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)