A Moment in the Meadow "Talking To Jesus"

Prayer--

Some feel it has to be loaded with thee's and thou's. Posture rigid and stiff while spouting sentences without grammatical error or emotion. This erroneous concept prevents many of us from cultivating the intimate relationship with God that He so desperately desires.

I often ponder and envy Adam and Eve's privilege of walking daily in the cool of the evening with The Creator. Can you imagine? Perfect temperatures, serene surroundings, and strolling along with The God of the universe. Unfortunately, as we all recall--along came Satan with his evil twisting of God's Words and mankind was plummeted in to the struggles and sins of the day.

The past few tumultuous months have paralleled the storm we read of in Matthew 14. I allowed myself to hide in the boat a few times and God, in His perfect wisdom, has orchestrated my particpation on a book launch team for Jeannie Blackmer's book, "Talking To Jesus".

As the days have clicked off the calendar, Jeannie's Biblical words have soothed this troubled heart. She's brought depth to familiar Bible events while enlightening the very human perspective in each of these God ordained moments. Each synopsis of events are brief enough to use as my morning daily devotional. The "Reflections" and "Observation" sections fuel my love for journaling and meditating on what I read. I've found myself anticipating the next adventure and reveling in how ordinary and human the heroes of these moments are. I was reminded of how truly ordinary prayer is, however, it produces such extraordinary results from an extraordinary God.

I found myself empathizing with John the Baptist as I too wondered if God had kind of forgotten I was present. I watched Him work in others while I was stuck in a "prison". Circumstances weren't as I'd expected and my heart was shattered. Reading farther along and recalling the previous "chapters" all served as a gentle reminder of God's faithfulness and love.

Naomi, "The Bleeding Woman", exhibits strength and bravery as she presses to touch the hem of The Healer's garment. Even though I've read the story for years, I teared up as her fear was overcome by faith and she was made completely whole.

Each encounter in this amazing book reminds me of not only how powerful Jesus, part of The God Head is, but also His ordinary-ness. This is exactly the impression of prayerI feel Jeannie wants the reader to walk away with. The power of prayer can be captured in our seemingly ordinary needs and desires.

Do you or someone you love struggle with a consistent prayer/Bible reading time? This book is a great resource for renewing or beginning this special time in a child of God's day. The simplicity of the act of prayer and knowledge of God's Word ushers in a sweet and intimate relationship with The Father.

Is part of your New Year's resolution to grow your relationship with your Father? This book truly can be a gentle instrument of leading you beside still waters.

I've recommended this book to all ages as well as all levels of Christian maturity. I've ordered mined from Amazon.com.

Thank you Jeanne Blackmer for stepping out of the boat and penning this encouraging and exciting book.

Joyfully His,

Dianne