Salvation Sound - October 2011

Posted on October 1, 2011

It is cold. The sky begins to show itself above the mist which hovers over the turned brown earth of the ploughed fi eld. With a gentle sigh a golden leaf falls to the damp ground beneath a tree which holds its bare branches heavenwards as if pleading with its creator. Another day begins, the sounds of which seem to intrude upon my thoughts, my quiet time, my time of prayer...

Sometimes it is diffi cult to pray; we often think that our prayers are unimportant when we consider world situations, but that is not so. All heart-prayers are heard, (all incense rises towards heaven, no matter the perfume it's composed of.)

And they are answered; prayers are really desires and desires are fulfi lled according to their strength. It seems that sometimes prayer is more readily heard when a large number of people pray together, as in church; but Jesus took himself away from the crowd many times so that He was able to speak to his Father alone. Sometimes I feel the need for solitude. A time when I can not only commune with the Lord, but a time for refl ection and recollection and self-examination. A time in which to ask and try to receive the answers to the inevitable questions. Why? How? and When?

How do you feel when you try to make a 'phone call to a company only to be greeted with a computerised voice? Press 1 if your call is urgent... Press 2 for more grace. Your call is important, please hold.

Then comes the music...Thankfully God is always available. "Call to me, and I will answer you" (Jer 33:3) has not been replaced by "All lines are busy".

Communication (prayer) with God is a two-way thing. He speaks to us through His word and through the indwelling voice of the Holy Spirit, sometimes interpreted as our conscience. He paid the price to keep the lines open so that we can experience the ioy of being still and knowing that He is God; Psalm 46:10.

"He walks with me, and He talks with me,
And He tells me I am His own;
And the joy we share as we tarry there,
None other has ever known: (Miles)

"Through the tangled web of life, Lord, guide me.
Through the problems of the day, stay beside me.
From the dangers of the world, defend me.
In the quiet of the night, Lord, hear me;
And accept my prayer, my thanks, for being near me."

Source: Focus, October 2011