It is that time of the year again. Trees, flowers and grass are finally lush and in bloom. It has been a long winter waiting for green to return. For the last month or so I have had these nudges from the Holy Spirit. Nudges telling me that I should be spending more time in prayer. Nudges reminding me that God misses me as much as I miss our time together. Yet, the business of life continued to get in the way. I let it get in the way. Then a friend of mine sent this from her devotional time. Ugh. It hit hard. Apparently, God decided it was time to move from the nudge to the “smack upside the head.”
I once heard of a region in Africa where the first converts to Christianity were very diligent about praying. In fact, the believers each had their own special place outside the village where they went on private foot paths through the brush to pray in solitude. When the grass began to grow over one of these trails , signaling that the person to whom it belonged was not praying much, other new believers would go to the person and lovingly warn, “Friend, there’s grass on your path!” (Devotion from Joyce Meyer’s- The Confident Woman Devotional, May 18
James 5:16 “Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed.The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.”
Romans 8:26 “And in the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we don not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groaning’s too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”
This little story and scriptures are a great reminder from the Holy Spirit of what my heart knew. I was missing my focused time with God. Weeds had started to grow. I was sending up prayer requests throughout the day, but I was neglecting my relationship with Him. He is more than a repository for my requests. He is my savior and redeemer who desires a relationship with me. A relationship is a two-way street and mine was becoming overgrown with weeds.
How is yours? Is yours in full bloom or becoming filled with weeds? Is the Holy Spirit nudging you? I hope this isn’t a lesson I need to learn again. Life is richer when relationships can flourish. I need to be doing my part.
How is your relationship with God going? Share here and we can encourage each other. I’m not the only one He misses.