I was praying today for two sets of friends who are each embarking today on incredibly different, but equally exciting, journeys– one to a third world country for a mission trip and the other to California (San Fran– one of my favorite places!) to start a month-long bike trip across the country.  The prayer that kept coming to mind for both of them was “Lord, reveal more of who You are to them through their experiences, and help them to see a different facet of You in all that they see, hear, and do.”  As I was praying this for them, God seemed to be speaking back to my own heart– isn’t this a prayer that should be on my lips each and every day?  Even in the mundane routine of my every day, shouldn’t I desire and be seeking to see God in a new way?   Shouldn’t I pray each morning before I step out my door that an aspect of His character that I have overlooked, or perhaps just failed to call to mind lately, would resonate in my heart like the lingering vibration of a strummed guitar string?

I have long been an advocate and devotee of living what I call a “conscious life.”  Perhaps it looks a little like the “purpose-driven life” (although I never read that book).  But what I mean by “conscious” is resisting the urge to go on “auto pilot” throughout my day.  Rather, to actually weigh and measure my actions throughout the day in the Kingdom lexicon.  What theologians call a “contemplative life.”  Part of living consciously is acknowledging, in each moment, God’s presence and practicing an awareness of Him in even seemingly “routine” events that transpire throughout the day.  What Brother Lawrence called “practicing the presence of God.”  I think “practicing” is an apt description because I know it takes an extreme amount of discipline in my own life.  And often I fail at it.  I let too many trivial things overtake the still, small part of me that needs to open up even wider in order to listen and be aware of the God that is all around me. 

God has taught me that rather than going it alone, I can ask Him for help in practicing an awareness of Him.  It starts with the asking because in that moment, I am acknowledging what He already desires for me.  He not only wants me to know intellectually that He is in everything, everywhere, at all times (and beyond time).  He wants me to experience it every moment so that I can fall deeper in love with Him.