SACRED SPACE (1)

You can make your own space sacred.

Choose a specific place where you will conduct your alone time with God. Be intentional in your choice. Outside influences must be minimal. The setting selected will be well suited if it is free of clutter, confusion, noise, and other people. A chair, bench, vehicle, somewhere to sit including the floor are possible locations. Any place will do that is isolated from the normal busyness of life and has a sense of calm, peace, and soft beauty. Change it up once in awhile.

Minimize distractions. Turn off electronic devices such as phones, IPads, computers, music devices, and anything that makes noise or causes interruption in the flow of thought. A room in the home can make a good place for a sacred space when you manage its function as “sacred” by preparing it as a quiet corner for the purpose of meditation, contemplation, contemplative or interactive prayer, or the practice of silence. For a lengthy time of meditation, you may need to hire a sitter for the kids or critters in-order to manage this. It is imperative that your sacred space have little or no interference.

The possibilities are endless: You may select a spot out in nature, in a quiet room, on a park bench away from activity, in a church sanctuary, in the chapel at a monastery or on its grounds, at a picnic table near the lake, or sitting on a patio chair or porch swing. Some find a stark room the best. Some sit on the floor and sit tall. I think of Scripture and its admonition to enter your own prayer closet.

This place is not to be used for one-way talking or for nice platitudes. It is for quiet time with God that is open, honest and deep. We listen as we speak or think. We ponder in the silence. We raise our thoughts Godward as we rest in His majestic fullness.

This is a practiced spiritual discipline that one must cultivate.

You may choose to sit on a log surrounded by trees in the forest or sit on a rock amid the desert rocks, or you may stand with your toes in the sand on the ocean surf. The deal is, you must seek a place with surroundings that aid you in your receptivity and sensitivity to what God has for you, to become still, to take a pause from the daily activity…aware of His presence and holiness, and to actively listen while in the deep, deep silence. God speaks. “He leads me beside the still waters.” “My sheep hear my voice.”

1. Select a quiet place where you can be by yourself.
2. Remove distractions and noise.
3. Repeat the first paragraph of this writing.
4. Open your thoughts to God. Rest in His Presence.
5. Make mental or physical note of your thoughts and feelings
6. Ask, seek, and knock; pray, meditate, and contemplate; or remain silent in the deepness.
7. Practice silence with God once soul-rest has been activated.
8. Read Scripture, hymns, psalms, or words of praise (unless the objective is silence)
9. Make sure it aligns with God’s ways, then act on what He gives you.
10. Thank Father God for what you have received.

Note: This draws us closer to the heart of God and becomes possible once we have a restored relationship with Him (called salvation). Jesus Christ, through His life, death, and resurrection, made it possible for us to believe in Him and to partake of His everlasting love. Sincere faith in God and trust in Him and His offer of life will cause a conversion of the soul, which begins at the time of belief but is ongoing as we continue to transform in our spiritual self to become more like our Savior, Jesus Christ. He calls to us, and we respond. This comes first before the deeper understandings are accessed.

During this time of quietness you may find yourself weeping. That is a response to God and His Holy Spirit. You will find that the silence is not silent. You become spiritually full when you listen for the presence of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in a non-human, peace-filled, other-worldly, God-directed way.

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