Time for God

Sometimes, most times, as I sit in church listening to a special song or a sermon, or even sometimes when I am taking part in a congregational song, I become so struck with the message that I fear that I will burst into tears. Over the years, I have learned that it is much less distracting to everyone else if I allow the tears to stream down my face, wiping them away once I am finished or allowing them to dry completely on their own. (This is one advantage to rarely wearing make-up!) Anyway, lately, I’ve been unsure whether I can even hold back audible sobs. Sometimes I am really tempted to get up, leave the sanctuary, and find a place to be alone and pray. I often feel that I need time to reflect on the message in order to assimilate it into my life. I think that my body is telling me that I need more times of praying, worshipping, and listening to God. I’m confused by one thing though: I am almost always in public when I feel so emotional; why do I rarely feel overwhelmed this way daily when I am alone with God? Am I trying to get my Bible reading out of the way in the mornings so that I can get on with the rest of my day? I try very hard to pay attention to everything that I read. If I feel like I have glossed over something, I try to go back and reread. At night, when I pray, sometimes I am tired and fall asleep before I really feel like I’ve covered everything essential, and before moving on to really “talking” to God and worshipping Him. Throughout the day as I talk to God, I am usually in the middle of something else as well, so I rarely drop everything I am doing to get away. I think my schedule needs revamped to make quality time for the most important Person in my life. I wonder then if I will be less emotional in public? Any ideas? How do you all make time for really communing with God? When you do feel overwhelmed in public, how do you handle it? Do you write down the passage or the message and address it later when you are alone?