40 Days.

So I was praying about what I could intentionally take part in for lent--and by take part in, I mean give up for. My answer came unexpectedly as I got into my car to drive home from school. My hand went to put on music when it dawned on me that silence was necessary. So no music in the car: Regardless of the type, genre, or tempo of music I could potentially listen to as a means of relaxing or even of worship--I am being called to silence as a discipline. This is the kind of silence where I hope and expect to hear from the Lord, where I hope to see things in me come to light, and for me to be OK in the stillness and to know that i'm fully OK in the silence (not desiring to drown out anything that would otherwise get too much of my attention.

I was reminded of this song halfway home and was so thankful that the words struck me so differently this time around:

In the secret, in the quiet place

In the stillness You are there.

In the secret, in the quiet hour I wait, 

Only for You,'cause I want to know You more;

I want to know You,

I want to hear Your voice

I want to know You more.

I want to touch You,

I want to see Your face

I want to know You more.

I am reaching for the highest goal,

then I might receive the prize.

Pressing onward, pushing every hindrance aside,

Out of my way, 'cause I want to know you more

I want to know You,

I want to hear Your voice

I want to know You more.

I want to touch You,

I want to see Your face

I want to know You more.

I want to know You,

I want to hear Your voice

I want to know You more.

I want to touch You,

I want to see Your face

I want to know You more.

In the secret, in the quiet place

In the stillness You are there

I'm excited to see, to hear from, and to know my Jesus better. I also look forward to breaking from what my flesh is so used to--habit and routine--in order to expose new layers of my heart as well as His. I go into this humbly knowing that it will be a time of preparing and reorienting my life as Easter approaches.

This'll be interesting :).  

Do as the wee ones do.

"We are waiting; we are anticipating Your arrival.

Voice raising-celebrating Your arrival."

This is a posture that I want to be truer of my heart. I don't want to anticipate next week's happenings or the 5 years from now "what's it gonna be like's." I want to be sensitive to His Kingdom now, but to also be anticipating the culmination and fulfillment of the Kingdom to come.

What do I do with that? Well, I'm usually most inclined to thinking it and ruminating on the thought a bit and stopping short of the most important facet of the process. Asking.

Kids just know how to do it, and they do it well!  They ask, and they ask persistently--knowing that either mommy or daddy will probably end up giving them what they want. Well, Papa wants us to ask. He wants me to ask.

He gives His kids the best gifts and holds nothing from us. Could you imagine the eyes He would give us if we kept on asking for better vision or His Kingdom-- His heart?

Lord, teach us to ask and to ask persistently! And teach us to ask with the right heart.

 Luke 11:1-13 [The Message]:

One day he was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said, "Master, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples."  So he said, "When you pray, say,

   Father,
   Reveal who you are.
   Set the world right.
   Keep us alive with three square meals.
   Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others.
   Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil."

  

 Then he said, "Imagine what would happen if you went to a friend in the middle of the night and said, 'Friend, lend me three loaves of bread. An old friend traveling through just showed up, and I don't have a thing on hand.'

"The friend answers from his bed, 'Don't bother me. The door's locked; my children are all down for the night; I can't get up to give you anything.'

 "But let me tell you, even if he won't get up because he's a friend, if you stand your ground, knocking and waking all the neighbors, he'll finally get up and get you whatever you need.

 "Here's what I'm saying:

   Ask and you'll get;
   Seek and you'll find;
   Knock and the door will open.

"Don't bargain with God. Be direct. Ask for what you need. This is not a cat-and-mouse, hide-and-seek game we're in. If your little boy asks for a serving of fish, do you scare him with a live snake on his plate? If your little girl asks for an egg, do you trick her with a spider? As bad as you are, you wouldn't think of such a thing—you're at least decent to your own children. And don't you think the Father who conceived you in love will give the Holy Spirit when you ask him?"