Have you ever read Hinds’ Feet on High Places by Hannah Hurnard? It is probably one of my absolutely favorite of all Christian books!
I first read it when I was in Strasbourg, France, for a study-abroad program while in college. That was the year God totally turned my world around. I had been a Christian for 3 years, but only started growing in the year leading up to this year abroad. I didn’t do as well academically, but spiritually I soared. Not without some pain, however!
God had to show me that all my grand plans for my life were not His. That I was going to change from foreign languages (and therefore not be an interpreter) to music. That I was not going to finish college (boy, did THAT raise lots of eyebrows!) And at that point, I didn’t even have a boyfriend, so it wasn’t like I thought I was going to get married and have 9 kids or something like that! 
I am so glad I read this book early in my Christian walk. If you haven’t read it, it really focuses on the relationship between a believer and her (or his!) Lord. As a young girl of 19, who had already broken off a serious relationship and was willing to let the Lord be everything to her, I was still scared. This was new territory! What if God called me to be single? What if I never had another boyfriend– never got married? Could He really meet the deepest needs of my heart? Remember, this was back in the dinosaur ages before "courtship" materials abounded at every Christian bookstore! Homeschooling was in its gestation for the most part, and there was little out there to support a baby Christian like me in this new territory. At least as far as I knew then.
A friend on the IU Study program loaned me her copy, and I read it. And reread it. When I came home for Christmas, I bought my own copy! And marked it! (I’m trying to find my original copy, but as many things in this house, no one seems to have seen it……it’s here, somewhere!) It went back to Strasbourg with me. It became my constant companion. I memorized the beautiful poetic renditions Miss Hurnard did of verses in Song of Solomon.
I have certainly fallen into my share of doing things out of duty or some sort of "religious" reason over the almost 30 years of being a Christian! But God lovingly brings me back to my "first love"…..I think of my times at the ruins of Heidelberg Castle in Germany. I meditated a lot on those poems and the message of the book. In Switzerland it also accompanied me (which is neat, since Miss Hurnard originally received from the Lord much of the material for the book in Switzerland!). I didn’t get to roam about much in Switzerland (ah, the life of a poor college girl!), but I still enjoyed what I did get to see and decided it must be the most beautiful place in the world to live! Since I live in a rather flat area, and hadn’t even seen mountains in my own country yet, the Alps hold a special place in my heart!
It is probably the only book I own, other than the Bibles I had at the time, that travelled all over Europe with me! 
In reading several books by Ron Auch, I was reminded of Hinds’ Feet. Mr. Auch’s books focus on…you guessed it! Our relationship with Christ! He has a ministry, Pray-Tell Ministries, but his thrust isn’t to get you to pray a certain way or even pray more. He knows and teaches that we must deepen our relationship with God–we must want and desire HIM above all else–or prayer is just another religious "thing to do".
I don’t want a religion–things to do.
I want a relationship–a faith–something to be!
It becomes a part of you. But only as we spend time in His presence! The marriage relationship is a beautiful picture of the relationship we are to have with our Heavenly Bridegroom. It’s amazing that a few years ago, I happened to be meditating on that, and thought, "If ALL of marriage is a picture of our relationship to Christ, then what part does physical intimacy portray?" I don’t think God just gave that part as a nice extra to our earthly relationship, with no spiritual correlation! Our world has so degraded the intimate part of marriage, that we almost cringe to think that way. Yet I truly believe that every part of marriage as God intended has something to show us.
God showed me it is prayer. Not the sit down and give Him my list of things to do, like a "Honey-Do" list prayer, but worship. Just adoring Him. Wanting Him. Needing Him. Loving Him.
Amazingly, Ron Auch said the same thing in his books! So, I’m not the only nutcase out there!
I have just finished reading three of his books: When He Appears, He Hears Your Prayers, and Prayer Can Change Your Marriage. I’ve also read parts of the book I got for Dallas, Unshakable Man. I highly recommend ALL of them! Even the one for men has things we women can learn from! Just don’t highlight anything in there trying to change your husband! You’d be missing the point of the book!
One of Ron’s premises is that prayer isn’t to change our circumstances or those around us, as if we were using God to manipulate things to our liking. It is to change us. It is then through our changed lives, shining with His Shekinah Glory as Moses’ face did, that makes others thirsty for Him.
If the salt has lost its savor……and what is happening to Christians today? We are being trampled!
That’s why I wrote last week that getting involved politically, getting angry, and whatever other "action" we want to take will be in vain if we don’t start at the right place–
Getting back to our trysting place with our Heavenly Bridegroom and Lover of Our Soul.
Mr. Auch pointed out that a woman draws her security from her husband’s walk with the Lord. If he is not seeking God, she will become fearful and try to control things so she can have that security. (This is not what she should do, mind you!). In the same way, when the Church stops spending time in her Savior’s presence, she becomes militant. Trying to change and control things her way.
Hmmmm…..
When we get back to our relationship, God can change things. He can change us. He can give us courage to face things that before would frighten us. Because as you spend time in His presence, you get to know Him. You know His character (and start changing to be more like Him), so you can trust Him.
Another profound thought Mr. Auch brought out is that we can be right in the center of God’s will with our prayers, but if our motives are self-centered, God very likely will withhold the answer because our motives are not pure. He gave the example of a wife who marries a man just for the "goodies" he will provide. A man desires to be a good provider, but if he senses his wife is just "using" him to get things, he may very well withhold the very things he desires to give her because he first wants her to want him.
Prayer has taken on a whole new meaning for me! My husband and I both had been discussing how we felt more inadequate to pray than ever. As you can see from "books I’m reading" and what I’ve mentioned in the past, I have been reading lots of books on prayer! And they are helpful….to a degree. I knew I didn’t want some "formula praying" book. I have nothing against using books that take Scriptures and create prayers from them. They can be from the heart as well as my own words. BUT–what was missing was the time spent with Him just to be with Him.
Not that I’m not going to intercede or confess or petition Him during these times together. But the bulk of my time should be in worship. Then intercession. Mr. Auch talks of how you could pray for 30 minutes for others–not so hard if you spend 5 minutes praying for 6 people you know! I love that his books give you more about the relationship and why it is so important to build that before he gets to any "how-to". In fact, he doesn’t want it to be a "how-to" book. He tells you if you skipped to that chapter to go back and read the others first! Otherwise, you will turn this into a method as we are so prone to do, whether in our homeschooling, marriages, parenting, churches…..
I have said before that God has had me in the school of relationships. Back in 1995, He started showing me that I didn’t have what I call "true heart submission". My motives were not always pure. I wanted my husband to change into my idea of what a spiritual leader should be! (Isn’t that kind of like trying to make God be the kind of god you’d like Him to be?!) I thought I was doing pretty well, reading books like "Keep a Quiet Heart" by Elisabeth Elliot (highly recommended, by the way!). Then in 1997, at a homeschool conference, a speaker read Debi Pearl’s article "Carnal Husbands, Cranky Wives, and Cantankerous Kids". Surgery time! I got a copy of that article and read it daily for months! Evaluating my "true heart submission" to my husband AND my Savior!
Again, I thought I was doing pretty well (let anyone that stands take heed……) when in 1999 I attended a Nancy Leigh DeMoss seminar, "Lies Women Believe and the Truth that Sets Them Free". OUCH! And to top it all off, I received her little booklet "A Biblical Portrait of Womanhood" and discovered that out of thet 32 statements in the second half of the booklet, I only passed FIVE! 
More surgery!
In 2000 I found Laine of "Laine’s Letters". Now THERE is a woman totally in love with her Lord! It’s infectious! Makes you want to get up at 4 a.m., too! Well, I’m trying for 5:30 for now! Jesus working in her life changed her priorities, her marriage, her parenting, her homeschooling…..and now she is a well overflowing with the Living Water touching lives all around the world through her "letters"! They have helped me keep that fire burning in my heart.
Through the past several years, there have been books here and there, but not as life-changing as the ones I mentioned. Until now.
As I read these books (Ron Auch’s), I immediately thought of Hinds’ Feet on High Places! If we have no relationship in a marriage, do we really have a marriage? If we have no relationship with our Savior—do we really have salvation? Do we really understand all He died to give us? If we are only counting on Heaven and a little answered prayer here and there, we are SO missing out!
The enemy’s biggest tactic that works to get Christians ineffective is to fight him vs. pursuing Christ. (from Mr. Auch). I wholeheartedly agree! I would venture to say that most if not all problems in our churches today, in our homes today, in our marriages, in our lives–boils down to not spending time with Him.
He wants to change the pray-er more than anything. Because it’s as others see Jesus in us that they will become thirsty for a drink of the Living Water than only He can supply. We don’t need to seek answers to our problems–
We need to seek HIM!
Here are some gems to whet your appetite for these books! (And more importantly, for a living love relationship with the Savior!)
"When the bride longs for the king, she is most beautiful. However, if a bride is in love with herself and infatuated with her own beauty, she is no longer attractive." When He Appears, p. 122
"Often the Lord refers to the fact that His hand is not short. In other words, God can reach us with all of our needs. Do not worry about His hands. Do not worry about your needs. Never let the bulk of your prayer life center around the cares of this life. The Lord’s hand is not shortened. He can reach you with your needs no matter where you are. Seek His face.
"The bride was being taken through the process of giving up more and more of her life. She was being taught that seeking the face of her love would ultimately meet all the needs of her life." When He Appears, p. 72
"This is why Jesus gives all His attention to the Church: if the Church was fully developed and fully mature, then the whole world would be jealous of the relationship we have with God. When our families are fully developed in the things of God, they will become a very powerful and effective evangelistic tool because this world has sought every means to save their families. The world has tried everything from psychology to mysticism, and none of it has worked. In fact, things are only growing worse. And only the church has the answer: a relationship with Jesus Christ. The world should be literally breaking down the doors of the church saying, ‘We’ve noticed that your families have what we seek.’ If we would give ourselves to the developing of our families, it would be a tremendous force for completing the Great Commission.
"We have a responsibility to God, to our families, and to the world to reflect the glory of Jesus Christ." Prayer Can Change Your Marriage, pp. 110-111
"It is only from a lack of prayer that you see through man’s eyes rather than God’s. When you begin praying for someone, in this case your mate, you start seeing that person the way God does. You start to love your spouse as God does: for who that person is, rather than for what he or she does. Hope does not disappoint us because God’s love is poured out in our hearts Prayer changes the pray-er. It takes the pray-er from brotherly love (called ‘phileo’ in Greek) to godly love (the Greek ‘agape’)….God wants us to love others the way He loves us. That can only happen when we develop His character in us, and that requires time in His presence.
"But you can’t pray for this ‘agape’ love. It only comes as a result of being with God." Prayer Can Change Your Marriage, p. 105
"If I regularly spend time in God’s presence, I won’t be able to help loving everyone, even the most unlovely person. But if I leave God’s presence for even a small march of days or weeks, I will love only conditionally. If someone meets a certain criteria, I will love that person to pieces. But if they don’t measure up, I won’t, all because I haven’t been in God’s presence.
"That’s why I said earlier that God is using your present situation, no matter how bad it is, to develop His character in you, if you will just let it drive you to prayer. If it doesn’t drive you to prayer, then things will probably never change for you. You will have to live with those same problems every day for the rest of your life here on earth.
"All this talk about praying for our spouses may make them seem bad, but remember that God uses what naturally interests us (like our mate, family) to get us to pray so that He can supernaturally change us. The change must happen in us first. God has to first get me to the place where I can love others the way He loves me. Then He can begin to work through my prayers for them and begin to change my spouse." Prayer Can Change Your Marriage, p. 106
"So when we face tribulation, we go to prayer. Prayer causes us to spend time in God’s presence, and that causes us to become like Him in character, which in turn causes us to have great hope in even the most devastating situation." Prayer Can Change Your Marriage, p. 107
"’Test me and know my anxious thoughts.’ (Ps. 139:23) The word ‘thoughts’ in this verse means ‘desires’. The idea behind this is that anything that is really a desire of our heart, will occupy our thoughts. So David is saying in essence, ‘Test me by examining what actually occupies my thoughts.’" Unshakable Man, p. 104
"Preparing your heart for prayer can be summed up in one word: surrender. Surrender your heart to Christ. Give Him your will. Give Him your plans. Give Him your talents. Give Him your heart." Unshakable Man, p. 108
"Anything we love, we long to be with." The Heart of the King, on Ps. 119:165
I think you get the picture! Oh, to love Him, spend time with Him and become like Him!!! "As for me, I will behold Thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with Thy likeness." Psalm 17:15
I have always loved hills and mountains, especially since reading Hinds’ Feet. I envision being there with my Lord, receiving His love, being filled with Him, so permeated with His presence that I anoint all I touch in my day. Too often I rush off into the day without that symbolic "trysting on the mountain" first. I must be filled first to be able to love others as my Savior does.
"The High Places, " answered the Shepherd, "are the starting places for the journey down to the lowest place in the world. When you have hinds’ feet and can go ‘leaping on the mountains and skipping on the hills,’ you will be able, as I am, to run down from the heights in gladdest self-giving and then go up to the mountains again. You will be able to mount to the High Places swifter than eagles, for it is only up on the High Places of Love that anyone can receive the power to pour themselves down in an utter abandonment of self-giving."
Jesus came to serve. To be our example. This is what we are created for–to give–to serve–to love. But we can only do it in His strength!
One of my favorite poems from Hinds’ Feet is The Water Song.
Come, oh come! Let us away–
Lower, lower every day,
Oh, what joy it is to race
Down to find the lowest place.
This the dearest law we know–
"It is happy to go low."
Sweetest urge and sweetest will,
"Let us go down lower still."
Hear the summons night and day
Calling us to come away.
From the heights we leap and flow
To the valleys down below.
Always answering to the call,
To the lowest place of all.
Sweetest urge and sweetest pain,
To go low and rise again."
This was my dearest treasure from the Lord last weekend–a beautiful little waterfall that flowed across the trail. I have a picture on my phone of where it leaps from a precipice and flows into a creek. If I can figure out how to get it off my phone, I’ll post it later!
It just flows out of the rock–from under the ground.
And then on down the hill….
Here I am standing right in the middle of the stream and right in the middle of the trail!
And here you can hear (and see) "The Water Song"–just a 48 second video of the little waterfall!
I pray you will fill yourself up with Him today…..and every day.
50ish. The nights have been cooler, even frosting last night.
