“You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13).

My husband and I were recently able to spend some time at the ocean…and walking the beach is one of our favorite activities. I feel so connected to God as I look at the vast sea, thunderously breathing in and out. The familiar aroma of the salt-laden air and the pleasurable feeling of sand between my toes remind me how many of my senses are fully engaged in this simple experience. Here is a place where I can pray easily, with an intensity of thankfulness that I almost can’t describe. There is peace and rest in my soul…struggles, deadlines, and other rugged places in my life seem to get pulled with the tide out into the vastness to disappear in the depths. The ocean is also a spiritually relevant location to deposit my sinfulness, as the Father casts it into the sea of forgetfulness (Micah 7:19). No wonder I am energized and revitalized after spending time seeking the Presence of God in such a place.

When I got on the plane to come home, I asked God to help me re-create this physical place (the ocean) into a spiritual place…a meeting place with the Father that isn’t dependent upon where my body is located, but where my mind and heart are locked into His embrace. God has gifted His people with many key ways to place ourselves in His presence. And, incredibly, each means of connectivity with the Father’s heart is still intricately woven together into the Spirit-filled life of prayer. Wherever we are located, God is still fully present to us as we turn our attention upon Him.

My tent of meeting with God doesn’t need to be located on the beach, or in a retreat center…or in community with others in a worship service…although all of these are good places and are certainly necessary from time to time for seasons of refreshing. However, the ordinary and mundane places in life can be turned into the extraordinary and the holy as I shift my gaze from a place to a Person. God can sanctify my imagination…setting it apart for heart to heart communion. I can envision the ocean my Father created for my pleasure and His purposes with the eyes of my soul…and He turns His gaze upon me as I seek Him (Jeremiah 29:13). The Creator is present continually in my heart whether or not I am aware of His nearness.

Try locating your heart to the place you wish to meet with God, even if you are in a place you would rather not be. If we are continually wishing we were in a physical location that allows us the space and quiet and peace to meet with God…there may be huge gaps in our awareness of His Presence. Our prayer life suffers when we wait for the right time or the right location. Realize now that you can meet with Him as you care for an elderly parent, find yourself in traffic on the way to work, or even as you go about your normal everyday routine. God is…wherever you are. His gaze is always upon you, and His ear is always attentive to your prayers.

(c) 2013 Prayer Connect Magazine