What Draws Your Heart
To The Lord?
by Barbara Chadwick


As I flipped through a cookbook in the kitchen, looking for a recipe to use left-over salmon in a different way. I heard a voice. Singing. It didn't startle me. I knew who it was.

This voice was raspy, vibrant, off-key, but the praises to God were strong and heart-felt. The words and the music were touching something deep in him - More Love To Thee, O Christ (words by Prentiss, music by Doane).

More love to Thee, O Christ, more love to Thee.
Hear, Thou, the prayer I make on bended knee.
This is my earnest plea.
More love, O Christ, to Thee
More love to Thee, more love to Thee.

I have been married to this man - this voice - 53 years. I love to hear it. I can sense the emotion behind the voice. It blesses me to hear it.

Every morning Kenneth reads God's Word and sings praises to God from the hymnal. Many times it sounds as if he is being drawn into the very presence of the Lord.

What is it that draws your heart to the Lord?

Angie told me recently that it is early in the morning in a very quiet place. No distractions. No other sounds. As she reads God's Word He speaks to her. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:13

Andrew Neal Park says these words in a song:
In the secret, in the quiet place
In the stillness, You are there.
In the secret, in the quiet hour I wait,
Only for You.
'Cause I want to know You more

Maria said, "As I hike these trails of Juneau, I sense God's Presence. To walk here amid such beauty and to talk with the Lord touches my heart in a profound way."

Mrs. Dorothy Patterson wrote that one place she communes with God is in her garden.

Do you remember the words and the melody to that old hymn, In The Garden by C. A. Miles?

I come to the garden alone, while the dew is still on the roses.
And the voice I hear, falling on my ear, the Son of God discloses.
He walks with me and He talks with me,
He tells me I am His own.
The joy we share as we tarry there, none other has ever known.

Dr. Ronnie Floyd says in his book, The Power of Prayer and Fasting, it has been through fasting that He has come into God's presence.

In my daily devotions at the kitchen table many times God has spoken to my heart through His Word. I underline the words and often write in a journal what He communicates to me. It is a habit - a discipline. As I wake in the morning my spirit is drawn to Him and when I draw near to Him He is there - waiting.

When we need a word from the Lord we seek His face. We call on His Name. We sing the chorus of Mr. Park's song:

I want to know You. I want to hear Your voice.
I want to know You more.
I want to touch You. I want to see Your face.
I want to know You more.

Jeremiah 33:3 Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.