Reading "The Hour That Changes the World"

Hello, Companion Mustard Seed Library book readers,

Chapter 2 of this book is titled "Waiting - The act of soul surrender".

The author advises that, after we have offered praises to God in our prayers, that we then spend some time in silencing our minds. A period of waiting. "Here we find the true focus of waiting. All attention must center in our heavenly Father. We come to know the Lord only at this most intimate level. The knowledge of God is best revealed in silent waiting. Scripture declares, "Be still, and know that I am God." (Psalm 46:10).

Also the author writes: "Far more important than the answer to our prayer is the focus of our prayer. Donald E. Demaray accurately wrote, "The point of prayer is to get God. Answers are most meaningful when they are thought of least. Prayer is most meaningful when God is thought of most."

"Tragically, many believers become deceived by a spirit of selfishness that often follows them directly into the closet of prayer. Waiting helps deal with this spirit. It is an important step that prepares us for our time of confession, which is next on our list of prayer elements. Bridgid Herman wrote, "The most formidable enemy of the spiritual life, and the last to be conquered, is self-deception; and if there is a better cure for self-deception than silence, it has yet to be discovered."

The dictionary defines silence as "the state or fact of keeping silent; a refraining from speech or from making noise. 2. absence of any sound or noise, stillness. 3. a withholding of knowledge or omission of mention 4. failure to communicate, write, keep in touch, etc. 5. oblivion or obscurity.

In our Monday night Bible study, we watched "The Dark Knight" a Batman movie. There is a lot of withholding of knowledge in that movie, a lot of people not knowing who each other is or even realizing who they themselves are. Pastor Maddox suggested, in discussing the themes of the movie, the scripture from John 1:1-5. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it."

"If there is a better cure for self-deception than silence, it has yet to be discovered." What peace to know that silence has this duel effect, in the short term seeming to block self-knowledge and also knowledge of each other, relationship to God, but also, in the long term opening us up to authentic relationship to God, to each other and to our own true selves. What peace to know that there is no place where God cannot be found. Even silence and all the motivations behind silence is under God's control. When we watch a movie, seems like we always want all the secrets to come out and resolutions of all the conflicts, we want to see justice and peace and we did see that in the Batman movie. Good movie to watch. Good discussion.

Tomorrow's chapter, chapter 3 is on confession: the act of declared admission.

God bless,
Sharon