REFUGE FOR THE WEARY
A Mountain Path
DRAPER’S PAPER ROUTE
REFUGE FOR THE WEARY
by Adam Carroll Draper
Stefanie and I have been teaching at the House of Prayer in Jamestown, North Carolina every Thursday night for years now. We can’t go there at the moment because of the tyranny of microbes, but that is going to be broken soon. Hallelujah! The House of Prayer is a refuge for the weary. I guess it is a rehab facility, technically, but I don’t like to call it that. I think of it as a place where addicted men rest and learn another way – The Way! They learn how to replace the torment of guilt and shame with the easy yoke of Yeshua the Messiah. Healing begins with the understanding that addiction is a symptom of a broken heart. Yeshua heals the brokenhearted.
Teaching addicted men how to get still before the Lord and soak in his ease has always been my primary focus at our meetings. This is hard for many of them and it often meets with resistance. It is difficult to get a guy who is jonesing to sit still for ten minutes. Some men are offended at the very notion of it because of various religious assumptions. I am perfectly aware of the religious hesitation, but I must say that it always amazes me when I encounter it. Deep connection to God in prayer and worship and stillness is essential to our relationship with him. Otherwise, all the reading and preaching and singing are just about him – not really coming from an experience of him.
I have seen profound changes come to those men who have taken the Lord up on his invitation: “be still and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10). Experiences of God in deep meditation have changed me profoundly, and there is no doubt about that.
I try to get men at the House of Prayer to develop a routine of putting aside ten minutes a day just to be still and do nothing but pray (not read the bible or sing – which they often do just before or after this time of stillness). Since this can be difficult for them, I offer some ways to accustom themselves to it. One way is simply to repeat a scripture and to call to mind God’s goodness. In thinking about God, I cajole them to remember being happy. If this means deliberately reliving moments when they were happy (no matter how that happened), I encourage them to revel in those memories (stir them up!). “For the Kingdom of God is not meat or drink, but righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.” (Romans 14:17). Even this can be quite difficult for some addicted men to do. I will also get them to think about who they really love and to remember times when they felt love. “God is love.” (1 John 4:8). The point is to ease them into thinking about God as a kind, loving, gentle forgiving Daddy, not a tormenting accuser. We know who the accuser of the bretheren is, so why give him a platform?
Once they get accustomed to associating happiness and love with God, many of the men honestly experience a level of release and comfort they had never known before. Something takes hold in them and it simply becomes part of their daily way. It helps accustom them to a new life. I also teach them some breathing techniques and some other things, such as visualizations, that can make it easier for them to get calm and relax, but nothing seems to be as important as getting them to take the time daily to get quiet before the Lord.
The next several of these missives will deal with meditation. Although it tends to cause some disturbance among the faithful when I discuss it, the peace and contentment of the Lord are too important to allow the offense to dissuade me in this. It is the conviction of the Holy Spirit, the residue of his presence.
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