“Praise ye the LORD. Praise, O ye servants of the LORD, praise the name of the LORD. Blessed be the name of the LORD from this time  forth and for evermore” (Psalm 113:1-2).

The towering evergreens which surrounded me were all pointing heavenward. Psalm 113 kept echoing in my mind. I was spending the week in the Northwoods of Michigan with a large group of young men. Our goal was to seek the Lord, to hear His voice, and to allow him to search our hearts and remove anything that would hinder His power working in and through us. We were on a journey, a Journey to the Heart.

“From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the LORD’S name is to be praised. The LORD is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens” (Psalm 113:3-4).

I sat quietly in my kayak on Wolf Lake, watching the sun slowly rise and soaking in the beauty of God’s creation surrounding me. For nearly two hours we glided quietly through the placid waters, marveling at God’s creation and meditating on His goodness.

“Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10).

God opened up His Word to us and we spent hours reading and studying it alone by ourselves and then sharing insights together as a group. It became alive and real as we received practical direction for life situations.

O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where  no water is” (Psalm 63:1)

As we studied the bad heart conditions our team of eleven guys began to open up with each other and share struggles and defeats that we had never had the courage to bring into the light before. Then we prayed for one another and received the boldness to call and confess them to those who needed to know. As one fellow on our team joyfully put it, “I feel like a burden has rolled off my back!”

“If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin” (I John 1:7).

There were so many memorable times! I will never forget how our day of delighting in the Lord started off up in the prayer tower, listening to That’s My King and spending two wonderful hours together in adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and supplication.

Each sweet recollection of God’s goodness during this incredible week is a motivation to continue walking closely with Him as we continue living the Journey back in our own homes and families.  “Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee. Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name” (Psalm 63:3-4).