How I became a morning person in KK (& spiritual discipline)

It's easy to wake up early in KK because the sun rises early and basks our non-curtained apartment with its warm light. We were also eager to see the changing colours with the mountain/city view during the early hours of the day so that gave us ample motivation to wake up; plus, I wanted to make every hour with N count since we spend less than 30 days a year together. 

Mornings here are more quiet and we could have our morning devotion at the table, sipping hot green tea, and look forward to the fish noodles etc breakfast we will get later. The privilege of being on a vacation is that you get the space--both physically and mentally--to be more quiet and to slow down to think about God and listen to Him. This should happen in our daily lives too, but often we fail to make space for God as we should.

"Spiritual discipline means the effort to create some space in which God can act." --Henri Nouwen

Just like how we make time and space for a good breakfast, we should intentionally create space and time for God. Rebecca (our mentor at COCM) or Dallas Willard or someone once said that spiritual discipline is like sleeping. You need to first put yourself in a laying down position in order for the sleep to happen. We cannot will the sleep to happen, but we can make the situation more conducive for falling asleep. Similarly, we cannot cause God to act in our lives to transform us to more Christlikeness because that is His power to act, but we can create the posture for God to be able to talk to us and change our minds and hearts e.g. by sitting down for prayer time with God intentionally.

I'm still working on this goal and as much as I'm a "quiet" person, I still find silence difficult and being quiet in God daily, waiting for Him and praying is not easy. However, I do not want to neglect my spiritual health by being apathetic and then one day suddenly finding myself a different person (one filled with weeds, bitterness, ungratefulness and unChristlike). Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me.

Children of God, let us rise early and seek God. Let us not be idlers. Wake up and meet your Saviour.

Sunny rain

Sunny rain is an instrumental piece by Yiruma that I used to listen to at Moody. I captured these photos yesterday afternoon after our weekly prayer meeting. The late afternoon sunlight that created a golden glitter effect combined with the raindrops on the office window was so beautiful. We had just finished praying for our dear missionaries and I renewed my commitment in God to learn to pray more in my daily life. As you grow older, you will see the world quite differently and there will be more and more people and things to pray for, but I also learn to rely on God's power more so prayer is the only way to go. :) 

'Surely God is my salvation;

    I will trust and not be afraid.The Lord, the Lord himself, is my strength and my defence;    he has become my salvation.’

Isaiah 12:2

      ^Random cute friends in the office. (for Sara)

Learning how to pray

Lately, I am learning how to pray.
To pray specific prayers,
to pray the words of Scripture because often we do not know what to ask for,
to pray for God's will to be done,
to pray wisely by firstly knowing God's Word more,
and to pray persistently (if we don't even remember to ask God every day, we probably don't have the urgency and heart for the prayer request we are making e.g. praying for the salvation of a family member/friend).

I admit to failing to set apart time to properly pray. It is something that I want to do more and more because I know how important it is to pray and communicate with my Almighty God. If I believe in the power of prayer and indeed God wants us to pray to Him, why don't I pray more often? I am seeking God's grace to help me learn how to pray more.

 I need Thee every hour