15 Minutes

Early in the afternoon, I was going about my daily routine around the house. I passed through my living room and suddenly felt the urge to pray. So, I stopped. I knelt on the rug and began to speak to the Lord. I felt drawn into His presence, and there I began to worship Him. I worshiped Him by acknowledging His sovereignty and wisdom. I worshiped Him through confession of my sin and affirmation of His righteousness. I worshiped Him for his faithfulness, love, and graciousness toward me. Then, I began to hear things.

My mind became flooded with thoughts of His will in heaven. I began to hear the passion He has for people – people who do not know Him – to come to know Him. I began to hear His desire to bring peace to the troubled minds of others. I began to hear of how He wanted His children to have faith in Him to heal sicknesses and diseases, so He could do it. I began to hear of His willingness to mend brokenness in families, between loved ones and others. I heard so many things, and they were all so good. I could see the beauty of God through His will. I prayed all that I heard.

Then, my thoughts were moved to a different, higher place. I was overcome by God’s desire and ability to do all I heard and prayed. I was overwhelmed by pressure in my soul to honor Him for such things that He did not have to do yet wanted to do. All of a sudden, I had a great sense of His motivation. I was moved to a place where it was no longer about what He did, but why He did it. My thoughts and my emotions unraveled themselves from every entanglement and there was only one focus: His glory. My body became tense, no longer at ease, like as a response to fear. In this place, I was cautious to speak. I felt and understood the power and weight of His magnificence. It was absolutely beautiful, pure, sincere, strong, warm, and rich with life. Under this weight, I wept. I could understand how much I, and all of creation, benefit from God’s ultimate desire to display His holiness and His gloriousness to us all. In this amazing moment, that was no longer about anyone but Him, I wanted to stay forever.

He again urged me to make petitions. Here in this better place, I heard things He desired, but I asked for them under the weight and investment of His glory. I spoke slowly, thoughtfully, reverently, and even more circumspectly in my language. At the same time, I was also more confident that God would do what was asked because everything that was happening here was about Him. Even as I was speaking, my words were formed from His holy word, and the conclusion of all was His glory.

As my time in this place came to an end, I could feel the release of my soul by the lifting of the weight of His presence. I tried to delay the end by lingering, but I could do nothing to stop it. I stood up and realized that, unless I found myself in that place again, nothing more significant than what had just happened could possibly happen in the day. For that, I grieved. I confessed to the Lord that I didn’t want to leave. I stood and sobbed deeply over the common ritual that is life on earth, concluding that however wonderful a gift it is to see each day and receive the many blessings of God here on earth, nothing could measure up to the complete satisfaction that exists in His presence. I understood what the psalmist meant when he said, “How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord Almighty. My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and flesh cry out for the living God…Better is one day in Your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of [the world].” I understood the heart of the one who sang, “One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek Him in His temple.” God, by Himself, is enough.

I might have spent an hour in prayer, and maybe only 15 minutes in His glory; but that 15 minutes was worth more than all the moments in time.

Scripture Reference: 1 Thessalonians 5:17;  James 5:16; Psalm 96:4-9; 1 Chronicles 16:23-36; 1 John 1:8-9; Psalm 145; Matthew 6:9-13; 1 John 4:10; John 3:16; John 17:3; John 14:27; Psalm 103:3-5; Mark 9:23; James 1:17; Psalm 34:18; Ephesians 4:32; Colossians 3:12-15; Ephesians 6:1-4; Colossians 3:18-21; Ephesians 5:22-29; Isaiah 6:1-5; Isaiah 42:8-9; Colossians 1:16-18; Isaiah 55:8-9; Romans 8:26; 1 Corinthians 2:9-16; Ecclesiastes 12:8; Philippians 1:23; Psalm 84:1-2, 10; Psalm 27:4

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