Adventure

My sister-in-law and I pray once a week over the phone for our family. We've done this for a number of years now. We've prayed for the extended family by going through a printed family tree. We've prayed for and continue to pray for our children. And now, this year, we are praying for all those who have married into our family and for their extended families. This includes a LOT of people whom we will never even know. It is exciting to think that as the Lord leads us in these prayer times that He will be working in the lives of these unknown people (to us) and blessing them and revealing Himself to them.

Prayer is such adventure! When I open up my Bible to read and then to pray, I am never quite certain what direction that prayer time will take. I am usually surprised and always greatly stimulated by the process. It is a fascinating experience to be aware of how the Holy Spirit will take what I'm reading in several different sources, take what I've read in the Bible, take my snippets of conversations with others and then meld it all together to bring forth revelation and insight which results in fodder for prayer.

I received a new book today Payne Hollow Journal by Harlan Hubbard and came to a paragraph in the introduction (p. xiii) which says of Harlan Hubbard's wife:

"Always their work was their pleasure. Anna gave praise to 'precious daylight
hours,' for they gave her light to work by. She was an elegant woman, tall,
fair, feminine, and beautiful. She moved through her days with an effortless
grace. In a corner of the Hubbards' small house was a grand piano Anna played in
the evenings with the skill and measured passion of an accompished musician,
which she was."

Earlier in the day I had been completing my reading in Revelation and came to Revelation 19:7 (Amplified) which says:

Let us rejoice--and shout for joy--exulting and triumphant! Let us celebrate and
ascribe to Him glory and honor, for the marriage of the Lamb [at last] has come
and His bride has prepared herself. (Emphasis is mine.)

C.S. Lewis in Perelandra, the second in his science fiction trilogy, writes about the green Lady, who is a type of Eve in the newly forming planet of Perelandra. He ably conveys her as noble, queenly and yet as one who speaks to and hears from the Creator, "Maleldil". She and Ransom are speaking about Ransom's home planet:

"But that other world was older than yours," she said.
"How do you know that?" asked Ransom in amazement.
"Maleldil is telling me," answered the woman...."

These 3 segments quoted above encouraged me greatly. In the quote from Hubbard's book, his wife is spoken of as an accomplished musician. Embedded in her accomplishment is the trained discipline for being measured in her passion. She doesn't just dump a lot of notes together in her playing. There is a time and place for each note, and she recognizes when that is. In her work, she takes pleasure in what she does and she works while it is day. Jesus warned us in John 9:4 to work while it is day because the night is coming when no one can work.



The passage in Revelation spoke to me about the need to allow myself to be prepared by the LORD for His return. This verse says that the Church prepares herself. Therefore, the Church is actively participating in her preparatory process by submitting to what the Lord Jesus would train her in doing. I thought of the book of Esther and how Esther went through months of preparation before she was brought before the king.



Then in the quotation from Perelandra, I was encouraged by the words "Maleldil told me." to be a more diligent listener to the Holy Spirit. As I listen better, I will be enabled to move in grace, discipline, understanding, greater appreciation for the work that I am doing and have the ability to hear His Voice ever more clearer and clearer.

These things became part of my personal prayer time today.