We had a great day of fasting 
and
prayer today at the church we are ministering with this month (The
Gospel Ministries to Nations). Our team had the idea to have a day of
prayer, and the youth from the church decided to join us. It was so
good!
It’s amazing how time alone with God is
so precious. I thought it was difficult having a quiet time when I
was home in the States, but it’s even more of a challenge when living
in a different place each month with several other people and
different schedules every day. Finding time or a place alone that’s
quiet is difficult.
When I do find time alone with God,
it’s so refreshing. Although today I wasn’t technically alone, I
still felt alone. We began at 9:30 a.m. with prayer and worship
together. Then from 10 until 1 we spent alone in silence with God. I
never thought I would enjoy silence so much. Usually, the only time
there’s silence is when everyone is sleeping. Other than that there’s
something going on – music, talking, roosters crowing, dogs
barking, etc. This is definitely true in Asia. They often blare music
over loud speakers in the streets.
So today at the church when I had three hours of
silence with God to pray, read the Bible and just rest in Him, it was
so sweet. I would have never thought I could spend that much time
alone with God and still feel like I could use more. Several other
girls on my team felt the same way. We are truly beginning to enjoy
every moment we can spend with our Savior. Although we can’t always
spend time with God in silence, it truly helps us appreciate the
moments when we can have quiet solitude.
As I was praying this morning, I just
kept thinking how nice it was to rest in God’s love. I kept going
back to Psalm 136 where each verse ends with “His love endures
forever.” It was so nice to just rest in that love and enjoy God’s
presence. It was surprising how fast the time went.
We spent time praying in groups in the
afternoon, which was also sweet. Many of the youths had never fasted
before, so it was neat to be with them for their first experience in
this discipline. In the evening we broke our fast with some delicious
Thai food for dinner then watched a movie together. It was a really great day.
I keep thinking how easily we get
distracted by so many things. Even when serving God, we can lose our
focus. It’s definitely important to spend time with God each day, but
I think it’s also great to occasionally set aside a day or part of a
day to just rest in God’s love. He desires time with us, so let’s put
aside the distractions and seek God and only God.
