Incense Over Coals

I wish I had come up with this phrase, but alas, a better wordsmith than I put that together.

This has been an exhausting week. I had been terrified in many surprising moments this week, but I just pulled through. And I was exhausted. Just to do something different, tonight, I visited the Ballard Campus of Mars Hill with my friend Chifonne. I wasn't expecting anything special to happen...which, sadly, has become the mantra of my life as of late.

I am so thankful that God has better plans for me.

**Sidebar: There were baptisms tonight. It was a moving moment; to watch people to be baptized amid people singing and worshipping God. This is a picture of heaven--of all the saints rejoicing in song and praise as they welcome people to God's family. It was beauty. It was joy. It was why we come together to worship...and I couldn't stop crying. Gloria!

Ok. Back to my story.

There were many things that spoke to me during my visit, but the one I wanted to share in this blog was this:

What have I stopped praying for?

Incense, apparently, was a picture of prayer. When incense rises, it is an illustration of our prayers rising to God. And our prayers are a sweet smell to the Lord God who loves us and sees us.

When did I stop pouring incense over coals?

The story that was shared tonight was of Zechariah and Elizabeth and the announcement of John the Baptizer (Luke 1:5-25). They had prayed for a child for years; but Elizabeth was barren. But...a single moment of tradition was changed when God went beyond expectation and answered a life-long prayer.

There are many things that I've stopped doing--some good, some bad. I've stopped writing. I've stopped blogging. I've stopped taking joy in the small things. I've stopped reading for fun. I've stopped praying for certain things. I've stopped expecting to meet God in the miracles and in the mundane.

It breaks my heart to realize how far I've come from that little girl who never lost hope in the God who loves her and that He will hear her.

Give ear to my words, O LORD, consider my sighing. Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God, for to you I pray. In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.

--David, Psalm 5:1-3

I will pour incense over coals. I will keep praying. And I will wait in expectation that I will meet God.