I believe your prayer closet is any place that you most often pray. Well, this particular morning mine happened to be literally in my wardrobe closet. While lying there, I’m trying to weed out the junk that wants first dibs on my devotion time. Let’s pause here…Why is it that when trying to spend time with God, every thought imaginable, including your to-do list, pops up in your mind?

It kinda goes something like this:

Singing…”I worship You, Lorrrrdddd! You’re amaaazzzinnngg, Goddddd!”

Thinking…’I need to start the crock pot!’

Thinking…’Okay, okay…focus on Jesus, focus on Jesus!’

Thinking…’Dang, my nails look jacked up…I wonder if that’s why she kept staring at my hands yesterday.’

Thinking…’For real this time…Jesus, Jesus, Jesus…yup, I’m talking to You, Jesus.’

HAHAHAHAHA!! We’ve all been there.

Thanks for letting me pause. Now where was I?…Ah, I remember…

So, I’m in my closet with the door closed and the only light I see is the light coming from my bathroom that peers through the bottom of the door. All of a sudden, I hear Bella get up from sleeping, crying and running frantically trying to find me. My initial thought was, ‘Uh oh, she’s up, so that means my time is up!’ Surprisingly, she barged through the door, laid down on the floor, and snuggled right up under my arm while continuing to doze off.

After getting over the shock that she didn’t demand I get up off the floor in a darkened room to fix her a bowl of cereal, I realized God was giving me a picture of His desire for us…His people.

I couldn’t help but think of how most of the time I pull God by the hand, leading Him into MY world to do allllll that I want Him to do He promised to do. Just like Bella’s normal routine, I saw how like a child, crying and scared, I’ve frantically sought after Him to fix something for me. I’d go to where He was, find Him and pull Him away and into my issue, and yet He gladly allowed me.

This particular morning I saw something different; I saw a picture of a child who had the ability to run towards her mother for selfish reasons, but instead chose to stay and join her mother in what her mother was doing.

Then it hit me…the Father showed me that He wouldn’t love us any less if we sought after Him to pull Him towards our circumstances, but He absolutely LOVES it when after seeking Him, we find Him and choose to stay and join Him in whatever we find Him doing.

A good earthly parent will unconditionally love their child, and not judge them for being a child, but as a parent, even I’d have to admit that there’s something special when any of my children become interested in my desires and would pass up something dear to them just to hang out with me. (That is, unless I’m looking for “Mommy Alone Time”. Shout out to all the mommies who could use alone time. LOL!)

But seriously, ‘Jesus did what He saw the Father doing’ (John 5:19) and that’s what I’d like to be found doing. If I find Him wanting to bring healing into the life of my sick neighbor, then I want to have a heart to join Him in it. If I find Him wanting to release abundance into the life of a single mom, then I want to join Him.

I’m asking myself today what He asked the disciples…”LaSaunda, could you not tarry/keep watch with Him for an hour?”Matt. 26:40. In other words, can I not only pray, but also hang out with/support Him for one hour?