As I sit in my sun room this morning, it is anything but sunny outside. While this storm blows around me I have been spending quality time with the Lord. Sometimes being "stuck" at home with very little happening is a good thing. It causes us to quiet ourselves and maybe if we let it, bring us to desire a deeper experience of the Lord's Presence. I believe the Lord allows the "storms" of this life to come to us for a reason. It was Israel's constant weakness to forget the Lord in the "good" times. That is why He would allow them to suffer in some way so they would repent and seek Him again. It was the Lord's mercy that did this, not His condemnation. It is the Lord's mercy that allows us now to face storms.
"Hear my cry, O God; Attend to my prayer. From the end of the earth I will cry to You. When my heart is overwhelmed; Lead me to the rock that is higher than I." Psalm 61:1,2
I use my husband's bible now and he wrote next to this verse, "David's need drove him to seek God".
How true I have found this statement to be. In my deepest pain, He has caused me to seek Him like never before. I have kept the constant discipline of spending time alone with the Lord, but in my times of greatest distress I have been pressed to go much deeper. Oh, if I could take you to this place!..... but you must go there yourself.....
One of the greatest lacks in the body today is the desire to pray. It is the symptom of a greater lack......faith. We don't believe the Lord is listening, or that He will act. We believe in physical action above spiritual action. How many times I have rushed ahead of the Lord to "do" only to fall on my face and realize I made a mess of things. This society is used to a "high-speed", quick response lifestyle, "no lines, no waiting", no time. We have filled our schedules, until we are running about saying quick prayers as we go....(somewhat like a drive through...). Yet with all this activity, we are missing so much. When the Lord was in the garden of Gethsemene He challenged His disciples, "What? Could you not watch with Me one hour?" Matthew 26:40, What? One whole hour? Really Lord?.......
Here in the Lord Jesus' darkest hour, He sought His Father........if our Lord did, shouldn't we? He prayed for us! And He was heard and answered.....
Do we believe in this dark hour that our Lord hears us when we pray? I can say with all my heart a resounding, YES! In the midst of my valley of grief, I have cried out to the Lord....and He has heard me.Why? Because I am special? No! Because I believe He hears me and will answer. Because I wait on Him, and believe the Word that says, "Ask and you shall receive, Seek and you shall find, Knock and it will be opened to you" Matthew 7:7
I am in a place that the Lord has put me, a very needy place. Without Him, I cannot survive. I was a very happy wife of a very loving husband. He took care of me, and served me for 30 years. He was my constant companion, my prayer & worship partner and my teacher. Now I am a widow, facing a lot of challenges and missing my husband beyond words has caused me to seek the face of God. When I thought I would drown for grief, He has reached down and pulled me up. One evening as I lay upon my bed crying for hours, I felt the darkness and depression of the late night enter my soul. It is during these hours that the enemy wants me to dwell on my husband's last breath of life here in our bedroom. In the midst of this, I begged God to deliver me. I was not strong enough to fight this alone, I needed prayer. All of a sudden the phone rang, (remember it was very late) and there on the line was a brother who felt the Lord tell him that I was in distress. All I could do was weep, He began to pray and worship, and pray and worship. This went on for quite a while. He did not pray a "quick fix" prayer and hang up. He battled for me as his family joined him. He prayed for ministering angels to come to me and aid me, after a time I could feel them lifting my arms and holding me up. A peace and comfort came over me, and I slept in the arms of the Lord that night. Thank you Lord for those that listen and obey. Prayer is important, it is not a religious past-time. It is a real work, and it accomplishes so much. John felt that call to prayer more than any other work he did. He fasted often and prayed daily for the Lord to move in His church. I believe he was heard, I believe he did his greatest work in the closet of prayer. He believed that you needed to bathe everything in it.
" .....In everything by prayer..."Phil.4:6
I believe the fruit of his ministry here was a direct result of his unseen ministry of prayer for you & I. I want to continue that......I want to bathe everything in prayer. I want to hear above all the noise of this life the voice of the bridegroom calling me to His chambers.....I want to believe that He hears and will answer ..........will you join me? can you give Him at least an hour? He will not disappoint you my friend.....He will meet you there....and you will be divinely ruined. Nothing in this life will satisfy you, as His Presence does. The way you look at life will be changed, your spiritual eyes will be opened and you will want to pray. You will desire to come and spend time alone with Him.
"My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him. He only is my
rock and my salvation." Psalm 61:5,6
Do you hear Him? He is calling you right now.....
