Toilet Prayers

The Bible has much to say about communicating with God.  We are to tell God the thoughts of our heart, sing His praises, listen to Him, worship.  We are also to go to a special place:  Moses spent 40 days with God on top of Mount Sinai.  Elijah experienced God's presence on Mount Hoerb.  Jesus continually withdrew to the Garden of Gethsemane so that He could spend time alone with the Father.  

And for us in contemporary America, an open altar on Sunday is a great place to drop to your knees and start your week praying, alone or with friends.  Worship music is playing, the lights are set at "just right".  You are alone with your Creator regardless of being in a church congregation of 10 or 10,000. 


The above are all very official ways to spend time with God. But what about toilet prayers?  

Yes, toilet prayers.  Here are scenarios that will possibly lead you to this place:  

• At work, the day is overwhelming.  Deadlines loom, bosses scream, co-workers don't produce necessary information.  You need a minute to stop and regroup with God. In case of emergency use the office facilities . . . 
• The kids are out of school after a highly sugared holiday party and you didn't get enough sleep.  They're wired; you're tired.  The coffee maker broke yesterday.  What you would do for just two minutes with God bring endless creative possibilities and solutions.  Can I just make it to the guest bathroom, the one at the back of the house?
• Serving others is fun and you love to do it but you need a second to catch your breath and ask God to remind you why you are serving.  Oh, no!  There's nothing in site but a porta-potty. 

The humble bathroom.  A less-than-dignified place of and far-less-discussed place for prayer. 

Let's be honest.  I have found myself in all of the above situations praying desperately and I am inclined to believe that God hears these prayers.  I actually think that He may even be a little more in tune with these than with my Sunday morning altar prayers.  Why?  The answer  is simple.  When I find myself huddled into a bathroom stall, in the stale gray of a public restroom, or the overly green hard of a plastic outhouse, rest assured that pretenses of pride are gone.  I cry out to God and He hears me.  I have left myself and my own efforts behind.  I am crying out to Him from deep in my heart and I am completely relying on Him.  

This is the essence of prayer.  Abandonment of self and focus on my God.   In the bathroom?  Yes.  


I am a huge proponent of getting me out of the way, looking to God with my entire being, and focusing on WHO HE IS and what I am not.  I'm ready to spend time with a toilet trivia book and a little extra Charmin if that's what it takes to talk to my Daddy. 

Being a Good Wait-er

Our Wednesday night group is working through a series about prayer called The Sacred Echo.  Every one really seems to be enjoying the series.  The first couple of weeks were about hearing God's voice and about how much He loves us.  Pretty good stuff and, for the most part, delightful to the ears. 

The title for our session last night was this:  How long?  Yuck.  Not delightful to the ears; not a cornucopia of  pleasantries.  Waiting is never really much fun. 

Or is it? 

We had some great discussion last night and I think it's too good for us to keep to ourselves.  Here are some things that we talked about; I hope you can put them to use in your life. 

• Everyone waits all of the time; sometimes we wait on small things, sometimes big things, but we are usually waiting for something
• We may not like the wait itself but we like the outcome that God brings when we do wait
• We are never alone in our wait; God is right there waiting with us
• God's Word promises us great things when we wait for Him (Isaiah 64:4, Psalm 40:1, Isaiah 30:18, Isaiah 40:31)

A general consensus among us is that we should learn to be good wait-ers.  In our times of waiting we need agreed that we feel the need to do something and one of the things that we can do is take our time of what seems like passiveness (although if you've been told by God to wait then you are being obedient) and seek Him diligently through prayer, Bible reading, and worship. 

Here's my closing thought for today:  Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in him. (Psalm 62:5)

I wish you a happy wait. 

Wishing It All Away

I had to take Lil' Dweezil to the vet last week and, as we sat waiting for a room, I encountered a truly radiant lady in the lobby.  She was obviously a woman of faith and as we chatted she said, "I'm just praying every day and wishing - wishing my life away".  We talked a bit more, she left with her dog and I sat there thinking about her words, "I'm praying and wishing my life away."  

Maybe she was an angel; regardless she had God's message for me.  She may has well have said to me, "Michelle, God says to tell you that you're praying and wishing your life away and He says that you need to change that behavior." 

It's true.  I spend so many of my days 't have to "work as hard" or when our financial situation is "different" or we're not so "busy" or I'm not "so tired all of the time".  I spend most of my days wishing that they were tomorrow (or the day after that or the day after that).  Satan's plan is to keep me focusing on what may be rather than what  is at hand and I'm letting him get away with it.  He's not stealing my joy; I'm handing it to him on a silver platter. Ecclesiastes 11:4 tells us that  those who wait for perfect weather will never plant seeds;  those who look at every cloud will never harvest crops.  I have to quit wishing it all away. 

Since my conversation last Thursday, I am determined that I will not spend my today chasing the tomorrow that has the stealth and obscurity of the wind.  Beginning now I will appreciate what God has given me and I'll walk with Him in the tangibility of today .  If it's sunny, I'll wear my good shoes and if it's muddy, I'll wear waders.   

I'm not a big fan of cliches but I'll close with this one which I think is appropriate: "Yesterday Is History, Tomorrow Is a Mystery, but Today Is a Gift. That Is Why It Is Called the Present."

Have a great today.   It's the only one you've got!  

Thanks for the Herd

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a blog about the fact that I feel like God is telling me to be quiet.  I may have also mentioned that I find this funny and ironic.  My confession to you is this:  I am struggling with being quiet.  I would even go so far as to say that since God has told me to do this that I am possibly saying more than before.  I forgot, and do forget, to be quiet.

I think that this is happening for a number of reasons; a couple of these reasons are that it's easy to be excited about a word from God and then forget what He said if I'm not really applying it to my life and seeking His direction constantly.  I also have to tell you that I let my guard down.  I guess I got a little too confident or smug and forgot that after God gave me a word He expected the appropriate actions from my side.  1 Peter 5:8 tells us to be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 

I guess me and Satan looked like a film of a lion chasing a gazelle during a National Geographic special on this topic; I was the slow one and I was prey.  But I have to say, thanks for the herd. 

Unlike the poor ol' gazelle described above who meets an unpleasant demise, I have the body of Christ.  I have friends who are prayer warriors in whom I have confided I know that they are lifting me up in prayer; they are encouraging me.  I can worship and praise and learn and grow with my church family on Sunday mornings.  I am blessed by the Wednesday night folks who always teach me so much more than I ever offer to them. 

Church, we are blessed by our Christian family.  Remember today to be thankful for the herd.