Donna Partow

One of my favorite devotional writers observed that: “Discipline  is the human effort to create the space in which God can be generous and give you what you need.” 

You see, we don’t have a daily quiet time to do God a favor. We’re not earning points with him.  We’re just making room for God in our lives; room for him to freely give us what we need…and so much more!  How do we make room for that to happen? 

Very simple.  We create the space for God to bless us by creating the physical space to meet with him. Can you imagine if someone said to you: 

Hey, Let’s have lunch.

Where? 

Oh….just lunch. 

When? 

Oh, I don’t know.  Sometime. 

How would you feel about that conversation?  Unless they set a time and place you know they’re just messing with your head.  They have no intentions of meeting with you.

If you’re serious about meeting with God, prepare a place.  A sacred space. A place you LOVE to spend time in.  Make it the most beautiful inviting spot in your entire house.  Put all your favorite little things in that space. 

You may not be able to set aside an entire room – although I think that’s ideal.  But surely you can carve out a corner of a room.  Or reclaim a junk closet.  Don’t laugh, my first home office was a tiny little closet—not a walk in closet, a tiny closet– and it worked very effectively.  I only went in there when I was serious about working –and by the way, I have always considered studying my Bible, seeking God in prayer and setting my goals/priorities under the leading of the Holy Spirit an important part of my home business enterprise.  So my home office/closet also doubled as my prayer room.

We used to have a dining room, but then it occurred to me one day: I can’t cook.  And I certainly can’t cook anything fancy enough to justify everyone gathering around a formal dining room table.  So I gave away the dining room furniture!   That made it possible for us to turn what would normally be a dining room into our family prayer chapel. 

Not only is it my favorite spot—when people come to visit, they love to sit in my prayer room.  Even non-Christians are drawn to that room. They’ve even said to me, “There’s something special about this place.”  They sense it.  It’s a sacred space.

Your Sacred Space also needs to be practical.  So put some practical tools in a prayer basket:

• Bible
• Notebook
• Pens
• Index cards
• Post-it notes (I use those for writing out scripture verses or reminders) 
• Tissues
• Cough drops
• Chapstick
• Devotional book

You’ll probably want to have a cozy blanket in case you get cold in the morning.  I even have my little foot massager my sweet daughter, Taraneh, bought me.

Create your own Prayer Place, your Sacred Space, where you’ll meet with God first thing every morning. I know it’s going to make an incredible difference in your walk with God and in your journey to becoming the woman God wants you to be.

Blessings

Donna Partow

Technorati Tags: prayer basket, prayer room, quiet time, spiritual discipline, Spiritual Growth