Monday, January 6, 2014

A New Posture for Prayer

Happy New Year! A new year is a great time for new things. My man and I are not big on New Years' resolutions. Apparently, we're not the only ones since no one in our Life Group yesterday admitted to making one. I guess after years of making them & not keeping them we've just decided it's better not to make a big declaration of change that we are pretty sure won't stick. Johnny and I did make one though - we resolve to build a house on our property in the country in 2014. I am really, really counting on that one.

For the beginning of the new year, I'm reading the book of Ezekiel. Today was chapter 2 - all of it since it's only 10 verses. Here's the 1st verse in the NASB, "Then He said to me, 'Son of man, stand on your feet that I may speak with you!'"

After that one verse I felt compelled to stand and pray. At first I stood there thinking about all sorts of things - reading the rest of the chapter, re-filling my coffee cup, what work I need to accomplish today so I need to sit down and get to it. So, to combat that, I started reciting characteristics, attributes, (as Ryrie calls them) perfections of God. It turned out to be kind of a holy moment. Or moments, I guess. There I stood, hands lifted, praying for my family and friends, myself and my church.

I don't anticipate that I'll be standing to pray everyday from now on. Maybe I will, I don't know. But, I'll be honest, sometimes I don't pray like I should. I can be so distracted in my prayer time, in my usual prayer place. There are times when my feet need to be moving to pray. There are times when I need to be flat on my face because of the weight of my prayers. There are times when friends or family email me, call me, Facebook message me & ask for prayer and I whisper them up at a moment's notice.

Maybe a new prayer posture is just the start I need for a new year of praying. I'm not making it a resolution but I guarantee I'm looking for more holy moments like the one today in 2014.

Serving the King,

Jeanette