This past week my wife shot me an email with a link to the Sanctus Real website.  The home page of the website has the following two videos: the first is the story behind the song Lead Me; the second is the video for the song Lead Me.  As I listened to the story behind the song I was broken.  The message is strong and clear.  It’s a cry to the Lord to be led by Jesus in being a husband and a father.

…it’s the cry of a wife to be loved by her husband.  The cry of kids to be loved by their dad.  And the prayer of a daddy and a husband to be loved by God…and the most important and most difficult task of building my home on the solid foundation of Jesus Christ.
~Matt Hammitt, Sanctus Real lead vocalist, guitar

Take the time to watch the story behind the song. Then watch the song and let the Holy Spirit speak to you. It is a powerful message; a powerful cry to the Lord. It is the anthem of my prayer life right now.

The Story Behind “Lead Me” – Sanctus Real from BrightBulb Entertainment on Vimeo.

I want you Jesus, to lead me as a husband and a daddy!
~Jay

Prayer is about connecting with God.  Connecting with our creator.  It is where we pour out our soul to the one who created it.  The one who knows how to handle it.  The only real one who can handle it.  And more importantly, it’s where we hear Him Speak.  There are far too many followers of Christ in this world who have no idea how to hear from the Lord.  It blows my mind.  What are we doing if we are not listening to the Holy Spirit?  Listening to God?  This is what prayer is!

Yes, it is pouring out our souls, our hearts to our Creator.  But it is so much more.  It is where we are filled up as well.  It is where our Creator pours back into our soul.  To pray to the Lord all of our concerns without taking the time to listen for His response is to engage in a one way conversation.  Prayer is meant to be a two way conversation.  The problem is, many of us are not listening.  Many don’t know how to listen.  Still more don’t even know they are supposed to be listening.

Prayer is both telling and being told, unloading and being reloaded, emptying out and filling up.  When we are only engaging in a one-way conversation we miss out on a lot.  We are missing out on hearing the voice of God; hearing the Lord is vital to our relationship with Him.  I wish everyone would spend more time listening for the voice of God in their lives – starting with me.  Beginning this week, I am setting aside more time in my schedule for prayer, especially listening prayer.

160,000

The odometer on my dash turned 160,000 miles today.  The estimated distance around the equator is 24,902 miles.  That means I have traveled the equivalent distance of six laps around the world in my car.  That is a lot of time behind the wheel.  A lot of time on the go.  What have I done in all that distance?

…explored new places; earned a bachelors degree; gained some friends for life; married my beautiful wife; traveled the country; celebrated countless life events; endured many challenges; found a city to call home; bought a house; earned a masters degree; welcomed our first child into the world; joined a community of Christ followers; and have put my hand to the plow…

I have to be honest, I never would have imagined that watching my odometer roll over to a new number would send me on a trip down memory lane.  But here I am, taking stock of the past eight years of my life because I drive a high mileage car.  What’s most encouraging to me is to see how my relationship with God has become so much richer, deeper, and more meaningful to me as the complexities of life increase along this journey.  I continued reviewing my life throughout the day and while listening to a friends hip hop album at work, the lyrics captured my reflections in words.

It’s what life’s all about…

Knowing him.

A little more everyday.

Whatever it takes…

I trade it all in for knowing you!

Artist:  Namesake   Album:  Heart Back EP