21 July 2024

Selenophile has reminded all of us in The Hermitage that the full moon is tonight. She waits for this event every month, and once in a blue moon, twice a month. Insert smirk. With the heat, it is getting to all of us, and it seems that none of us can be controlled—actions or mouth! 

We are NOT moody, however, many of us have been FAR too weepy in the last few days. Disciple couldn’t even hold it together for two hours while she was at the House of Worship this morning. It didn’t help that two of the hymns stirred her spirit and ALL of that leaked out her eyes. One was Come, Come Ye Saints. She believes that was picked because Pioneer Day is the 24^th. The other was Secret Prayer. When all of Queen’s children were still living at The Hermitage, the oldest would sit next to Disciple at the House of Worship. When that hymn was chosen, he sang the men’s part perfectly, and the memories of sitting with them flooded in. 

Prayer has been on ALL of our minds here at The Hermitage. Disciple prays a LOT, but the rest of us pray while working in our departments. Prayer is an amazing GIFT. We know there are people out there who don’t believe in it. Well, they don’t believe in anything of that sort. Prayer, God, etc. And that is their choice and we respect that. But ALL of us in The Hermitage KNOW ALLprayers are heard and answered. We also know that whether you believe or not, doesn’t matter. Prayers aren’t always the kneel down, bow your heads, and close your eyes, configuration. Sometimes they are the driving in the car with Chauffeur, someone cuts you off, you are spared, and Chauffeur quickly and quietly looks up and says, “Thank you!” OR “I see what you did!” Sometimes it is Gardener and Landscaper out in the yard trying to do some difficult task, like shoveling rocks for hours in the heat, frustrated they are doing it alone, tears streaming down their dusty faces, NOT saying anything. BUT they are seen. They are comforted. And after a few minutes they are back to their task. Sometimes it is a Student at her desk getting ready to take a test. She picks up her writing implement and as she does, she has a “thought” of “please help me remember everything I studied.” Queen, and Grandmomma, offer prayers and thoughts all day long. There are at least a dozen they pray for. They are always in prayer mode. Years ago, about 1993, Queen realized that she wasn’t in control. She always “thought” she was, but when the oldest earned his driver’s license, and asked for the keys to the car that evening, AND all the others wanted to “go with him” wherever he was going, SHE KNEW she was NEVER really in charge! AND she prayed. Boy did she pray. As they all walked out the front door, she prayed. As they all got in the Bronco, she prayed. As the Bronco left the driveway, and headed down the street to whereabouts unknown, she prayed. Eventually, that evening, they returned. No worse off than when they left. BUT she learned a LOT that night. One of Disciple’s favorite scriptures is Proverbs 3:5-6, “trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” That trust part became quite obvious. Through the years, ALL of us in The Hermitage have learned about that trust. Learned more about prayers. We KNOW it works. Disciple has studied extensively and shared what she has learned. 

Prayers can be thoughts, hopes, dreams, ideas, etc. They can be spoken, or in your mind, or heart. They can be tears streaming down your face. You can be sitting, kneeling, face down on the floor kicking and screaming! But know this, THEY ARE HEARD!!! Never think they are not heard. Even when there is no one else, or you THINK there is no one else, there is! 

We have all become SO close to God in our conversations that that is just what they are. Conversations. Sometimes the answers are immediate. Sometimes not. Sometimes we are told to wait. Sometimes He has something better in mind. AND then there have been the times where things “happen” and we don’t know the reason, BUT we find out later. Yes, sometimes prayers are answered before we even think about them or speak them. At those times, we are always in AWE of this great God and His power. His knowledge of each of us individually. Of every little happening in our lives. We are amazed, intrigued and in awe.

We LOVE to pray because of what happens when we do. We are grateful for ALL we have been blessed with, and so we give thanks! We have been given many gifts and talents here in The Hermitage, and we know that where much is given, much is expected. So we ask what we can do. Being an instrument in God’s hands, and serving others is always a blessing. It always lifts us. Asking Him for things is interesting. He already knows what we want and need, but He waits for us to ask. When we ask, we are ready for that blessing. He has so many blessings and miracles waiting for us, and all we need to do is ask. That in itself is a gift and blessing. We have also seen the blessing that come from fasting and praying several times this year alone. Not that we haven’t seen it in the past. We still remember major fasts we were part of in years past. And we have seen the fruition of these. 

Some of us have been told our prayers are long, and put others to sleep. We refrain from praying in their presence, and quietly offer our prayer within. It is God we are talking to after all, and not them. We take our praying to God seriously. We enjoy our conversations with Him. We are grateful to know He loves us, watches over us, and blesses us far more than we sometimes notice. 

So, if someone says you are in their thoughts and prayers, you don’t have to be on the same page. They aren’t forcing you to be on their page. They just know about thoughts and prayers and how they work. They have “seen” things in their lives. They have “seen” God at work. Some may say, “I prayed about this…and my prayers weren’t answered.” Yes they were. They were answered exactly the way they were supposed to be answered. You may not agree with the answer, but it doesn’t mean it was the wrong answer. It was exactly what was supposed to happen and when. All prayers are answered according to God’s plan and His timing. As those of us in The Hermitage look back on things, there is FAR more understanding of things we didn’t understand years ago. While there are still a couple of things that don’t make sense, we have faith and trust that what happened was correct. When you know, you know, and we know.