He Restoreth My Soul

Recently I had the opportunity to spend time at the altar in prayer. It's another week of prayer and fasting with our church.I love those weeks. It is during those times I can literally forget the outside world and focus solely on God. It is refreshing and definitely enlightening. God has alot to say if we would just listen.

As I was praying God brought to my attention what He has done for me in just this past year. It has been amazing. A year ago I was in the depths. I had wondered at times if God had remembered where I was. I am not sure I could have gone any deeper into the pit of despair.

I remember sitting at the altar a year ago in the dark. I had gone to church, locked the doors behind me, left the lights off and found myself at the altar wrapped in a ball and crying. I knew God could hear me. I knew that He loved me enough to answer my plea. But it was taking longer than I felt I could wait for.

I remember crying out, "God, what are you doing to me? I know you are pruning me...molding me, but this really hurts. Please get me out of this pit."

Did I get an answer that night? No. I had to be patient a little longer. God had to prune me some more. And that He did! If a plant could talk it would probably tell you that pruning is a painful process. But we know that it is necessary for the plant to grow properly and to look beautiful. So it is with us. God prunes us in order for us to grow properly.

Pruning is the process of taking off what would stunt our spiritual growth and later choke us to death. We may not like it during the process but we will later when we realize what God has done.

God has brought me to a beautiful place. He has brought me out of the pit and into a palace. He is daily restoring my soul, renewing my spirit, revealing His truth, refining me into His likeness. God is so good! He is worthy to be praised!

PSALM 23:3-4 He restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff they comfort me.

After giving God the worship due Him, which I love to do, I then got this burden to pray that others in our church and the lost in our community would have the opportunity to experience the love of God like I have. Oh the blessings He has for his children! My prayer is that they will draw from God and allow Him to pull them out of the pit and that they would allow Him to prune them into His likeness. I pray that they would be able to experience salvation, deliverance, healing, freedom from oppression, and blessings from on high. There is no way one can come out of this without feeling God's love. It may feel uncomfortable at first but with patience and relying on God's strength, we can find that it is well worth it.

I pray this same prayer for you today. Find a quiet place to pray and allow God to prune you, to refine you...to cut off what is not of Him and to burn out what is keeping you from experiencing His blessings. God Bless~