pray!  

In the shadow of the Almighty

Psalm 91, 

Quiet Doesn't Always Mean Shy

I have one child who is much less talkative than the others in her family.  Most people who don't know her tag her as being shy.  With a world full of "look at me" and a performance based atmosphere in most of our churches, I guess I can see why some would call her shy.  After all, she is quiet, observant, a good listener and most of those are seen as "shy".  The truth is she was born this way.  It was part of her personality from the beginning.  From the time she was born, we began to discover the personality of this wonderful little girl that God had given to our family.  She was a quiet and content child from birth. She wasn't a fussy or hard to please baby.  She was not demanding in her toddler years just the opposite, she was quite compliant and easy to raise.  She has for the most part been an obedient teen and tries to honor her parents.  Even when she disagrees with our stand on things, she voices her complaints in a way that is well received.   She is not the type to take center stage in any conversation and doesn't desire to be one of the "noticed" ones.  I've always admired that about her. I love her personality.  She is peaceful and easy to be around.  She can't stand "girl drama".  Has always been mature for her age, a hard worker and just an all around great kid! I mean as with all "normal" young adults there have been times but they have been short lived.  

I think we could use more like her in the world and in the church today.  While I appreciate all the different personalities within the body of Christ, it is nice when you get to spend time with someone who isn't moving 100 miles an hour and running so far ahead of you that you can't keep up.  I am married to a wonderful man, my best friend and we are complete opposites and it seems to work well that way.  He is project oriented, and a servant at heart and I thank God for him.  He sees a need in people's lives and in the church and is already 10 steps ahead of me. I feel like I'm always playing, "catch me if you can."  When we do have time to sit and talk on any given day I just need to get out my steno pad and take notes.  There is so much running through his brain!  It's all good and directed towards ministry and his family but still, whew!  God made him that way for a reason and I love that he can work circles around me.  He can get more done in 24 hours than most people I know.  It gives him great satisfaction to work hard especially if it's benefiting someone who really needs it.  I love that about him.  I'm not against working hard I also get great joy and satisfaction from working hard at something I love. We are just different in our personalities and our spiritual gifts.  God did that on purpose.  He also did that on purpose in the Body of Christ.  We all  need each other.  No one is better than the other or more necessary than the other.  Whether you are cleaning the church, maintaining the building and grounds, teaching a bible study, serving food or working in the nursery we are all needed and have a place of value in God's kingdom. 

Sometimes though, those of us who are always "on".  Always on the go, running 0 to 90, need to slow down, sit still, silence our minds and mouths and open our ears.  Those quiet people God has placed in our lives; those thinkers, those who do more observing and listening also have much to bring to the table.  We all need each other that's how God made and desires the Body of Christ to function.  I truly appreciate and admire visionaries, especially because I am not a visionary at heart.  Although, God gives me vision from time to time in my personal life about ministry. We need visionaries or like the word of God says, "people without vision perish".  We don't want to become stagnant and perish!  So we need the movers and shakers, those who are driven in their leading.  But, we also need those who are the observers, the listeners, those who take it all in, those who are a little more cautious and prayerful in the decisions needed to be made in our families and churches.  Both are valuable. 

I guess what I'm trying to say without seeming critical is that we can all learn from one another.  Don't dismiss someone and tag them as "shy" because they are quiet.   You may very well miss a huge piece of the puzzle in the vision God is casting for your family, church, ministry or workplace.  I remember when I was introduced to Anne Graham Lotz, through a bible study method she developed.  I heard her speak once at a conference and she shared how she was somewhat of an introvert.  She told us about when God called her to a teaching ministry and she thought, "God, you have the wrong girl!"   Look at what God has done in and through the ministry that He birthed from her time in the word!  Don't dismiss those in your ministry circles who are the shy, quiet types.  You never know what God is cultivating and birthing in their lives. 

I have been around and ministered under some awesome movers and shakers who I know were seeking God's word, will and way.  I have learned so much under their leadership.  Visionaries are used by God in great ways to further His kingdom.  I love them and have learned to appreciate their talkative, fast paced, "tell it to me in 10 words or less" personalities.  They tend to be drawn to people like them because they are productive individuals and can see how this one or that person can help the ministry that God has given them the vision for.  Sometimes though, I have witnessed as they have overlooked those in their midst who could be great assets to their team or ministries because they have a hard time seeing past what they deem as "shy" are really people who are thinkers, maybe a little more cautious in personality not fearful but thoughtful.  People who ponder a little slower than others maybe? Those in our midst who are "shy" are sometimes the very ones we ignore.  They don't want a stage or a platform ministry but can be great shepherds of small groups, disciple makers, bible study teachers or a heart to minister and glorify God through music.  

Not everyone has a dynamic personality, but all can have a dynamic ministry when God is in it and the one leading them. Just remember quiet doesn't always mean shy!

In the Shadow of the Almighty,