There are days when I could slumber endlessly through the dawn and into the morning. Then there are days when I wake up, alert and with a desire to pray. I've decided to term this as "being wakened by the Holy Spirit"; thus, I found myself fully awake this morning at 5 in the morning. I followed my mom to the early morning prayer service at my church, what we Koreans call '새벽 기도'. And something deep down in my spirit sighed and I felt at home. 

Something that I have struggled with this summer is the temptations of my flesh. I desire intimacy with God and greater knowledge of his presence - I know that I can't function properly without his presence and my soul deeply hungers and yearns for it. A lot of this summer has been characterized by overindulgence - whether it's going on instagram & Facebook a little too often or not being able to practice self-discipline in different areas of my life. Honestly, social media is the cherry on top of a bigger pile of things that I have indulged in. This is where I insert a verse (Mark 14:38, actually) and leave it at that. No, not really. I think I have a long ways to go in terms of taking up my cross and dying to myself. My flesh is weak - there's no denying that. My spirit is willing - there's no denying that either. So… what now? 

When I sat in that room where men and women were on the ground praying out loud before the Lord, I was able to realize that prayer is the intimate connection with God that helps Christians stand against the desires of the flesh. It's me crying out to Lord for more of Him, for more of His heart, and it's Him graciously filling my heart with joy and life and ultimately, with more of His presence.