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Prayerful Pondering

~ by Pat Luffman Rowland

Prayerful Pondering

Category Archives: communion with God

Mornings with Samantha

17 Friday Apr 2015

Posted by Pat Luffman Rowland in availability, communion with God, compromise, focus, love, negotiating, pets needs, quiet time, relationship, responsibility, Siamese cats, solving problems, trust, understanding

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understanding importance of needs

I love the still quietness of early morning. All seems best with my world at that time of day and it is then that I spend time with God. I need this first thing because I know if I don’t do it first, it likely won’t get done at all, and I need His guidance throughout my day. I protect myself as best I can from distractions, yet the minute I settle into my reading chair, one of my cats, Samantha, begins pacing from side to side looking for lap space. For the longest, it annoyed me and I would push her away. This was my time, I wanted focus, and her need for attention complicated that.

Samantha beside the kitty toys

Samantha beside the kitty toys

One morning it occurred to me that I wasn’t appreciating the importance of Samantha’s need. Siamese cats are very people-oriented. They can do without feline relationship but they need humans. So, I decided to change my attitude. Rather than being frustrated with Samantha’s determination to be in my lap, I would make her welcome and see if we could reach a compromise on the first moments of the day.

Samantha led me easily into the routine she wanted: a kiss on top of her head, followed by a little scratching around her ears and chin. Her eyes stare dead into mine as I croon to her how special she is.  I rub the sides of her face and she leans into my hand to get the full benefit of pressure massage. After a few concentrated minutes of attention, Samantha is satisfied enough to leave my lap and go on with her day so that I can get on with mine. By considering her needs as also important and making a slight adustment, we both now have frustration-free mornings.

Samantha at about 5 weeks

Samantha at about 5 weeks

Samantha depends on my love for her, just as I depend on God’s for me. She needs to trust my availability, just as I trust God’s for me. We are actually seeking the same things: time, trust and relationship. One thing for sure, God never pushes me away, annoyed with my wanting time with Him, and it was that reflection that caused me to rethink how I wanted to respond to Samantha.

There is a bigger lesson here: Often times, things seem problematic when they don’t have to be. Sometimes all it takes is looking at a problem from another perspective. When we loosen the grip on our need enough to respect another’s as being just as important, good, workable solutions can be found.

‘Love is patient and kind . . .  It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful” (1 Corinthians 13:4-8 ESV).

“And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony” (Colossians 3:24 ESV).

A Father and Daughter’s Communion

30 Sunday Nov 2014

Posted by Pat Luffman Rowland in communion with God

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communion with God, faithfulness, observation, relationship, remembrance, study scripture, wisdom

As they slowly walked the aisle to the place where they would kneel to receive communion, the father would bend down from time to time and whisper to his little girl. She would nod understandingly, holding close to his side. Then when a place was made available for them to kneel, they went forward and did so, the father again speaking quietly with his child.

The pastor moved to them with a loaf of bread and cup of wine (grape juice) and for what was probably her first time, she took the sacraments and received the grace of our Lord. As Jesus instructed that we do (Luke 22:19), this sweet child took part in remembering Jesus and the sacrifice of His blood that redeems us.  Father and daughter lingered for a moment with heads bowed, then slowly rose and made their way back to where their journey had begun.

It has been ten or more years, but I remember those tender moments as if they happened only yesterday. Watching that young father point the way for his daughter to a relationship with our Lord was a memory worth holding onto. And if it held fast in my memory, how even more it would have held in that small child’s. She would remember that her dad lived out Proverbs 22:6 which says “Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it” (NIV). I witnessed the Word of God in action.

Hearing from God

16 Monday Sep 2013

Posted by Pat Luffman Rowland in communication with God, communion with God

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communication with God, communion with God, faith, God's direction, God's presence, hearing God, inisght on scripture, love, study scripture, wisdom

When the Spirit does not open the Scripture,

the Scripture is not understood even though it is read.

–Martin Luther

The Amplified Bible says that Selah (often used in the Psalms) means “to pause and calmly think about what you’ve read.” When we do this, we digest the words and their message, rather than move across them in rote fashion. Practicing Selah adds richness to our time with God. We go beyond a discipline and linger with Him while pondering. We allow nourishment to flow into our souls.

The intention of scripture is to reveal the Lord and teach us His ways. It should be a matter of reverence for us each time we read God’s word, for we are opening communication with our Maker. To hear, we must keep still and pay attention to what is being said.

When God’s word has our full attention, we will hear. An unfamiliar scripture may suddenly have a particular word for us, maybe one of encouragement or explanation of a trial we are going through. A recognizable passage may show us something we haven’t seen before, some broader way of thinking. That is the Holy Spirit in action! He is speaking to our hearts, our needs. And that is when we need to practice Selah. To take time to ponder God’s teaching moments and ask what is He saying that applies to us in a very specific way. I treasure these times and like to note the date and maybe a few words beside the scripture. On seeing this later, I may or may not recall why it helped me that day, but the one thing I will remember is that it was an intimate moment with God.

That same kind of intervention of the Holy Spirit can come through Bible teachers. Dr. Charles Stanley says it this way: What we hear from teachers will be different because the Holy Spirit gives us what we need to hear. Isn’t that wonder-filled?  That God is not just able to speak to each of us individually, but that He desire it? I recall the time a pastor visited and I told him how much I appreciated something he had said from the pulpit. He asked what that was and after hearing it, he shook his head and said he didn’t remember it at all, but he got this feedback often–different people taking away different things from his messages. It is evidence of the Holy Spirit moving over us to bless us just as we need.

God doesn’t give us this personal attention without divine purpose, however. He does it that we may be in relationship with Him. R. C. Sproul, in The Holiness of God, said The call to holiness was first given to Adam and Eve. This was the original assignment of the human race. We were created to shine forth to the world the holiness of God. This was the chief end of man, the very reason for our existence.

In a society of self-centered people, it is sobering and necessary to remember that it really isn’t “all about us” and never will be. It is about Almighty God and our relationship with Him. It is about submission and obedience so that we may experience the love of God in the abundant ways He has planned.

Let me leave you with these words of John Wesley:

To candid, reasonable men,

I’m not afraid to lay open what have been the inmost thoughts of my heart. 

I have thought, I’m a creature of a day,

passing through life as an arrow through the air.

I am a spirit come from God, and returning to God: 

Just hovering over the great gulf;

til a few moments hence, I am no more seen;

I drop into an unchangeable eternity. 

I want to know one thing – the way to heaven;

how to land safe on that happy shore. 

God himself has condescended to teach the way;

for this very end He came from heaven.

He hath written it down in a book, O give me that book! 

At any price, give me the Book of God.

A Lesson from Chloe

05 Thursday Apr 2012

Posted by Pat Luffman Rowland in communion with God

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abiding, comfort, communion with God, love, trust

Chloe, my tabby cat, was determined to cozy into my lap.  I attempted to read around her, disturbing her as I turned pages, but Chloe hung in.  She clung to my lap, pawing to make her place of comfort a little more hers.  Finally, as I stilled, she did, too.  She settled into position with her head on my arm, there content to be in sheltering arms of love.

Chloe’s affection turned my attention from reading, to reflecting on behavior – hers and mine.   What if I sought the presence of the Lord with Chloe’s kind of determination?  What if I shut out all derailments (like television, telephone, and mental review of things needing to be done) and persistently pushed on in desire to be alone with God?  What if I, with singular focus, pressed on, into the bosom of God, that place of protection, security, and affection?   Would I not find God more personally if I sought after Him with such determined devotion?  Scripture answers that for me.

1 Chronicles 22:19: “Now set your heart and your soul to seek the Lord your God.”

Jeremiah 29:13: “And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.”

Proverbs 8:17: “I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently will find me.”

Proverbs 8:30:  “And I was daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him.”

Oh, to be the delight of the Lord God Almighty!  To not just find Him, but cause Him joy, gladness, pleasure.  To see His smile as I run to Him for time of intimate communion, time that is His and mine alone.

God desires that we seek Him with diligence, and He promises that we will find Him when we do. Days may abound with noise and strife, but there is a shelter for you and for me.  That shelter is always available, always welcoming, and always ready to respond to our earnest longing for Him.

Father, I am guilty of choosing the unimportant over the important.  I allow distractions to take precedence over personal time with You.  Forgive my foolishness and set my mind on remembrances of all You have given me when I have rested in Your arms and waited to hear Your words of love, for those are the high moments of life.   

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The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23 ESV

If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. Romans 10:9

God has not given us a spirt of fear, but of power and love and of a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7

Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name. For the Lord is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations. Psalm 100:4-5

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9

© Pat Rowland and Prayerful Pondering, 2010 - 2013.
Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Pat Rowland and Prayerful Pondering with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Hope must be in the future tense. Faith, to be faith, must be in the present tense. Catherine Marshall
Everything over your head is under his feet. Dr. Tom Lindberg
What an excellent ground of hope and confidence we have when we reflect upon these three things in prayer--the Father's love, the son's merit and the Spirit's power! Thomas Manton
Our Christian hope is that we're going to live with Christ in a new earth, where is not only no more death, but where life is what it was always meant to be. Timothy Keller

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