Invitation

There is a great positive to reading so much of the bible at once, and that is the fact that for hours you are in the word, reminding yourself and seeing once again the past history of a God that is still with us today. Perhaps the biggest downside of reading so much is that you don’t exactly have a huge amount of time to sit and digest, otherwise the time needed to get through the various chapters could very easily hit four to five hours plus.

This morning on my way to work, I tried to think of what exactly it was that God had been showing me in these past few days of intense reading. I’m not quite sure what I was expecting from reading so much of the bible at once day after day, however, I must admit that I was expecting to be and feel different than I do. To be honest, I feel normal. I still feel like bland, day to day in the grind Karissa. This wasn’t what I was hoping for! I wanted fireworks and a huge spiritual encounter with God each and every time I opened his word! I wanted a burning bush or something other than, ‘Today I need to read this, this, and this. Let’s get it done.’

Later on in the evening, I packed my things and headed towards the long awaited prayer room that my church is hosting over the weekend. I armed myself with my guitar, music and bible - the trusty things that help me focus on God - and awaited my scheduled timeslot to begin. Naturally optimistic, I was at the church twenty minutes early because after reading and reading and still not feeling like I had heard much from God that day, I was determined to hear him speak. I wanted to know that everything I was doing was not just a waste of my time, and that my efforts to draw closer to him were not in vain.

As for the prayer room and what it is composed of, the prayer room is a combination of various things around the room geared to bring you into a deeper prayer experience with God. Instead of sitting in a chair and praying for an hour or two hours straight, there are tables set up around the room to lead your thoughts to different areas that need your prayer. There is a table where you can sit and read missionary’s letters to the church. There is a board where you can post a note with the names of your unsaved family and friends, as well as see the names others have written down before you. Perhaps my favorite area of the prayer room is a variation of the Wailing Wall, where you can write what your prayers are and what you are struggling with, people you want to pray for, anything.  

You start to see that people of all ages struggle and are broken with the exact same things that you would have never thought that anyone cared about but you! As the body of Christ returns to God in prayer and pours out its heart before him, we catch a glimpse of the fellowship and closeness God has always intended for his people to partake in. That is what the unity of Christ is all about!

Though I can barely believe that I'm saying this, after a full two hours of being in the prayer room and spending that time focused solely on him, I can honestly say that the prayer room last night wasn’t all that special. It was beautifully decorated, very calming - all the things it always is - yet as I sat there and talked with God, I found it was no different from the moments where I had talked with him in my car, where I had whispered a broken prayer to him while walking to the mailbox; all those moments where I was honestly pursuing God were just as real and just as powerful as the hours I had spent in the prayer room.

I have known for years that the prayer room itself is nothing special. I know that the small room in South Side Baptist church is not God’s earthly home where he permanently dwells – but it was always incredible to be there, to meet with God. That’s why I looked forward to it year after year. It was always the one place I could go, and KNOW that God would show up. He always did. Every time.

I can’t say I left the prayer room disappointed, because I wasn’t; I had talked with God. Though I may not have gotten the fireworks and emotional high that I thought I was looking for, what I got was even better:

An invitation.

Today in my reading, God was talking with Moses, telling him to go to Mount Sinai, and be there. Just be there! God was on the move, his newly restored people traveling to the Promised Land, and God just wants to stop and commune with his (begrudging) servant Moses? What an awesome God!

Better still, the God of today is the same God we see in the Old Testament. He has never stopped inviting his people to come and just be with him. The bible itself is our own invitation from God. ‘This is my love letter to you! Can’t you see all these things I have done to be with you and restore you to myself? Look! Look at this great price I have paid so I can be with you for eternity. I want you to be there with me – I have already done the work for you, just be there!’

Incredible. I will never get used to the fact that we serve a living God who delights in us. It is simply mind boggling.

I love the prayer room, but normally I get the most out of it while I am there, investing in him and spending time being honest and growing closer to him. Last night, I by far got the most out of leaving the prayer room as I thought over exactly what that meant. God didn’t stay in the prayer room, waiting for me to come back to him later in the week, year after year.

When I left the prayer room, God came with me!