How much time do you spend each morning in the shower or bath?
I’m a guy so I can be in and out of the shower in less than 10 minutes. Sometimes, especially if it is cold or after a good workout I will simply stand under the steaming hot water for a few minutes and enjoy the sensation of the water warming me up or soothing my achy muscles. But, usually I just stand under the water long enough to get wet then begin the ritual of soaping up and washing off.
This morning was no exception except that I had to get up much earlier than usual in order to get to church by 6:00am to begin 21 days of prayer our church holds in January and August. This is an hour from 6:00-7:00am where we have a mini sermon, sing a couple of songs and spend an extended time in prayer. Since I hit the snooze alarm too many times I was rushed more than usual to get showered shaved and dressed to make it in time.
During the hour of prayer and worship we are to spend 30 minutes in personal prayer. After about 10 minutes I ran out of things to pray about and found myself looking at my watch to see how much longer I had to be in communion with God. It was then that it occurred to me that my prayer habits were much like my showering habits I spend about the same amount of time in the shower as I do in prayer; about 10 minutes a day. I rush to get in and out of the shower and I rush to get my prayers and petitions heard by God.
I began to think about how good it feels when I take the luxury in my shower of just standing under the warm spray of water without doing anything else. I thought about the last time I took a long soak in the hot tub at the gym. There, I allow myself to drift off and just enjoy the experience. If I was a women I might think of my last Calgon moment in a bubbly bath.
Spending time in extended prayer is like a long soak. I don’t have to be soaping, scrubbing and rinsing the whole time. I can just sit back and soak it all in. Once I realized this I just let my mind float. I quit talking to God and just listened. God took that time to wrap me in His warm embrace. The music that was playing in the room surrounded me and lifted me up. I could feel all the other people praying around me as soapy bubbles that soothed me. My mind slowed down. My heart became soft. My pride went limp. My thick skin became supple.
Before I knew it the 30 minutes was up but I wanted to stay in my spiritual bath a little longer. When I left the church I felt renewed and refreshed, ready to take on the day.
In our daily lives we take the time to get our outer bodies ready for the day ahead. Usually we are forced by our schedule to take as little time as necessary to make us feel clean and look good for the day. During this 21 days of prayer I am learning how to spend the necessary time needed to make my heart and soul clean and looking good for the day ahead. 10 minutes is not enough. I need to take a long soak in God’s presence to allow Him to seep deep into my pores and clean off all the crudge I accumulated yesterday.
Tomorrow I will try harder to not hit the snooze button but take that time instead to just stand under the shower for awhile. It makes no sense to rush to get ready to go to church and try to quickly slow down for an hour of prayer. If I am already kinda soft and wrinkly when I get to church it will take less time to sink into a long, warm, bubbly time with God.
If I am clean and fresh on both the inside and the out I am better prepared to take on the dirt of the day.
Grace & Peace, Rob
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