Learning to Abide: What God Taught Me Outside of My Prayer Closet

Kim Hardy
21 hours ago
6 min read

After being inspired by the movie War Room, the cleaning closet underneath the staircase became my prayer closet. Snug as a bug in a rug—oh, who am I kidding? I tried to make it a comfy space for prayer, adding a couple of fluffy blankets on the hardwood floor and a pillow or two for back support, but to no avail. My time with the Lord in that claustrophobic space left me uncomfortable.

Now that I think about it, maybe that was exactly how He intended me to be. My mind at the time was tangled in knots, and I needed to learn to trust God. Journey with me, if you will, to a time and place where I first began to experience God on a new level. This is where I started learning to abide in God.

Learning to Abide at Mercy Ships

My hands were sweating as I signed in. I found my name badge and searched the room for familiar faces, my mind racing. Would the volunteers I'd helped be excited to see me?

I said hello to a couple of the facilitators that I knew and quickly found a seat. I couldn’t believe I was getting paid to learn about God. As I scanned through my workbook, I stared in disbelief at the verse, “I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit because apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5, NRSV)

My word for that year was abide. In that moment I knew God was up to something. What I didn't know was how much this training would change my perspective and my entire life.

Not only did I learn about the many characteristics of God, but I also learned how to interact with people from different cultures around the world. The volunteers I'd helped were happy to put a face to a name, and so was I.

The day that impacted me the most was the time we were given to seek the Lord. We were encouraged to put away our electronic devices and spend two to three hours communicating with Him. Fortunately, the teachers didn't just wish us luck, they sent us away with ideas for how to spend time with God.

It was cold outside, so I chose to read my Bible and journal. Here is part of my journal entry from that day:

Today is the Silent Retreat. I’m expecting YOU-LORD-YAHWEH to show up. I’m listening-show me/tell me what you want me to know. Psalm 10:16-18 The Lord is King forever and ever Lord, you have heard the desire of the humble; you will strengthen their hearts. You will listen carefully; doing justice for the fatherless and the oppressed. *Thank you Father-King of kings! Psalm 11:1 I have taken refuge in the Lord. 2. For look the wicked string bows; they put their arrows on bowstrings to shoot from the shadows at the upright in heart.

Where is the wicked shooting from?

Who are the wicked shooting at?

3. When the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?

We have to have a firm foundation.

I continued to break down Psalm 11 and 12 verse by verse, asking questions and answering them according to what each Psalm said. When we gathered for the afternoon training, we took turns sharing how the Lord had spoken to us.

At the same time, I was attending on boarding I was finishing the Bible study Abide by Jen Wilkin. I had a fairly good idea of what abide meant, but God wasn’t finished with me yet.

What Happens When We Abide in God?

Learning to abide in God, we will have the Spirit of Truth. (John 16:13, ESV) We will develop a healthy fear of Him. We will learn to revere God and see that He is a good, good Father.

Out of this love, we will be set free and become who God created us to be. We will want to live our lives dedicated to serving Him. We will stop living in habitual sin and start bearing the fruit of the spirit.

This is known as sanctification, or what I like to call the pruning process. When we allow God to prune us it can take time, and if I’m honest, it can hurt. How much we allow Him to prune us is up to us.

Are we willing to dig deep? To look within and accept what God is revealing to us? Are we willing to address what He wants us to address? How honest are we willing to be with Jesus and with ourselves?

My Journey on Learning to Abide in God?

My pruning process is ongoing, as it should be. God will work on us until He calls us home, if we allow it. Looking back, God started working on me way before I realized it.

He was working on me as a lost teenager seeking approval from everyone and trying to fit in, who only accepted Jesus as her Savior because she was afraid of going to hell and wanted her grandpa to baptize her.

He was working on me as the independent college student who refused to give up her dream of becoming an English teacher and coach. He was working on me when I married my husband for all the wrong reasons. He was working on me when I became the young mom of two beautiful babies. He was working on me as we struggled to make ends meet on two teacher salaries.

God started chiseling at the walls I had built to keep others out. As those pieces fell, my heart became lighter and made room for the Holy Spirit to grow within me. During those years, God worked on me through women's Bible and book studies and devotions I read, and I learned new ways to pray.

In 2019, my life changed drastically when my little brother passed away. In 2020, as the world started to turn again after the COVID-19 pandemic, my world came to a complete standstill.

Not only had I injured my back, but my son went into a deep depression, and my grandpa passed away. During this time, it was all I could do to read my Bible daily. Sometimes I prayed, and sometimes I sat in the darkness, feeling all alone.

Fast-forward three years to the summer I finally stopped ignoring God's calling on my life and said yes to Him. This was the year I left teaching and started working at Mercy Ships. It was also the summer I attended the Christian Communicators Conference for the first time, the conference that would change my life forever and empower me to fulfill my calling.

What is the Importance of Learning to Abide in God?

Loving Others Across Differences

In today's society, we are told to agree with everyone, so we don't offend them. We should be whoever, or whatever, we want to be.

It is easier to blend in than to disagree, for fear of someone going off on you, or worse, killing you. Our world is feeding us fear, and we are eating it up.

We are afraid to stand out. My friends, now is the time to stand up for our beliefs as followers of Jesus Christ. The only way we can do this is to have a firm foundation in what it looks like to follow Christ, which means we need to know what God requires of us as His followers.

We are to love God, obey His commands, and love others. We can love others who walk and talk differently than we do and not agree with what they say or do.

During my training at Mercy Ships, one of the trainers said, "It is better to understand than to be understood." It's a lot easier to love others when we try to understand where they come from.

Growing up in a white-dominant world, with a white person's perspective, led me to be naïve and ignorant. I am now choosing to learn more about people from other cultures so I can have a better understanding of their perspective.

No matter the culture or life experiences, we all want the same things out of life. We all want to be accepted for who we are, on some level. We all have the same need for a Savior. We all have the same opportunity to receive God's grace.

When we realize God's love for us is intimate, we will recognize that He cares for each one of us as if we were His only child. We are chosen. We are enough. We are dearly loved.

Final Encouragement

God is still teaching me what it means to learn to abide in Him. This past year and a half has been a new level of learning to trust God. I have learned that I cannot control every detail of my life, but I can trust the One who knows the whole story.

I have learned to ask, seek, and knock. When we believe God hears our prayers, we will seek Him more and knock on doors more boldly, because we know He is the One who opened them for us.

When we trust God with our doubts, concerns, and struggles, we can rest knowing He will provide and meet all our needs. This is what I call 'Godfidence,' meaning we walk into places more confident because we know the Lord has gone before us and is standing with us.