“Hemmed in Prayer”

Previously posted May 1, 2008.

A day hemmed in prayer is less likely to…

Unravel.

Ever have one of those days? Where they seem to unravel before your very eyes? I have had several. Lately. All at once.

Where do I run?

To the Master Tailor. He stands at the ready with needle in hand. Ready to put things back in order for me.

All I have to do is “stand still”…..and see the salvation of the Lord. Hemmed in by the Master. Best place to be in my opinion.

What you see here on this page was a wonderful discovery.  One of those “rare” discoveries, found when we “listen”.

Two Wednesday nights ago, I came home deeply burdened for a family problem. Wasn’t mine. But it hurt as if it were. As I was preparing for a small Bible Study session of just two, I began to talk to the Lord.

He heard. He listened. He answered in the most unique way. I told Him this:

“Lord, Wanda would love to be here to pray with us over this. This is exactly what she loved to do. Pray for the needs of others.”

And I began to cry. As I do fairly often.

As I loaded the dishwasher, the prayer and thoughts were still on my mind. And all of a sudden I had an urgency to go to the little study room where I had unloaded the things from Wanda’s “sewing room” the week before. I had not looked at “everything” yet.

As a matter of fact, the thread boxes were the last thing to look into. I had plundered the cross stitch pages and packets. I had touched all the hoops, felt of all the fabrics, but had left the thread box. Why? Well, it was a clear box…and clearly full of thread. Why open it? Why indeed.

When the urgency to “do something” comes over me, I generally obey. So I left my dishes as they were, dishwasher still open and walked to the room and grabbed the box. I just looked at it.

Pretty colors all neatly lined up like jewelry ready to wear.

Then I noticed in one corner of the box what looked like several folded pieces of paper. I opened the box for closer examination. When I unfolded them and began to read, I began to weep. I said, “Lord, this is exactly what Wanda would say.”

Every single verse was about prayer. She was using them to “hide in her heart” as she stitched. She was hemming her day in. She was closing the gap in all of our lives. The seam was strong. The Threads unbreakable, because she used the Thread of the Holy Spirit in her life.

When my visitor arrived, I fixed a cup of tea for each of us and we settled in to pray, share and read some Word. After she spilled her heart, I began to unfold the neatly clipped papers and spread them out on the table. As I read each one, she began to see the “thread of hope”.  The thread of consistency. The lifeline of salvation available to each of us….through prayer.

Although I love each member of my family, I am most in love with Jesus. And I am so thankful for Salvation, and for the grace and mercy extended to this wretched sinner. Thankful too, for the prayers of many when I was far from God—and they didn’t give up—even though the years of praying got long. 

I am thankful that when I begin my day as my grandmothers did, and as Wanda did,  hemming my day —with prayer—it does not unravel. It holds strong.

After all, I have just sat before the Master Tailor.

© The Knightly News 2007-2011.  All rights reserved.