The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
    and his ears are attentive to their cry;

• Psalm 34:15

“When I was a little girl, I was sure that Jesus was a member of the ten Boom family. It was just as easy to talk to Him as it was to carry on a conversation with my mother and father. Jesus was there, and I was close to the reality and truth of His presence.
“Prayer is a joy and a privilege, available to all of God’s children. The Lord longs to hear all of our concerns. Any concern that is too small to be turned into a prayer is too insignificant to be made into a burden.
“My father prayed because he had a good Friend with whom to share the problems of the day.”

• Corrie ten Boom, God is my Hiding Place

“Jesus backs me up when I pray.  He stands before the Father on my behalf.”

• Corrie ten Boom, Highlighted Quote

Boilerplate

In this new mini-series, I will be looking at a devotion that is said to be written by Corrie ten Boom.  Really, this devotion is like several that I had read.  They come from the writings of that person.  Thus, the prayers at the end may be the editor’s addition to what Corrie ten Boom actually wrote.

Each of these posts will include the suggested verses to read, a quote from the writing that came from a Corrie ten Boom book (five in all according to the copyright page, but no chapter in the book is given the specific book of origin).  I will also include the highlighted quote, similar to an internet quotation, and I will end with the quoted prayer for that devotion.

Discussion

When I grew up, I had morning prayers.  If there was a meal at home, we had the meal at the kitchen or dining room table, and there was always a blessing.  And we had bedtime prayers right after we had read at least three chapters of the Bible.

But were we ever really close to God in our prayer life?  My Dad grew up in a strict born-again, God-fearing, KJV only Southern Baptist household.  That is close to how Mark Lowry described his upbringing.  But I say that to say that my Dad usually led all the prayers and he always used the KJV only language.  I still end many of my prayers with “Thy will be done.”  It simply does not sound right without it, but Dad sometimes used the “eth” at the end of the verbs, and every pronoun was a KJV pronoun.  Thee wouldst know what Thou doest say if Thy parent used yon language of yesteryear.

So, using a language that almost needed an interpreter, at least language that did not come up in normal speech, it did not feel close.

But now, with no one in the house except me and God, we have some very close conversations.

We laugh together.  We sometimes cry together, but that happens less and less these days.

And we have meaningful conversations.  After all, God’s desire is that He has a meaningful relationship with us.  You cannot get that without talking.

Closing Prayer

“When troubles weigh me down, help me to remember that You have already shouldered the burdens on the cross. You care about the things I care about and have made a way for me to connect with You every day. Thank You for reminding me that praying for others is both a privilege and a way to overcome anxiety. I want to stay so close to You that I never forget that You are my Friend and Strong Tower.”

• Corrie ten Boom, God is my Hiding Place (prayer for Day 9, Staying Close to God through Prayer)

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.