08/25/2024
Do we share our thoughts on faith and prayer with others? I have a very dear friend (Chuck Savage) who, years ago, received the very first devotional message I ever wrote. As a matter of fact he was the inspiration for them as we read “The Power of Prayer” by E. M. Bounds together. We were friends, and had been communicating regularly and praying together long before that, but in 2016 I found myself writing a devotional message to him that he shared with his family and friends. Since then I have written years of daily devotionals and the Lord has shared them openly with the world, but as you know, this year I have been rewriting that first year’s messages, and sharing them with this now wider audience of readers. It is important that we share our journey of faith with one another, because it is tantamount to sharing the gospel as it lives itself out in our own modern day lives.
“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”
Hebrews 4:12 ESV
“We don’t have to put on airs, for people come to Jesus desperately. We can look to the people who are discovering that desperation in their own life and speak to them with authority out of our brokenness and out of our discovery of God’s grace to meet us in those places.”
C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
I want to do something different this morning by sharing one of the email exchanges that Chuck Savage and I had that year. He wrote this to me after having read the message I sent you yesterday… “Holiness in Our Secret Places”.
Chuck Savage wrote:
Rich,
This topic speaks to me right off the bat. As I think back, I remember the thoughts that you sent me while looking at your fruit bowl. It was and is always neat to hear you talk about your chair and how you spend your quiet time of prayer and meditation in your chair while soaking in the silence and tranquility in the presence of Almighty God. Those thoughts led me to find my own chair so that I had a place to do exactly what you had been doing for a long time. I will always be grateful that you shared those thoughts with me because it is awesome to sit in my chair, many times with the lights off as I pray and meditate while enjoying being in the presence of our Heavenly Father! It has truly taken my prayer and meditation to a whole new level. Jesus gives us great examples of how we should approach our prayer life. Luke 5:16 says that “Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” Psalm 46:10 says, “Be still and know that I am God.” I’m sure you would agree, but many times that is our biggest struggle. The world is always telling us that we can do everything ourselves. Another great expression is “I’m a self-made man.” The world tells us to go out there and make it happen. If it’s not going the way you want it to go, then you’ve got to push harder!! One of my favorite hymns is “When the storms of life are raging, stand by me. When the world is tossing me like a ship upon the sea, THOU WHO RULEST WIND AND WATER, STAND BY ME” For me, I must have that quiet time in order to enter His presence and understand that He wants to handle all of my problems. God wants me to be 100% dependent upon Him, but the world tells me that everything is in my control. Mr. Forbes, thank you so much for helping me find that quiet place!! Have a blessed evening and talk with you soon!
Here is a link to this song, and you can skip the ad…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v24qf16zP58&sns=em
My Response....
Chuck,
I thank God for your chair and the time you spend in it. Your prayer life is an inspiration and encourages me in my own quiet time with God. We encourage one another.
I have been attending a series called "The Truth Project" on Wednesday nights. I arrive at church a full hour and a half before the class begins. Our room is off by itself and makes for a wonderful place to pray.
This Wednesday I arrived at my usual time, turned on the light in our classroom, sat in one of a couple of soft chairs at the side of the room and started reading from the eBook your father gave me... "Weaving Prayer into the Tapestry of Life" by Martha Graybeal Rowlett.
After about thirty minutes with that incredible book the spirit led me deep into prayer where I had a time of fervent discourse with God that lasted until just before Pastor Greg Brewer arrived to teach the class. I wonder what he thought when he entered the room to find me drying the tears from my eyes.
In a couple of minutes my classmates began to enter the room and one of the saintly women of our church looked at me and asked if I had been out in the sun... I said "no, why?" And she replied that my face was red as though I were sunburned. Someone else chimed in that I must have been flushed from embarrassment.
I just smiled... Knowing full well why my face was red, and sat there quietly as I basked in the warm afterglow of intense prayer and the presence of the Lord. Quiet time and secret prayer bring us close to God as nothing else can. Martha Rowlett describes confession and the aftermath of prayer wonderfully in her words "You breathe the very breath of heaven”.
In your chair you are seeking the presence of the Father... The Great I Am, and He will meet you there in that place of private intimacy. I am certain that when your prayers conclude that, like me, you want nothing more than to reenter his presence once again.
Chuck, may God be with you always, and may His Holy Spirit lead you back to Him in those times when you find yourself strangely quiet and seeking a deeper and more personal conversation. Our Holy Father is more than just a companion, He is the light of our lives and the glow on our faces. He is the holy inspiration and satisfaction in our existence... He leads us in all things. May He forever be with you, and illuminate your prayers.
My Prayer Today:
Father, thank you for my dear friend Chuck Savage, and His prayers that have helped to sustain me over the years. Thank you for calling me to write each morning of our relationship, and how being in your presence is the essence of my life. Thank you Lord for taking these thoughts you give me and pouring them like oil over this aching world, and healing so many lives with your inspired words. I pray this morning that you continue to make them fruitful, and use them to win souls to you. Like Jesus, I am nothing without you, and offer myself to you for your daily use. Help me Holy Father to rest in you, and to share our walk of faith with those you have drawn to read of our relationship. Abba, I pray that you continue to help me through my daily life, and to use my suffering in this world to encourage others as they face trauma in their own lives. Holy Spirit give me voice when I fall silent in my prayers, and hold up my arms as I call out to the Lord… “Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my God, who was, and is, and is to come. Holy are you who abides in me, and uses my shaking hands as your own, and my voice to speak your thoughts into lost lives.” Though I write the words, you sow them like seed around the world, and use their fruit for your purposes, and to glorify yourself. Hear my humble prayers, and taste the salt of my tears as I prostrate myself before you. Place your hand upon me as I kneel in your presence, and sit each morning in my prayer chair awaiting your inspired thoughts, and guiding will. Touch the hearts and souls of all your children in this way, and bless my dear friend Chuck Savage and his family throughout their lives, provide for all these who seek you, those who strive to do your will in every way, and provide them with your amazing bounty… your Holy Word that does not return to you void, and the redemption you have given us in Jesus.
Amen.
“For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.”
Isaiah 55:10-11 KJV
Rich Forbes