Prescription for Dehydrated Spirits
Martha Meister Kiely
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"When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord." Jonah 2:7
There are times when my soul resembles a prune--dark, hard, cold, and shriveled. The inner spring of praise and love which ordinarily is overflowing seems to have dried up. Prayer is just words. Worship is empty of interest and meaning. Familiar devotional books leave me cold and unmoved. We all recognized this ailment as "spiritual dryness," known to plague even the saintliest saints through the ages.
The diagnosis is simple, but what about the cure? The prescription of James Gilmour, onetime missionary to Mongolia, has been most helpful to me: "When I cannot make headway in my devotions I open my Bible to the Psalms and put out in my canoe and let myself be carried along in the stream of devotion which flows through the whole book. Always the current turns towards God."
The assurance and praise of the psalmists seep through to my arid spirit, and in due season, my heart overflows again with faith and love.
Today let your soul become like a tree planted by a river of water.
Read: Some of the Psalms. Ps. 100 is a good beginning place.
Pray: Bless the Lord, O my soul, And all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the Lord, O my Soul, And forget not all his benefits." Amen.
"When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord." Jonah 2:7
There are times when my soul resembles a prune--dark, hard, cold, and shriveled. The inner spring of praise and love which ordinarily is overflowing seems to have dried up. Prayer is just words. Worship is empty of interest and meaning. Familiar devotional books leave me cold and unmoved. We all recognized this ailment as "spiritual dryness," known to plague even the saintliest saints through the ages.
The diagnosis is simple, but what about the cure? The prescription of James Gilmour, onetime missionary to Mongolia, has been most helpful to me: "When I cannot make headway in my devotions I open my Bible to the Psalms and put out in my canoe and let myself be carried along in the stream of devotion which flows through the whole book. Always the current turns towards God."
The assurance and praise of the psalmists seep through to my arid spirit, and in due season, my heart overflows again with faith and love.
Today let your soul become like a tree planted by a river of water.
Read: Some of the Psalms. Ps. 100 is a good beginning place.
Pray: Bless the Lord, O my soul, And all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the Lord, O my Soul, And forget not all his benefits." Amen.
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Devotions for Women at Home by Martha Meister Kiely, Abingdon Press ISBN #0-687-10679-6
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