In a recent church service, we could feel the tangible presence of God. The sense of peace that swept over the congregation was heavy and sweet. The Holy Spirit moved among us and ministered to all who had a heart that was listening for His words. I wrote on the church’s Facebook page I wished every day was a Sunday. That time together with each other and with Jesus was deeply meaningful.
Then I realized how easy it is to praise with the praisers and worship with the worshippers. Prayer comes more effortlessly when you are praying with others who agree with the word of God. There’s nothing wrong with the feeling that God is more accessible when we are together, but there is something wrong if that is the only time we connect with Him.
If you search the internet, you’ll find prayer notebooks, Bible study guides, and spiritual journals to help you in your time of personal devotions. There are ideas using colored pencils and illustrating the verses you are reading. There are suggestions for background praise music to set the atmosphere for your meeting with God. The websites that talk about these things paint a lovely picture of you surrounded by your Bible and your spiritual tools, sipping on coffee or tea, looking out the window at a beautiful view of God’s creation while you spend time with the Lord. There’s nothing wrong with that either, but if they took all those tools away from us, could we still connect with God?
In some countries today, there are Christians that don’t even have a Bible or have only a few pages they value as the most precious possession they own. The persecution in those places means they don’t have easy access to worship music or podcasts or sermon videos - all the things that so easily are available to us. If we were in that situation, could we still bring praise to God? Could we get in His presence without all the tools that we enjoy? Could we connect with Him if they threw us into jail because of our faith?
Because of our freedoms, the worst persecution we’ve ever faced is usually no more traumatic than someone calling us a holy roller or a Jesus freak. Our pastor has been talking about being disciples; being the “disciplined ones” who follow God wholeheartedly. Considering all these thoughts, I’ve been examining myself more and more to see if I’m prepared to stay in fellowship with God when it’s not easy anymore. I pray that kind of persecution never comes, but the setup for it is already in our culture. I’m asking that you give this topic some thought as well. In difficult times, we need that connection more than we need our next breath.
