Middle of the Night: Homesick

I love the way the LORD wakes me in the middle of the night. When He is the one who wakes me up He either gives me a prayer burden, a song that expresses His heart, or gives me a song that tells me what my spirit is singing to him. Psalm 16:7 says:
I will bless the LORD who has counseled me;
Indeed, my mind instructs me in the night.

At night the quiet allows the LORD to show me what my spirit is saying to the LORD.

Last night I woke up several times singing the chorus to a song over and over.

All I want is to be near You,
With You where You are.

The homesickness for the LORD has overwhelmed me again. The yearning to be with Him draws me to meet wiht him in prayer even when I sleep and am not conscious of my longing.

Come LORD Jesus!

Wide Awake

So this morning at about 3:40, I’m wide awake.

First I hope that it is just an interruption, so I tried to go back to sleep. Didn’t work.

Then I thought, the thief comes to steal. He’s trying to steal my sleep. So I sat up in bed and commanded him to be silent. Still wide awake.

So I finally asked God if there was something He wanted to talk about. Nothing came to mind, but it was just one of those times that you know the Father enjoys spending time with His kids.

So I reverted back to one of my old stand bys. An Alphabetical hymn/praise session. You know sing a hymn that starts with “A” – All Creatures of Our God and King. “B” – Be Thou My Vision. “C” – Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing. “D” – (Oh the) Deep, Deep Love of Jesus. “E” – Everlasting. “G” – God of Grace and God of Glory.

I hit the line in that last song that goes: God of Grace and God of Glory on your people pour your power, and I got goosebumps. Still got them as a matter of fact.

Jesus, we need your grace and your glory and your power. Cause it is all about you and your kingdom coming to this place and this time.

What’s with the title? – Part Two

I think there are two groups of people in the world. Those who bounce out of bed the first time the alarm goes off, and those who hit the snooze a few times.

I am a snooze person. Our alarm goes off at 6:42, 6:51 and 7 a.m. This is an irritating thing for the morning person I live with, but really this is what it takes to wake me up. Ever since I was old enough to need to set an alarm for school or work, I wondered why it is so hard for me to get up and get going but others just pop up and get going.

A few years ago, the LORD broke into my life in new and unprecedented ways. I have loved Jesus my whole life, and figured that I pretty much had this “Christian” thing figured out. And then He surprised me. One of the first noticable things that happened was that when I woke up in the mornings I still had trouble getting out of bed. BUT EVERY morning I woke up with a different song on my mind. As I walked in this newness, what I discovered was that as the day progressed, I discovered that the LORD was talking to me about the day in the songs He gave…what happened to me in the day always seemed to relate to what I was humming under my breath. So I went to the Word to discover what was up with these night songs, and there I discovered Psalm 16:7-8.
I will bless the LORD who has counseled me; indeed my mind instructs me in the night. I have set the LORD continually before me; because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

Suddenly I was launched into a new study of the night through out scripture. I learned that the Lord visits us in the night (Ps 17:3), that he appoints night watchmen on the walls (Psalm 63:6, Psalm 134:1, Isaiah 21:8), that tons of people – old and new testament – prayed night and day, day and night. There are so many references that they can’t all be listed here.

Maybe it isn’t so bad to be a night owl. David wrote, “My eyes anticipate the night watches that I may meditate on your word.” (Psalm 119:148) Isaiah said that “at night my soul longs for You, indeed, my spirit within me seeks You diligently.” Jesus at several points spent his nights in prayer.

So, what’s with the title? If the LORD is speaking at Midnight, I want to answer. Since He has given me the natural inclination towards night rather than morning…perhaps this is more of an assignment than an option for me. With all my heart, I want to “set the LORD continually before me; because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.”