One-a-Day...for the Heart: Papa's Chair
There are places in my home where I like to have devotional times with the Lord…a favorite room, a spot on the deck where I can view the woods and hear the birds, a comfortable chair. My late husband, a wonderful man of God, had a particular recliner he sat in to read his Bible and talk to the Lord. Sometimes I would walk into the room to find him with arms outstretched, worshipping the Lord in song. A lot of problems were solved as he sought God from his chair.
Soon after he went home to be with the Lord, I sat one evening in his chair and began opening all the many cards of sympathy and caring that came at the time of his passing. The Holy Spirit comforted me as I sat in that chair, and it became a favorite place to have a daily quiet time with God.
When my grandchildren moved in with me, the chair affectionately became known as “Papa’s chair,” and there was something undeniably peaceful and pleasant about it no matter who sat in it. It was as if the Presence of the Lord hovered over it, as He had during the time it served as my husband’s prayer chair. Over the years I’ve thought of getting rid of the chair as it gets more and more worn, but my grandson readily claimed it and truly spends most of his time at home sitting in Papa’s chair to read, do homework, watch television, or work on the computer. As he goes through the trials of growing up, I believe he finds great comfort in sitting where his Papa sat and communed with the Lord.
Jesus said, in Matthew 6:6 (NLT), But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you. Christ appreciated the quiet solitude of finding a place to get alone with the Father, and encouraged us to do the same. Nothing will more consistently bring the reality of the Lord’s Presence into a room than sitting quietly with Him, while no one is watching and not a soul knows what is transpiring in conversation or study except you and the Lord.
There are times of more arduous prayer when a crisis presents itself, and it is necessary to cry out to God more fervently or loudly than a simple quiet prayer. Those are shut-the-door-behind-you moments of prayer, and the privacy of a bedroom or study is in order. Perhaps a secluded spot on a much-loved trail in the woods is your prayer closet at such time, much like Jesus’ area of intense prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane (Luke 22:39-46).
Meeting with the Lord on a daily basis is life-changing. Find your special God spot and wait for Him to show up. Peace, comfort, hope, understanding of His Word, and answers to life’s problems will show up, too! Wait for the Lord, be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord (Psalm 27:14).
© 2021, Chris Werre