Prayer & His Presence

I am not a prayer warrior, in fact, it scares me to no end when asked to pray for people and/or in front of people. I had to do it for years as church leadership & it terrified me every single Sunday. It's not that I don't pray...I have a very active prayer life and I LOVE to pray...when I'm alone. Last night I was invited to a gathering of intercessors. There is nothing like being in a room full of intercessors, it's powerful, it's amazing, and to me, it's also intimidating. When it became my turn to pray, after hearing other people flow with incredibly powerful words, my heart raced, my mind went blank, and I'm sure I turned beat red, but I plowed through, quite void of any eloquence I'm sure. One thing I know though, my prayer reached the heart of God just as the prayers of others did.
This morning I was reading 1 Kings 8, and thinking how appropriate this chapter was after last night. Solomon had just finished building the temple and I LOVE how The Bible says "It happened that when the priests came from the holy place, the cloud filled the house of the Lord, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord." (1Kings 8:10-11 NASB) Wow! We felt a sense of His presence last night, but it didn't knock us over. I often find myself asking the Lord if it is okay to claim a scripture verse for myself even though I know the audience for whom it was intended. I know the Word is not restricted by time, and what was written even in Solomon's day holds no bounds, but I always like to ask. Today was no different. I understand He lives within us...our body is His temple, but I still want His glory to reside in my church...even so much that His people can't stand for the glory of His presence. Is that too much to ask for this day? I think not.
Well, Solomon had to take over praying, 'cause the priests were...floored. (haa haa) Read his prayer if you have a minute, it's amazing, and prophetic (seeing beyond the rest Israel was experiencing at the time & knowing the winds of change would blow as they historically had). The Lord heard Solomon's prayer, and I know full well He also hears our hearts cry.
That's all. I want Him in the midst of my prayer & my house (the one I live in and the one I gather with His people to worship in). So, in the words of Solomon, I pray "that He may incline our hearts to Himself, to walk in all His ways and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His ordinances, which He commanded our fathers. And may these words of mine, with which I have made supplication before the Lord, be near to the Lord our God day and night, that He may maintain the cause of His servant and the cause of His people Israel, as each day requires." (1 Kings 8:58-59)