The Power of the Pause

The church staff I work on has recently started a new practice. Each day at 10a and 2p, we stop whatever is happening in the office, close the office and spend 10 minutes in prayer together. We generally read a Psalm from the Paraclete Psalter and then spend time in silence or prayer. We have been doing this for about a month. Here's what I have learned:

• There are a lot of Psalms I am not familiar with. (Like Psalm 29- that one wrecked me last week. The voice of the Lord... Wow!) I have read the Psalms a few times, but as we pray the Psalms together, I hear then in new ways as I allow them to wash over me as offerings to and from God.
• I work with some awesome people. If you've never prayed with anyone on the church staff, just come in and ask, they all love Jesus, and it comes out when they pray. 
• The power of pausing. 

That last one... Stopping each day at 10 and 2 is really hard. I will be right in the middle of something and all of a sudden I have to stop. That is really hard for me. I am a very distractable person already, and having to stop when I am "in the groove" can just feel unfair to me. 

But I kind of think that's the point of fixed prayer times like this. To get the opportunity (or be forced!) to stop and see God and refocus my world towards him. As a pastor, it seems like it should be easy to always be focused on Christ as I work. It is not. But pausing helps me remember what I should be remembering, and in that remembering I find life and energy.

So, stop by at 10 or 2 sometime and pray with us, or set your own times throughout the day to "pause".

If you're going to pause, leave a comment about the when and the what!