Heading Home

An account, whether true or not, is told in Streams in the Desert of an old, southern deacon who would always end his prayers with, “Lord, prop us up on every leaning side.” 

When asked why he prayed that way, he answered, “Well, sir, you see, it’s like this…I got an old barn out back. It’s been there a long time; it’s withstood a lot of weather. It’s gone through a lot of storms, and it has stood for many years. 

“It’s still standing, but one day I noticed it was leaning to one side a bit, so I went and got some pine poles and propped it up on its leaning side so it wouldn’t fall. Then, I got to thinking about that and how much I was like that old barn. I’ve been around a long time. I’ve withstood a lot of hard times, and I’m still standing, too, but I find myself leaning to one side from time to time, so I like to ask the Lord to prop us up on our leaning side, ’cause I figure a lot of us get to leaning at times.” 

A lot of us do get to leaning at times. We begin to lean the wrong way, toward depression, discouragement, giving up, anger, unforgiveness, bitterness, addiction, or whatever. 

Solomon tells us where not to lean, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” (Prov. 3:5-6 NKJV) 

If we lean, let’s lean upon our Beloved as the disciple John did, “Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved” (John 13:23 NKJV), and be as the Shulamite, “Who is this coming up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved?” (Song 8:5 NKJV) 

Do you have a tendency to lean? Who or what props you up?

 
<

Prayer.

Did you cringe or smile when you read that word? Do you spend enough time in prayer?

Whatever the amount of time each of us spends on our knees, it can always be improved.

Since our precious Lord gave us an example of how to pray, I thought I would take what has been dubbed The Lord’s Prayer, or as the New King James Version entitles it, The Model Prayer, and make it a series.

In Matthew 6:9-13, Jesus gives us the prototype, “Pray like this:

Our Father in heaven,
may Your name be kept holy.
May Your Kingdom come soon.
May Your will be done on earth,
as it is in heaven.
Give us today the food we need,
and forgive us our sins,
as we have forgiven those who sin against us.
And don’t let us yield to temptation,
but rescue us from the evil one.” (NLT)

Some manuscripts add, “For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.” I love that part!

Is prayer important? According to Jesus, it is. He spent a great deal of time on His knees. If He went to the garden, the hillside, or some other secluded place to spend time with His Father, how can we not think it is more important in our lives?

If God is our heavenly Father, how do we talk to Him? What tone do we use? Do we speak to Him...

* in respect, or disrespect, as we would our earthly father?
* in kind tones or in grumpiness?
* in belief of unbelief?
* in trust or in doubt?
* by shaking our fists at Him or raising our hands in praise?

Do we tell Him of our tender love for Him, or do we continually question Him as to why things are happening? Do we tell Him of our unreserved confidence in Him that He will always fulfill His promises? Do we praise Him for Who He is? Do we sit silently at His feet, just to be near Him?

Prayer is a private, exclusive audience with the King of heaven, spending time in His presence to worship Him and to love Him.

Prayer is like a child appealing to its father. Has your child ever crawled up in your lap just to snuggle with you because he or she loves you? Do you ever crawl up in the Father’s lap just to love on Him? He delights in that, just as you do.

Prayer is the development of our personal relationship with the Lord, as an intimate friend.

Prayer is communicating with the Lord, having an honest, heart-to-heart talk with Him. For this reason, prayer is a conversation, not a monologue! Conversing with Him implies listening to Him.

Prayer takes many forms, whether with many words, sitting silently, a look or glance of faith in the Lord’s direction, or on our faces on the floor, bawling into the carpet.

Though we have virtually perfected our horizontal conversations, we have seriously failed in our Vertical one. This spirit-converse can be found only when one retreats to that quiet place to listen for the intimate whisperings the Holy Spirit brings us from our Beloved Bridegroom.

David said of being in the Lord’s house, as only The Message can state it, “That’s the only quiet, secure place in a noisy world, the perfect getaway far from the buzz of traffic.” (Ps. 27:4) The frazzled racket of the world has deafened our ears to the whispers of heaven. If we don’t silence all the cacophony, we will never hear the voice of the Lord.

How important is prayer to us? “One day Jesus told His disciples a story to illustrate their need for constant prayer and to show them that they must keep praying until the answer comes.” (Luke 18:1 TLB)

~~Lord, may I sit at Your precious feet just to be with You and learn of You. Give me the strength to wait the timing of your answers.~~

“God blesses those who work for peace,
for they will be called the children of God.”
Matt. 5:9
Ah, peace! Ha! Not right now. As I sit here typing this, the sound of the yardman’s blower grates on my ears and jars my soul. That is definitely not the sound of peace to me.

But what is peace? According to one definition, Thayer’s Greek Lexicon says, “According to a conception distinctly peculiar to Christianity, the tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and content with its earthly lot, of whatsoever sort that is.” Amen!

Peace is…

…rest in the Lord
…contentment that the Lord with work on our behalf
…harmony with the Lord.

Peace is the calm rest in the Lord that brings harmony in the midst of a fiery trial or the depths of an agonizing heartache.

What does scripture tell us about peace?

*“…for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” (Rom. 14:17 NKJV)

*“Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another.” (Rom. 14:19 NKJV)

*“God has called us to live in peace.” (1 Cor. 7:15b NIV)

*“…to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” (Rom, 8:6 NKJV)

*“I listen carefully to what God the Lord is saying, for He speaks peace to His faithful people.” (Ps. 85:8 NLT)

However, there is one more element to peace…and that is trust in the Lord. Total reliance on Him to carry us through the worst of life’s flames.

God said through Isaiah, “I will be your God through all your lifetime, yes, even when your hair is white with age. I made you and I will care for you. I will carry you along and be your Savior.” (Is. 46:4 TLB)

He also wrote of God’s promise, “He will keep in perfect peace all those who trust in him, whose thoughts turn often to the Lord!” (Is. 26:3 TLB)

Paul said, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything; tell God your needs, and don’t forget to thank Him for his answers. If you do this, you will experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will keep your thoughts and your hearts quiet and at rest as you trust in Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 4:6-7 TLB)

When chaos invades my world, do I still claim His peace and praise Him? Yes, indeedy! For “I will praise the Lord no matter what happens. I will constantly speak of His glories and grace.” (Ps. 34:1 TLB) Amen!

And when the enemy swirls his darkness around me and attempts to discourage or frighten me, do I still trust Him? You betcha! I say as David said, “But when I am afraid, I will put my confidence in You. Yes, I will trust the promises of God. And since I am trusting Him, what can mere man do to me?” (Ps. 56:3-4 TLB)

Are you struggling to retain your heart’s peace? What did Jesus say about His peace? “I am leaving you with a gift - peace of mind and heart! And the peace I give isn’t fragile like the peace the world gives. So don’t be troubled or afraid.” (John 14:27 TLB)

The old hymn It is Well With My Soul describes it so well…

“When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul.”

If we aim for and pursue peace within ourselves, we shall be known as God’s children and be able to share His peace with those around us. “Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another.” (Rom. 14:19 NKJV)

“I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Rom. 15:13 NLT)

May it be well with your soul!

Today, I bring you a story I heard and I have question for you at the end.

A story is told, whether true or not, of a tightrope walker that went to Niagara Falls. He had a wire strung across the falls and then sent out fliers to advertise his walk.

The day of his great feat arrived and crowds packed the banks to see this man walk across Niagara Falls.

The man appeared and applause rang out. He grabbed his balancing pole and placed his feet on the wire, ready to begin. A hush fell on the crowd.

The winds blew against him from the force of the water below him. Cautiously and preciously placing his feet on the wire, he walked across and received an overwhelming round of applause.

He asked the crowd on that side, “Do you think I can make it back across again? Do you trust me? Raise your hands.” The crowd cheered and all the hands went up.

Safely making his way back to the other side, he said to that crowd, “Do you think I can make it across again? Do you trust me? Raise your hands.” All the hands went up along with the cheers.

He walked off to the side and came back with a wheelbarrow. “Now, who trusts me enough to get in the wheelbarrow?”

The crowd stood silent. No hands went up.

If we apply this spiritually to our lives, we say we trust the Lord. We even applaud and cheer Him at work in the lives of others. But when it comes to our own lives, our faith and trust sometimes wane. We become silent. No hands go up.

If the Lord asked if you trusted Him enough to get in life’s wheelbarrow because He was taking you across the dangerous waters of circumstances, would you get in or on the sidelines?

Do you trust the Lord to carry you?