This is a post about how my 2 and a half our drive from Alabama to Atlanta turned into a worship session and an hour long prayer conversation with my Jesus.
If anyone knows me they know that I hate thunderstorms, and I hate praying out loud. Well my drive home that day God decided it was time to face both of those fears.
Right as I am about to merge onto I-459 in Alabama, the rain starts, Im not talking about just rain, I am talking gale force winds, hurricane rain with intense thunder. I was terrified. I couldn’t see the cars in front of me and began to panic. So, I prayed. I asked God for his help and to keep us all safe. It was then I just decided to start singing, and the peace of God flew over me. I had 124 miles until my next move so I got into my groove, jamming out to my Jesus. This was all an acapella, really loud, medly I made up on the spot. We’re talking Amazing Grace to This Little Light of Mine, add in some Oceans and I could make a new top hit. It was at about mile 116 that I just began to pray. I dont even know if that word accurately describes what I was doing. I was just talking to Jesus, bringing forth all of my issues, all of my worries and all of my desires to his feet. I truly felt for the first time in forever (cue Frozen music) that I was conversing with Jesus. I could feel him sitting there. 52 miles later I realized what all was happening. That I had just been broken.
Ever since returning from Africa I have been a machine. Over the course of 4 weeks I have been in 4 different states, in the last week alone I was in 3. From the moment I stepped off of the plane I was running. My quiet time got weak and my prayer life got weaker. I kept saying to myself oh, once I am in a routine then I will be back to grooving. That routine just kept getting shattered over and over again. I quickly found myself loosing sight of what God did for me in Africa and how he radically changed my inner most being. God had to break me all over again for me to realize how badly I need him. I had gotten into a thinking that I had it all together and nothing was going on in my life. That’s true in a sense, but that doesn’t mean I dont need God. I had to realize that and he smacked me over the head with it while I was driving that day.
I dont really know how to explain it, but God is good. He grabbed me before I had started slipping, he showed me what it was like to converse with him. To come before him just like I’m talking to my best friend. This time prayer didn’t feel rehearsed, or like I was fulfilling an obligation. I’ve got a long way to go but praise the Lord that he is by my side through it all. He is molding me and shaping me to look more like him each day.
“The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth” Psalm 145:18
