Times of Barrenness

How often have you come into your “prayer closet” to pray but you feel empty, emotionless, quiet? I’ve feel this way many times, more times than not. Those times of exuberance and joy or of weeping before the Lord pouring out my heart to Him, feeling his presence seem to be to far and few between. I don’t like the feeling of fruitlessness like my prayers are bouncing off the ceiling, or my words are dribbling off my chin, my time in prayer seems so useless. Recently I picked up Dana Candler’s book Deep unto Deep – The Journey of His Embrace searching for answers/comfort. I was encouraged to read that this “prayer warrior” has the same experiences I have in prayer. She wrote “It is enough to greatly discourage and even keep us from the whole pursuit of Him. . . . Later she points out that it is in our weakness that His strength is made perfect (2 Cor. 12:9). . . . He beckons us to continually lift our weak voice and our weak gaze in prayer and communion with Him.” She explains that when we come to Him in these barren times His heart is touched by our faithfulness, “that what we call barren, He often calls fruitful; what we call wasteful He often calls well spent. That God is for me and that my prayer, though weak, is wisdom. These are the days He holds precious.” What an encouraging thought "these day He holds precious". I will look at my “barren” days differently, knowing He sees my weakness but my prayers still matter and I will not give up. Dana shares this prayer she prayed at the end of a “fruitless” day.
“Write it down in our book, O God. Though it was so empty and so dry, may it count in an eternal relevance I do not yet comprehend. Write it down so that one day You might read to me of it preciousness. Remember this day, though I know it will blend into so many days just like it in my own memory. Count it as valuable to the heart of God. And O God give me one grace I pray. Give me the grace to give myself in prayer once again tomorrow. To believe that it matters. To put my heart before you even though I feel so unproductive and unfruitful. Give me the grace to spend tomorrow once more before You in love. For I can think of no more noble way to spend a day with You, whether I feel Your nearness or not. Oh help me in the times of fainting. Give me the grace for one more day.”

“The God Who Sees Me” – EL Roi (El raw-EE)

I’m sure you can think of times when God saved you from danger, sickness, or whatever. One of my remembrances happened Labor Day Weekend, 1966. My husband John and I had received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit early that year; Labor Day Weekend we were on our way from Ohio to Tulsa Oklahoma, with three children ages 6,5, 2 and a dog, so John could attend seminary at Oral Roberts University. At that time the only thing we could rent was a 4-wheel trailer (looked like a hay wagon) to put our belongings in, pulling it with our 1960 Chevy. Having sold all our household goods, except the living room furniture and kitchen stove, we piled the wagon full with the furniture, our children’s tricycles, hobby horse and other toys, suitcases, etc and covered it with a tarp. We looked like people I saw in the movie “Grapes of Wrath” heading west. Early Saturday morning as we crossed the Mississippi River into St. Louis someone pulled along side us and motioned that we had trouble with a wagon wheel. Back then everything closed on Saturdays and Sundays as well as the Monday holiday. We were scheduled to arrive at Centenary Methodist Church Sunday morning so John could be introduced as the new Youth Pastor. We pulled into a little gas station not having had breakfast yet, not knowing how long it would be before we could find a place to eat. The prospects of getting the wheel fixed or a new wagon was very dismal. This presented a lot of dilemmas for us. BUT the “God Who Sees Us” was there. First of all, He saved us from who knows what kind of disaster with the bad wheel then He provided the solution of fixing the wheel and there was a little grocery store around the corner where we were able to buy some food. We arrived at the church Sunday morning on time!! (Side note: the living room furniture and kitchen stove that we couldn’t sell were the only pieces the church was unable to find to furnish the house we were to live in.)

“An Egyptian slave, Hagar encountered God in the desert and addressed him as El Roi, “the God who sees me.” Notable, this is the only occurrence of El Roi in the Bible. Hagar’s God is the One who numbers the hairs on our heads and who knows our circumstances, past, present and future. When you pray to El Roi, you are praying to the one who knows everything about you. (Gen. 16:13-14)” Excerpt from Praying the Names of God by Ann Spangler.

Praise God: Because He faithfully hears ALL your prayers.
Offer Thanks: For His watchful care, timely help, and all the ways He has protected you.
Confess: The temptation to feel God has abandoned you even though He’s been faithful in
the past.
Ask God: To make you aware of His presence and that He is watching over you.

“Come, let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord our maker, for he is our God. We are the people He watches over, the sheep under His care.” (Psalm 95:6-7 NLT)

God's Names - Part I

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK: God, Mighty Creator (Elohim)
Many years ago I became aware that in Hebrew there are many names, which describe who God is as well as His character. I would use what few words I knew in my prayer time with the Lord. Recently I acquired a book that lists 26 of those names and their meanings. Elohim (e-lo-HEEM) is the Hebrew word for God that appears in the very first sentence of the Bible (32 times in the first chapter). One morning as dawn began to break I looked out the window of my “prayer room” and began thanking the Lord for His beautiful creation, the trees, grass, flowers, the mountains – then I started thinking of other things He created, some strange things, such as the octopus, platypus, and penguins to name a few (which brought a smile to my face). But! As I was thinking of them I became awe-struck by the GREAT VASTINESS of His creativity – it is so UNLIMITED!! And then He created us – in His image – and gave us rule over all that He created. (Could I trust someone else enough to rule over something that I “created”?)

Then God said, “Let us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. And God blessed them and God said to them “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it and rule over the fish of the sea, and the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth”. (Gen 1:26-28 NAS)

Reflect on Genesis 1:26-28; 28:10-22; 35:1-8; Psalm. 102: Praise Him (Elohim) for His power in creating the heavens and the earth out of absolutely nothing. Praise Him for continuing to sustain it through His creative power. Praise Him for His unchanging nature – no matter what happens to us or to the world around us, God remains the same.

Give thanks: That God (Elohim) not only created you but made you in His own image. Thank Him for the way He has blessed you with the good things of the earth. Give thanks that He is perfect – nothing can be added or subtracted from Him to improve His nature.

Confess: Any tendency to forget that every human life, including your own (and the unborn), is sacred. Confess any tendency to take God’s earthly blessings for granted and any tendency to place God on your own level, as though He is subject to the same laws and limitations of creation as you are.

Ask God (Elohim): To renew your sense of wonder and gratitude for the things He has made. Ask Him to increase your desire to bless others with the gifts He has given you. Ask Him to help you perceive His greatness more fully so that you will not project your own feelings and judgments on Him. (Reference/excerpts from Praying the Names of God by Ann Spangler)

Visit with the Fishers

Donna and Frank (Fisher) arrived earlier than I thought they would Monday afternoon. Thank goodness I put my stew together early in the morning; it is an old recipe that I pulled out which cooks at low heat for 4 hours. We also had corn muffins, broccoli casserole - peach pie ala mode for dessert. Peter-John, Julie and Asa got back from their vacation in Florida and ate dinner with us too.

Pete and Julie shared highlights of their trip, Asa playing Aunt Rachel's keyboard and singing - Sunrise Service on the Beach Easter Morning; at 7 pm we watched Ohio State win in the NIT Monday night. Tuesday morning fixed pancakes for breakfast then pasta salad for lunch. Later in the afternoon I had a meeting at church so we went out for dinner afterward at a nice restaurant on the Clinch River "as Mother's guests". Pete was working Wednesday so I took them to the fire station for a "tour" :o); went to late lunch at Cracker Barrel compliments of the Fishers. Watched the Buckeyes beat University of Dayton (Ohio) in the evening, now they will meet Old Miss next week. They left early Thursday morning, we had a nice relaxed visit. (Donna is the youngest of Aunt Genny's six children; Aunt Genny [Mary Geneiveve] was mother's oldest sister.)

Just trying to Journal

Today is Resurrection Sunday. We had a wonderful worship service of beautiful songs and interpretative dancing; One point in the message was the fact that we do not celebrate an empty tomb but we celebrate the RESURRECTION of our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ. Twelve people responded to the altar call at the end of the service.

The day was partly cloudy and a little on the cool side but very enjoyable. The Daffodils and a few other spring flowers are blooming as well as the beautiful Bradford Pear Trees with their snow-white blossoms. They help to express the realization of the new life we have in Christ Jesus.

Mother didn't to go to church because she was unable to sleep at all Saturday night. We had been invited to someone's home for dinner after church and mother insisted that I go without her; of course they were kind enough to send home a plate of the dinner for her. I bought a CD of today's message so she wouldn't miss out entirely, we listened to it this evening.

Tomorrow my cousin Donna and her husband Frank are coming down from Lancaster Ohio to visit for a couple of days. I'm going to fix Beef Stew and a Broccoli Casserole, Corn Muffins or maybe home made rolls, and Peach Pie w/ice cream for dinner.

Peter-John, Julie, and Asa will be driving home for Florida. They visited Julie's grandmother and her brother and sister-in-law in the Flagler Beach area, friends in Orlando and then down to Palm Bay to spend Easter Sunday with Tony and Rachel.

This writing may be a little corny but hopefully I'll get better at this as I continue to write. I hope to get back to writing about my life growing up at some point too.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. I Peter 1:3