Consistency Amidst Tranquility

Earlier today, I was taking a shower and just enquiring of God what He would have my share. I’m very dramatic in that way that. Most times, I’d be like, God what specifically would you have me talk about and then I remembered a comment Pastor Mike Todd of the Transformation Church made. When speaking to his congregation in one of his messages I listened to, He mentioned that he wouldn’t really share anything with them that God wasn’t dealing with Him on. That got me thinking about what I need to be sharing today and just like that, the message for today was born. Consistency amidst Tranquillity.

My Pastor always says, never stop doing what got you to the point of success and for the last few days, I’ve been guilty of doing the exact opposite. I’ve been ridiculously inconsistent with prayers for the last 2 days and then 2 days last week as well. I consoled myself by telling myself that it’s because I’ve had to change my sleeping pattern to accommodate my workload and that messed with my prayer time( which is kind of true). I’ve also consoled myself by telling myself that in that time though, I’ve been thinking and reflecting a lot on God and His plans and purpose for my life (which I have). I’ve also reminded myself that I’ve been worshipping and listening to messages when I can (Which I have but not even that frequently). I also reminded myself that I’ve been participating in family prayers (also true). But the question is what in the world does all of that have to do with that special time block for prayers that I’ve become terribly inconsistent with? The honest answer is absolutely nothing!

When all the making excuses and playing consoler to myself was said and done, I ’ve had to tell myself the honest truth, which is that the only reason I’ve been this lax is that I’m comfortable and I’m not distressed. Now, this was a bit hard for me to admit to myself because it almost implies (at least in my head) that I’m using God. I vividly remember praying like a lunatic a few months back when I was stressed and I felt like my world was upside down and just 1 month of peace, and I’m Ms. Inconsistent.

 Yes, I’ve had to move my sleeping schedule around to accommodate work and when I did that, I “technically” created my prayer time slot which I never kept to. I would tell myself that one extra hour of work, which encroaches on that hour of prayer isn’t soo bad and I’ll pray afterward. One hour becomes two hours, and two hours becomes five hours. Finally, early hours of the next morning, when I’ve worked myself to the point of exhaustion, I fall right asleep, putting sleep yet again, before my private time with God.

Today, after getting the revelation for this article, I literally had to drag myself into the place of prayer. Once I did get into prayer, I was reminded of how great it feels to commune with God and actually just ask direction on everything. I also realized how long it took me to actually get into it, which was an indication that I was actually running pretty low on some of that Holy Spirit and Jesus juice.  It was also a reminder, that everything else without prayer is simply not enough.

One of the Scriptures that I remembered was John 16:24 which basically informs us that Prayer is ordained by God for our Joy to be full. While this verse talks about asking and receiving, that is not just a reference to material things. When I started praying, I realized that there were a number of decisions I needed to take, that I hadn’t even thought to ask God’s opinion on. I hadn’t remembered because I wasn’t praying. One of the major things the Holy Spirit does for me, particularly because I am a forgetful person is that He reminds me, of things in the place of prayer. In turn, I’m able to put those things, whether they are feelings, worries or decisions to be made, in God’s able hands.

My prayers today were a lot less about tangible stuff, and more about the intangible things like; consistency, wisdom, alignment, and fruits of the Spirit. Likely because more than the worldly comforts that can be a distraction, it’s the intangible stuff that keeps you connected with God.

So I guess today, there’s no long admonition, just a story of my inconsistency, God’s revelation of my heart in that to me, my repentance and one little caveat. Whatever the Season of your life, whatever the comfort or lack of, you may be experiencing, learn to stay consistent with God at all times, but especially amidst tranquil waters.