“Hurry! Before he leaves!” – Perception vs. Presence

Tonight during prayer meeting the last person to pray said something to this effect: “Lord, we thank you that you are paying close interest to what we’ve been praying tonight. Thank you that we have your full attention.”

I sensed this was certainly true, and thanked God for being with us. In fact, the sense of his presence was so strong that I felt I could ask him for anything. I mean, here he was, right there with us, the guy who made everything, and has all the power in the world! Wow, what should I say? What should I ask for? These thoughts were going through my head.

Then for some reason this thought went through my mind: “Hey, I should ask him for the really big things. Lets really bring out the big list and ask him for the things we need the most, since he’s paying such close attention. While he’s paying attention let’s ask for a few more big things.” Silly huh? It didn’t last long because I quickly realized that God is always paying attention. He’s never not watching, never not interested in even the minute details of our lives. I don’t have to hurry and rush through a meeting with him before he has to go meet Billy Graham at the crusade. He’s always listening. It’s just that sometimes I don’t notice that he’s there. The problem isn’t his lack of presence, the problem is my lack of perception. 

God, make me attentive to your voice.