Early in the morning, one day this past week I was praying as I slowly walked around our church looking at the Bas Reliefs. I stopped at the image of Sr. Thea Bowman and felt called to spend a little time there in deeper prayer.  I don't know why I was called to pray at that spot, but I do know that later that same day, as I was clearing away some books from around the chair where I do most of my reading, I came across a very short life of Sr. Thea Bowman.  Because of my prayer earlier that day, I stopped and re-read that little biography. One particular passage struck me in such a way that it has stayed with me in my prayer every day since.  The passage I recall is from an interview that Sr. Thea gave a few months before she died.  She had been asked what her image of God was. After a pause to collect her thoughts, this is what she said,

" My people have graced me with multiple images of the living God.

God is bread when you are hungry, water when you are thirsty, a harbor

from a storm. God's a father to the fatherless, a mother to the motherless.

God's my sister, my brother, my leader, my guide, my teacher, my comforter,

my friend. God's the way- maker and the burden-bearer, a heart fixer, and a mind

regulator. God's my doctor who never lost a patient, my lawyer who never lost a

case, my chaplain who never lost a battle. God's my all in all, my everything."

Aren't those wonderfully rich images? I used one or two of them each time I prayed this past week and I found that they made my prayer much richer and more fruitful. I wanted to offer them to you for your prayer. I want to encourage you to just stop for a moment and consider how God has been each of those images in your life. For example, when was God a safe harbor from a storm in your life?  When have you experienced God being your "Way-maker" or "Burden-bearer"?  Do you have need for God to be your "heart-fixer" or "mind-regulator"?  

As you make your way through this next week, why not take some time to consider how close God really is to you and spend some time in deeper prayer with him?