Hurry is the death of prayer.

Rick Warren

What does it mean to station yourself before God as in the graphic scripture?

“It means stay put. It means, “I’m not moving.” It means, “I’m going to be still. I’m going to sit here and I am not going to move until I hear from you, God.” Rick Warren

Do you live your life revved up? Yep- me too!

How do you put the brakes on and slow down?

For the last 15, almost 16 years, we have lived life in the fast lane. It most assuredly has lived up to its mantra- guaranteed to blow your mind.

At MRO we joke~ the race waits on no one!

Monty and I have faced a Goliath of late. SCAD- spontaneous coronary artery dissection. In laymen’s terms, a tear in the lining of an artery in the heart.

The race waited on no one. We would miss two recent races dues to search for a more definitive answer and as well to determine the fate of our coming days.

God allows us moments of still and wait….. even though the race goes on. Right?

So how do we slow down when we live fully enthralled with excitement of the hustle and hurry?

Where is the time to calm our minds by relaxing our bodies?

Can you remember the last time that you took a deep breath relaxed your muscles and let the tension drain out?

Yep. Me either. Until the weekends of Pocono and Watkins Glen this month we were trudging alongside of every heart that we serve.

The Bible says David sat before the Lord. Some people think you have to kneel in prayer, and that is one of many appropriate ways to pray; but it’s not the most common way of praying in the Bible.

The most common form of praying in the Bible is standing with your eyes wide open looking up to heaven and talking out loud to God.

And as for Monty and I, we have learned a new posture of prayer over the last few weeks.

Jehoshaphat was a good King. He battled opposition and once he cried out to God for wisdom and help.

“Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Listen to me, Judah and people of Jerusalem! Have faith in the Lord your God and you will be upheld; have faith in his prophets and you will be successful.”….

Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the Lord and to praise him for the splendor of His holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying:

“Give thanks to the Lord, for his love endures forever.”

“As they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ambushes against the enemies and they were defeated….. the fear of God came on all the surrounding kingdoms when they heard how the Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel. And the kingdom of Jehoshaphat was at peace, for His God had given him rest on every side.” 2 Chronicles 20

Rest. The wait expectant. Prayer.

You see when Jehoshaphat was surrounded on either side, he “bowed down with his face to the ground, and all the people of Judah and Jerusalem fell down in worship before the Lord.”

POur new position of prayer would become one of bowed face and heart to the ground in surrender and worship.

When ones literal bridge between life and death is the heart’s beat you get seriously receptive to surrender and gratitude in the face of the eternal.

This would be a time when the woman of many words would bow low, face to the ground in prayer for the complete of her- her beloved.

There were no flowery poetic words necessary. Not one complete sentence was prayed. Just my sincere heart groaning and everyday conversation with Abba Father for 36 more years to love and so life with this man to whom I have been blessed to call my own. The surrender comes when like any conversation, I stop talking and listen and ~wait to hear from God.

Praises stirred in this heart as God brought to remembrance the good. The good that has historically outweighed the bad and with head bowed low, I rested in God’s perfect plan for our lives.

I am reminded today that David teaches us three things to do as you wait:

*  Wait quietly — “Let all that I am wait quietly before God, because my hope is in him” Psalm 62:5

*  Wait patiently — “Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for him to act” Psalm 37:7a
* Wait expectantly “I wait expectantly, trusting God to help, for he has promised” Psalm 130:5

And this is so important:

To pray believing is to expect to hear from God!

Waiting is truly the faith factor. We wait expectantly, and waiting on God is never a waste of time. In fact, it’s some of the best time you will ever invest in your lives!!
Jehoshaphat led the people of Israel and he taught them to pray and praise to win the victory.

Time would tell that no matter the outcome, God was still faithful and our faith should never be dependent on the outcome.

Life altering. Life changing circumstances does not ever change our position going into battle no matter the faith battle we face.

Prayer.

Praise.

Worship.

Victory.

“The fear of God came on all the surrounding kingdoms when they heard how the Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel. And the kingdom of Jehoshaphat was at peace, for His God had given him rest on every side.”

Rest. On. Every. Side.

Peace above the circumstances.

Praise Him unto victory.

Rest that God is with us. He is for us and not against us.

Jehoshaphat lived out his days and did right in the eyes of the Lord.

A worthy pursuit. God has a beautiful way about Himself in that He knows the number of our days.

Sometimes we gain the view in light of eternity. We learn to trust and praise Him in the storm and are compelled to tell of the things we learn that change the coarse of our days.

Sometimes we get a second chance for life not because we cheat death but because God uses our lives to tell HIS story through our story.

History Defined:

1. the branch of knowledge dealing with past events

2. a continuous, systematic narrative of past events as relating to a particular people, country, period, person, etc., usually written as a chronological account; chronicle

So we bow our heads to the ground and we worship God. We thank Him for more time to share our narrative of life and living.

Quietly we wait.
Patiently we trust.

Faithfully He finds us.

He lifts our face to His and we know what it is to be found by love.

With expectant hearts, we wait assured that we are not in this battle alone but surrounded held by a power and presence that is good, merciful, gracious and faithful.

Until the next waiting place……we praise.

There will always be that tomorrow that we cannot know or control. So the Lord uses these moments to teach us to number our days.

Thank You God for being true to who you are.

“Find me grateful

Find me thankful

Find me on my knees

Find me dreaming

Find me singing

Find me lost in Your grace

Fill the depths of my soul

Till all I know is I’ve been

Found by love

Find me grateful

Find me thankful

Find me on my knees

Find me dreaming

Find me singing

Find me lost in Your grace”

Jonathan and Melissa Helser