Previous Challenge Entry (Level 2 – Intermediate)
Topic: SWEET HOUR OF PRAYER (don’t write about the song) (04/30/15)
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TITLE: Welcome Back | Previous Challenge Entry
By Dot Hannah
05/07/15 -
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For so long I felt like I was on the outside looking in, as though peering through an imaginary peephole in a closed door. It had not always been that way. It was as if I had been banished or demoted, no longer favored. You see, there was a time when I did not merely scale the outside walls, but I was one of the inner circle. I had won the King’s heart, and I knew it.
Great and fierce forces moved to keep me away from Him. I became frail, depressed, and despaired in my overflowing cup of sorrows. As the days hastened away, I suffered close personal loss. Old passions and old sinful desires ignited with new potency. I slipped further and further away from my lifeline, a choice I freely made. I would hear the clock downstairs strike, and I immediately became Martha, forcing Mary to acquiesce. I behaved willfully and egotistically as I rushed around in a frenzy.
At last I realized that it was the King who gave me purpose, and I knew that I must get His attention again. I reasoned that I would flatter Him with boisterous praise, woo Him with undying devotion. Would He come back? A flood of new hopefulness swept over me with surprising force. I heard Him speak, “I will if you will.” His soft and warm voice soothed my heart. Why was it that I who had been endowed with wonderful privilege chose such frivolous nonsense over spending time with a loving, responsive King?
I had relinquished my hour of prayer everyday for that which I thought was more important. I spent no time with the King and our intimate relationship ceased to exist. To know someone intimately, you must spend choice time with Him. By force of will, I had chosen my isolated position, forfeiting my safety belt in the pounding storms. I found myself groping and whimpering in fear, incapable of wise navigation. I was no longer a lioness but a mere kitten. Oh, I continued my normal traditions of going to church, but tradition is no substitute for love. When you love someone, you are desperate to spend time with Him. It is a necessary unity.
I had forgotten that my prayer time not only fed me spiritually, but it was my strongest weapon. When disaster was on the horizon approaching at full speed, my prayers stopped it dead in its tracks. My busyness was a weapon Satan was using to abort this power. My daily sweet hour of prayer was like a tidal wave sweeping away his deceit. My transformation during these times was profound because I could focus on truth. It is only because of the King’s love that I can now identify what is important and what is not.
Oh, how delighted was King Jesus when I requested an audience with Him. His unfailing love was just as close as the mention of His Name. I confessed to Him that I needed our conversations, and this liberty was an exquisite gift of God. He welcomed me back with open arms. I knew I was about to recover His protection, provision, peace, joy, and be led from darkness into light.
“But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.” (Matthew 6:6) KJV
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I noticed a couple of times that you switched from the first person (I) to the universal you. It distracted me slightly, but is so easy to do.
I liked the Bible verse you used. It backed up the wonderful message nicely. Your ending left me with a warm feeling and it brought your piece full circle. Nice job.