As a follow up to the last post on various ways to wait, I was reminded that there is another type of waiting, although rarely practiced.  Often when I pray, I have specific people and situations in mind.  But occasionally I am drawn to wait before God for no reason — just to be with Him.  The Hebrew word means “to tarry, to hang around, to loiter”.  As Jan Johnson put it, “I just look at God and He just looks at me.”*

Some days, I close my notebook of prayer requests and lay it on the floor.  I relieve myself from the pressure of trying to pray “right”.  I shift the focus off myself and my agenda, my problems, my questions.  Although it seems like a total waste of time, sitting there not saying anything, it actually takes a fair amount of concentration to keep my mind from wandering away.  But when I do settle in, there’s an uncanny sense of peace.  Sometimes it’s nice to just sit and smile at God.  And He just smiles at me.

“For God alone my soul waits in silence.”  Psalm 62:1

*”When the Soul Listens”, Jan Johnson