Good morning…
The unusual word “storehouse” came to me twice last week. In our blog post on Saturday, we savored this prayer.
Father,
make my mind a storehouse
for past promises kept,
love lavished
and hope fulfilled.
Earlier in the week we had read “storehouse” in our book, God’s Joyful Surprise by Sue Monk Kidd. Now I turn to page 191 and revisit the story.
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…through the discipline of meditative prayer…inner storehouses of strength and ability to cope are laid up inside us. John Killinger pointed out that Jesus had built up a reservoir of power during all those years He communed with God. When His dark moments came, He was able to tap into that storehouse and meet His crisis with serenity and faith.
A woman I met on a plane once noticed a book I was reading on meditation, and we struck up a conversation. It turned out she was a Christian who had practiced meditative prayer for years. She spoke of how it had helped her grow to “know” God intimately. Then she mentioned a curious thing. “It helped me tremendously when my husband died.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Well, at first I sank down into a great blackness. But very soon it seemed I landed upon some bedrock inside myself which I had not known existed. I found myself supported by it – held up by the most surprising foundation of strength and peace I had ever known.” She paused and gazed past me through the little oval window. “You know,” she continued, “I believe now that bedrock was the culmination of all those moments of prayer that I shoveled bit by bit into my life.” I had no doubt that she was right.
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Throughout every day, we are invited to pick up our shovel of meditative prayer. Digging down deep with God, we remember past promises kept, love lavished, and hope fulfilled. Remember Saturday’s blog insight? The antidote for anxiety is remembering, remembering …the One who had promised is faithful (Hebrews 11:11, HCSB).
When our dark moments come, like they always do, might we also land upon a sturdy bedrock inside ourselves? Our inner storehouse is built on a bedrock of strength and peace, serenity and faith, offering us an ability to cope and a reservoir of power. As we invest in moments of meditative prayer, bit by bit, shovel by shovel… Our storehouses will be full, providing all kinds of food (Psalm 144:13a, VOICE).
…Sue…
