July 9, 2021

Dear Ones,

Happy weekend to you! It’s another gorgeous sunny day. I was in the kitchen much of morning as I made a couple Mexican pies, cake, pork chops with apples on top, etc. We are soon off to Costco and maybe Culver’s before our walk this afternoon.

Devotions from Judy’s heart

Our days get filled with many activities, some trivial and some very important, but something we should always take time for is prayer. When we make room in our day to withdraw and meet with the Lord, we are giving to Him what is most important and precious. In our busyness, it is often a challenge and it may mean sacrificing other things that are less important, like time on social media. Some people say they don’t regularly practice prayer as they don’t get anything out of it. But as I read Michael Casey’s chapter on the grace of prayer he said, “Who says you have to get anything out of it. It is far more important that you put something into it.” It is an act of self-giving of our time to the One who gives us everything. It is like a mirror of where we are in our walk with the Lord.  We become present to the Lord and become more mindful of Him in a deeper way. It says in Psalm 46:10 (ESV), “Be still and know that I am God.”

When we make time in our daily routine, everything else seems to fall into place. I like the early morning, before dawn, when I am relaxed and refreshed but I know that it may not work well for you. The important thing is to build it somewhere into our schedule and make it a priority. It reminds me of my time with my husband during the day. We each have a separate place to study and write, and we have short casual conversations with each other throughout the day, which would compare to prayer darts sent up. But when we go for an hour walk together each afternoon, we share our hearts in depth and often results in spiritual direction for one or both of us. I think that compares to more like our quiet time with the Lord when we go below the surface and enjoy His presence in a deeper way. It’s good to have both, but we settle for so much less when we just send up short dart prayers and neglect a quiet time of attentiveness with Him. Jesus found time in His busy day with multitudes of people desiring His attention, and yet He went apart before dawn to talk to His Heavenly Father.

May we let go of everything that occupies our hearts and tries to vie for our attention and open ourselves up to God.

Challenge for today: Spend some time alone with God and find a comfortable place to do it on a regular basis.