Devoted to Prayer
August 2010
O God of such truth as sweeps away all lies, of such grace as shrivels all excuses, come now and find us, for we have lost ourselves in a shuffle of disguises and the rattle of empty words.
Let your Spirit move mercifully to recreate us from the chaos of our lives.
We have been careless of our days, our loves, our gifts, our chances…
Our prayer is to change, O God, not out of despair of self but for love of you, and for the selves we long to become before we simply waste away.
Let your mercy move in and through us now…
Amen.
—Ted Loder
In these past months, God has indeed been moving in my life with much grace and mercy. I love it when the Spirit begins digging new channels in my inner world, my soul, so that greater amounts of his love and healing presence can be taken in.
Quite frankly, it has been a refreshing season of revival and renewal. The Spirit of truth called me to spend extended times in his word and prayer, gently taking me back to my youngest years, when seeds were planted in my dysfunctional home that have influenced my character in unwholesome ways. The beauty of these journeys is that they have been remarkably free of shame and guilt. I have been overcome with the atmosphere of love in which the recollections have percolated to the surface of my mind.
There are a number of sweet ways in which God has been working. For example, for most of my life, the fact that I was adopted had a damaging effect on my sense of being loved, wanted, and safe, and thus it caused me to live in fear. Similarly, having a harsh, unloving father left me looking for approval around every turn. But recently, as the Lord has tenderly guided me, I’ve found that the more I face these issues, confess where needed, and simply ask God to help me be the one he’s created me to be, the more internal and external freedom I am experiencing. God has had me on this path for some time, but these past months have held some dramatic breakthroughs for which I am profoundly grateful.
How are things with your soul these days? Have you paused long enough to ask God to carve new channels in your inner man/inner woman so you’ll be capable of receiving the gift the Father longs to give you—the gift of loving and accepting yourself? Pull away with Jesus. Read Psalm 25, Proverbs 2, Isaiah 6, or Romans 8. Pose the simple question to the One who formed you in your mother’s womb, “Father, how are things with my soul?” Listen to what he says. It may surprise you.
Prayer Page
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Praying Together,
Barbara Francis
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