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Category Archives: Hymns and Songs

“This World” by Caedmon’s Call

22 Nov

There’s tarnish on the golden rule
And I wanna jump from this ship of fools
Show me a place where hope is young
And a people who are not afraid to love

This world has nothing for me
And this world has everything
All that I could wanted
And nothing that I need

This world is making me drunk
On the spirit of fear
So when you say who will go
I am nowhere near

This world has nothing for me
And this world has everything
All that I could wanted
And nothing that I need

This world has nothing for me
And this world has everything
All that I could wanted
And (absolutely) nothing that I need

But the least of these look like criminals to me
So I leave Christ on the street

This world has held my hand
And has led me into intolerance
And now I’m waking up
And now I’m breaking up
And now I’m making up for lost time

This world has nothing for me
And this world has everything
All that I could wanted
And nothing that I need

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Aaron Tate

Dear God, this song has about 10 layers of truth to it, and I’m not sure where to start. My wife played it for me yesterday morning, and I thought, “I really need to spend some time with this.” In fact, I’m not sure I have enough time this morning to do it justice and really think through it with the Holy Spirit as my companion–revealing to me where I have embraced the things I want in the world that I don’t need.

In the first stanza, when the write says that there is tarnish on the golden rule and they want to jump from the ship of fools, I wonder if he (Aaron Tate) is referring to the church. Disillusionment with the people in the church. Frustration with the selfishness and grasps for power that we see. Disappointment in our failure to love our neighbor as ourselves. Is he looking for a place where “hope” has not yet been jaded by disillusionment, frustration, and disappointment? Where people are not yet afraid to love.

In the second verse, the idea of being drunk on the spirit of fear is real. And it comes with a hangover. Just ask anyone who watches too much news. Fear. Fear. Fear. Be afraid. Be afraid of the future. Be afraid of the present. Be afraid of the past. Be afraid. Come and consume my content. I will feed your fear until you are numb, and when you are done you will be in a stupor. As for me, I can certainly enjoy getting this itch scratched, but the itch is like poison ivy. The more you scratch it the more you must scratch it, all the while you are only making it worse. And then when you say, “Whom shall I send,” I’m either too afraid or too entrenched in my ideology, prejudices, and presuppositions to help anyone do anything.

In the bridge we get the allusion to Jesus saying we did not help him when we saw him (Matthew 25:31-46). They are too hard to help. I heard someone present at Rotary yesterday, and he laid out a scenario of seeing someone in need and asked what we would do in that situation. When I honestly asked myself what I would do, I didn’t live up to the standard Jesus set out here. I would probably have thought the problem was too big and moved on.

The final verse is ironic because the “world” thinks it teaches tolerance, but ultimately pursuing the things of the world–allowing the thorns to grow in my soil (Matthew 13:22)–just puts be further into my selfish World War I trench and keeps me from coming out to love all of your children. But if I can come to you in moments like this…if I can wake up, then I can start to be the man you call me to me.

Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit, work in my heart today. Get me out of my trench. Be with me in my conversations. Bless the fruit of the work I do in your name and help me to be a steward of the things you give me.

I pray all of this in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on November 22, 2022 in Hymns and Songs, Matthew

 

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“Yeshua Ha Mashiach” by Scott Wesley Brown

24 Oct

“Yeshua Ha Mashiach” by Scott Wesley Brown

The room was filled with people
Who had come to hear Him speak
A Simple man with callused hands
And dust upon His feet
Twelve men were gathered ’round him
Like they knew Him as a friend
But I had never seen Him
Though He said He’d always been

Unlike the other people
I had only come to see
But when He spoke I noticed
He was staring into me
I whispered to a woman
Who was listening by my side
Who is this man? and
These words she replied:

Yeshua Ha Mashiach
The image of I Am
The Mystery of Heaven
Come to earth a mortal man
Yeshua Ha Mashiach
The Lion and the Lamb
His eyes are warm and tender
But there’s fire in His hand

More than any other prophet
His words burned me deep inside
Exposing from my hardened heart
The truth I could not hide
For years I had been waiting
For Messiah yet to come
But long before I heard His Name
I knew He was The One

Yeshua Ha Mashiach
The image of I Am
The Mystery of Heaven
Come to earth a mortal man
Yeshua Ha Mashiach
The Lion and the Lamb
His eyes are warm and tender
But there’s fire in His hand

Yeshua Ha Mashiach
The image of I Am
The Mystery of Heaven
Come to earth a mortal man
Yeshua Ha Mashiach
The Lion and the Lamb
His eyes are warm and tender
But there’s fire in His hand

Jesus the Messiah
The Image of I Am
The Mystery of Heaven
Come to earth a mortal man
Yeshua Ha Mashiach
The Lion and the Lamb
His eyes are warm and tender
But there’s fire in His hand

Jesus the Messiah
The Image of I Am
The Mystery of Heaven
Come to earth a mortal man
Yeshua Ha Mashiach
The Lion and the Lamb
His eyes are warm and tender
But there’s fire in His hand

Yeshua Ha Mashiach
The image of I Am
The Mystery of Heaven
Come to earth a mortal man
Yeshua Ha Mashiach
The Lion and the Lamb
His eyes are warm and tender
But there’s fire in His hand
Yeshua Ha Mashiach

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Greg Wayne Davis / Gregory D. Fisher

Dear God, this is a song from the 80s that I hadn’t thought about for a while, but was reminded up a few days ago. I can’t remember what brought it to mind. I think it might have been another song that reminded me of it. Anyway, it has a great beat and it’s just a reminder of who Jesus was.

I was listening to the song this morning after I woke up and watched the video above. The actor playing Jesus is interesting because he doesn’t have the typical “Jesus look.” He’s a little more intense than I’m used to seeing. I’m used to gentle-eyed Jesus, but this one seems to have something different in his eyes. I’m not sure which image I like or lean to more. Okay, I know which one I like more. I like the gentle-eyed one. But have I missed something by not considering a Jesus who maybe looked a little more intense? I read last week about Jesus saying he came to burn things down, cause divisions, etc.

Well, I guess I’ll have to think about that. But what I want to look at is just the idea in the chorus that Jesus was your image. God come to earth. A piece of your nature here with us in physical form. The decisions. The mercy. The anger. The wisdom. The compassion. The exasperation. The joy. The peace. The patience. The forgiveness. The sacrifice. The power. The healing. all of it was in him. All of you was in him. To know him was to know you.

8 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.”

9 Jesus replied, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and yet you still don’t know who I am? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father! So why are you asking me to show him to you? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I speak are not my own, but my Father who lives in me does his work through me. 11 Just believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. Or at least believe because of the work you have seen me do.

John 14:8-9

Holy Spirit, Father, Jesus, I need all of your being today and this week. This week, in particular. There are several things going on. Things in different areas of our community. We need your power. Your provision. Your protection. Your wisdom. Your intervention. Your redemption. In fact, we need everything that is you for everything we are. Help us to lean into you this week. Help me. Help each person on my heart right now. Help us to put on your holy armor so that in the face of trials and difficult decisions we might stand. Provide for us. Bless our work. Use all of this to draw each of us closer to yourself.

I pray this through Jesus,

Amen

 
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Posted by on October 24, 2022 in Hymns and Songs, John

 

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“Give Me Revelation” by Third Day

21 Oct

“Give me Revelation” by Third Day

My life has led me down the road that’s so uncertain
And now, I am left alone and I am broken
Trying to find my way
Trying to find the faith that’s gone

This time I know that You are holding all the answers
And I’m tired of losing hope and taking chances
On roads that never seem
To be the ones that bring me home

Give me a revelation
Show me what to do
‘Cause I’ve been trying
To find my way
I haven’t got a clue

Tell me should I stay here
Or do I need to move?
Give me a revelation
I’ve got nothing without You
I’ve got nothing without You

My life has led me down this path that’s ever winding
Through every twist and turn, I’m always finding
That I am lost again
Tell me when this road will ever end

Give me a revelation
Show me what to do
‘Cause I’ve been trying
To find my way
I haven’t got a clue

Tell me should I stay here
Or do I need to move?
Give me a revelation
I’ve got nothing without You
I’ve got nothing without

I don’t know where I can turn
Tell me, when will I learn?
Won’t You show me where I need to go?
Let me follow Your lead
I know that it’s the only way that I can get back home

Give me a revelation
Show me what to do
‘Cause I’ve been trying
To find my way
I haven’t got a clue

Tell me should I stay here
Or do I need to move?
Give me a revelation
I’ve got nothing without You
I’ve got nothing without You

No, oh no, oh no
Oh, give me a revelation
Oh Lord, oh no
I’ve got nothing, now, without You
I’ve got nothing, now, without You

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: David Carr / Mark Lee / Tai Anderson / Johnny Powell / Brad Avery

Dear God, I need some revelation this morning. I needed it yesterday. I’ll need it tomorrow.

Yesterday, I prayed about not getting my branches pulled from your vine. I asked the Holy Spirit to show me when I started to let things of the world disquiet my spirit. I’m glad I did because things ended up happening that definitely disquieted by spirit.

Yesterday, I saw some good people who were in pain. Their only goal in life is to help children and their families, but there is a group of watchdogs in the community who are justifying their existence through their activism and what I think they consider to be righteous anger.

Today, I have some decisions to make. It’s time for me to act. What am I to do? This is where I need your revelation. Show me what to do. I’m trying to find my way. I know I shouldn’t stay here and that I need to move (not geographically move, but taking action instead of blithely standing by). I need to seek out your Holy Spirit and your still, small voice as I work on this issue. I need to seek out Godly counsel. I need wisdom from my wife. I need to know what to do and how to do it. And I need the strength to go through the fallout I will experience from my actions.

Father, I mean this prayer as deeply as I can mean it. Please grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change. Give me the courage to change the things I can, and show me how to act in that change. And please grant me the wisdom to know the difference between what you are calling me to do and not calling me to do. Holy Spirit, whisper in my ear. Speak to me through wise counsel. And please show your love to those I see as causing harm. If they are wrong and I am right then please reveal yourself to them through whatever means you need. If I am wrong then reveal yourself to me. In the likely event we are both a little wrong and a little right, please work to unite us. And don’t let this pain be wasted. Make it count. Finally, for the damaged and abused people I saw yesterday and everyone like them that they represent, please minister to them. Love them. Encourage them. Be God to them. Holy Spirit, use this pain in their lives as well. Don’t let it be wasted. Refine us all for your glory.

I pray this through the love of Jesus,

Amen

 
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Posted by on October 21, 2022 in Hymns and Songs, Uncategorized

 

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“Living Water, Bread of Life” by 4Him

11 Oct

“Living Water, Bread of Life” by 4Him

Like a deer, panting for the water
I was thirsting for so long, I was so dry
So I set out on my journey, not sure what I would find
But I found an everlastin’ river of life

Ooh, it’s just like fallin’ rain
I will never thirst again

Living Water, Bread of Life
Come and quench this thirst within me
Fill this hunger deep inside
For so long I have been empty

Nothing else will satisfy
You alone are what I need, Lord
Living Water, Bread of Life

I had looked this whole world over for the answer
Wanting just to fill this void inside
All the things that were material, they could not satisfy
For my hungering was for the Bread of Life

Ooh, it came like manna from above
I can never get enough

Living Water, Bread of Life
Come and quench this thirst within me
Fill this hunger deep inside
For so long I have been empty

Nothing else will satisfy
You alone are what I need, Lord

Living Water, Bread of Life
Come and quench this thirst within me
Fill this hunger deep inside
For so long I have been empty

Nothing else will satisfy
You alone are what I need, Lord
Living Water, Bread of Life
Living Water, Bread of Life

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Mark R. Harris

Dear God, I couldn’t tell you what the dream was about last night, but I know that in the dream I heard this song playing and I was singing along with it passionately. Well, I figure that’s worth a deeper dive.

As I thought about this song this morning while I was getting showered and dressed for work, I had a couple of thoughts. One of my thoughts was about the story from John 4 when Jesus meets the Samaritan woman at the well. In John 4:10, Jesus said, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” I know the lyrics are largely based on Psalm 42, but I thought about Jesus referencing the living water that comes from him.

The other thought was about a discussion I heard yesterday on a podcast about what is important to Evangelical Christians. According to a survey, what did they believe were absolutes and what were they more unsure about as a group. It was only about half who understood Jesus is part of you and your nature. As the creed says, “Begotten, not made.” But over 90% believed in sexual purity and that it should only be in the context of traditional marriage. There was more agreement in how we should treat sex (although most of us don’t live out that purity) than there was about the nature of who you are. That got me to thinking about why we become Christians. Why we do what we do. When I was a kid, a lot of the sermons I heard were about me getting my “fire insurance” so I wouldn’t go to hell.

That’s where I want to combine these two thoughts. The woman at the well is us. The living water is what we, as Christians, are offering to the world. Life lived in communion with you might not always be easy. It absolutely won’t be easy. But it can be peaceful with a peace that passes all understanding.

Holy Spirit, be with me today. As I work with our staff, volunteer, patients, and old friends. As I love my wife. As I love my children and family. As I love you. Be my counselor, my comforter, my instructor, and my convictor. Show me the Father. Jesus, teach me. Father, draw me near. My Triune God, I worship you.

I pray this through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus,

Amen

 
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Posted by on October 11, 2022 in Hymns and Songs, Miscellaneous

 

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“How Long, O Lord?” (Hymn)

02 Oct
From Glory & Praise hymnal, third edition

Dear God, there are times when this hymn is appropriate and there are times when it isn’t. For an oppressed people like those right now in Ukraine, it’s a perfect song. For an American church that likes to feel sorry for itself and feel like it is being persecuted, it’s the wrong song. For some, it is about desperation and devotion to you. For some, it needs to be about repenting and submitting to you.

Both of these Psalms, 13 and 22, are from David. I don’t know what he was experiencing at the moment he wrote them, but there were plenty of times when I’m sure he felt there were enemies all around him, including Saul trying to kill him. What he couldn’t see at the time was you guiding him on the path to being king. Not that all who suffer are on the path to being king, but, at the very least, the persecution can lead us to being on our knees and praying to you like this. It’s doubtful David would ever have prayed like this if he had never felt pain.

Holy Spirit, please be with me today. I am supposed to be giving an invocation for a city council meeting. Please give me wisdom in what to pray. Please join me in my prayer for the people in that room this morning and all of those they represent. Please speak into my ear and counsel me today. Guide me. Love through me. I have an important role to play this evening. Guide me in that as well. May everything you do be done to bring you glory and bring our community into communion and fellowship with the Father. Father, you know my other needs and concerns. You know those I love and how they are on my heart. My friends and coworkers as well. Holy Spirit, please heal. Heal bodies, souls, hearts, and minds. Heal relationships. Do it all for your glory and our best in your eyes.

I pray this through the right afforded to me through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, my Lord,

Amen

 
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Posted by on October 2, 2022 in Hymns and Songs, Psalms

 

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Mark 9:2-10

01 Oct

2 After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them. 3 His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. 4 And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus.

5 Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” 6 (He did not know what to say, they were so frightened.)

7 Then a cloud appeared and covered them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!”

8 Suddenly, when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus.

9 As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus gave them orders not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. 10 They kept the matter to themselves, discussing what “rising from the dead” meant.

Mark 9:2-10

Dear God, verse 2 is the verse of the day from Oswald Chambers’s My Utmost for His Highest. I thought the first few words of his thoughts were a good place to start with this passage:

We have all experienced times of exaltation on the mountain, when we have seen things from God’s perspective and have wanted to stay there. But God will never allow us to stay there. The true test of our spiritual life is in exhibiting the power to descend from the mountain. If we only have the power to go up, something is wrong. It is a wonderful thing to be on the mountain with God, but a person only gets there so that he may later go down and lift up the demon-possessed people in the valley.

The part of you not wanting us to stay there. I guess this is why I’ve always had an issue with monks. It feels like they’ve made an intentional choice to avoid the valley as much as possible. I might be wrong and this might be unfair. Perhaps their valley is being there to greet those who come to their monasteries to find a mountain of their own. But I suppose it seems like a…I almost said selfish, but it’s not selfish because they deny themselves a lot. I guess I’ll say it seems like a decision that does not accomplish as much in the world as you might otherwise through their lives. But again, I don’t understand it and I could be totally wrong about this. I guess I’m just acknowledging where my judgment of monks comes from and thinking through the idea that there is likely more to it than I understand because I haven’t take the time to learn more about it.

I was in our church group last week, and the women had just come back from an ACTS retreat the weekend before. One of them mentioned not wanting to lose the high of the experience of being there with you. It reminded me of a song by Charlie Peacock called “Monkeys at the Zoo.”

It’s about coming back from a mountaintop experience: “Will it be different now or the same? Will I have learned anything? Or was it just a way to spend a day or two set aside for thinking thoughts about you? If that’s all it was, I had a good time…”

I’ve been to several mountaintop experiences and I’ve had that experience of coming back motivated but then not doing the little things to discipline myself to carry you into the valley. I expect the work that others did to provide my mountaintop experience will be enough to sustain me. But that’s like going to a tennis camp, working with a coach to improve my game, and then returning home and not doing anything to sustain my level of tennis. But then when someone asks me to play on the weekend I’m terrible. Why? Because I didn’t put in the work on my own.

It was April 2000 when I returned from a mountaintop experience at Laity Lodge. You laid it on my heart to start taking scripture and journaling to you about it. Praying to you about it. Ironically, I started by taking the My Utmost for His Highest verse of the day and praying over it without looking at his commentary. That was over 22 years go. Now I’ve done thousands and thousands of these prayers through journaling. In the aggregate, I can certainly see that it has changed my life.

Father, help me to keep disciplining myself to spend this quality time with you. I was talking to someone yesterday about how much time my wife and I spend talking to each other. We spend over an hour every day catching up and talking. We also pray together nearly every day. Those are great things and they make all of the difference in the world in our relationship. I need to do the same with you. Not that I need to spend an hour praying every day (although it probably wouldn’t hurt), but I certainly need to spend an hour every day exposing myself to you in some way. Maybe not all at once, but cumulatively. Praying. Listening to Christian music. Listening to Christian podcasts or the Bible in a Year podcast. I need to make sure my mind is on the things of you every day. That’s the best way for me to hear your Holy Spirit talk to me. That’s the best way to feel you presence and follow the nudging of my heart. That’s the way to expose the soil of my heart to the seeds you might want to be planting that day. Really, God. Thank you for everything. I’m here to meet with you. Won’t you meet with me?

In Jesus’s name and through the grace you extend to me through his life, death and resurrection and I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on October 1, 2022 in Hymns and Songs, Mark, My Utmost for His Highest Scripture of the Day

 

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“Love Will Be Our Anchor” by Gary Chapman

29 Sep

“Love Will Be Our Anchor”
by Gary Chapman, Michael Omartian, and Amy Grant

We said I love you with initials and an arrow
Hearts were carved, our lips touched
And the love we chose was on the straight and narrow
And love will be our anchor
We know the days will bring us things we’re not prepared for
Night will fall, love will call
And every morning we will wake up feeling cared for
And love will be our anchor

Life’s not easy
And it helps if you are lucky
Rain will fall on the good and the bad
I will give you
Everything that I am able
And love will be our anchor

And when you can’t believe the answers
To the simplest of questions
And your heart has grown cold
Love is still the rock of ages
And the rock will not be shaken
It’s an anchor to hold

And when the waves have tossed our lives in reckless motion
Wind has blown, we have grown
We will make it all the way across this ocean
And love will be our anchor

Life’s not easy
And it helps if you are lucky
Rain will fall on the good and the bad
I will give you
Everything that I am able
And love will be our anchor

And when you can’t believe the answers
To the simplest of questions
And your heart has grown cold
Love is still the rock of ages
And the rock will not be shaken
It’s an anchor to hold

We said I love you with initials and an arrow
Hearts were carved and our lips touched
And the love we chose was on the straight and narrow
And love will be our anchor
This love will be our anchor

Dear God, I have found myself singing this song this week. I guess I’ve been thinking about marriage for a bit, and I think it’s a good one. In fact, it occurred to me as some point that it would work well for an anniversary slideshow should I ever be tasked with putting one together for someone.

I guess I should clarify that this song was written at a time in Christian music when the song writers would substitute your name, God, with love. I think it was so it would have the potential to get crossover play on secular radio. “Love” plays anywhere. “God” does not. With that said, when I hear this song or sing this song, in my head, I’m singing, “God will be our anchor.” The problem with this is that “love” is used in the traditional sense in this song too, so it can be hard to remember that the anchor love represents you.

The lyrics start with the idealism of young love. Maybe even naive love. It’s easy to have a love that is straight and narrow when it’s young and unchallenged. When it’s fresh and exciting. But that’s just a season. Emotions fade. Selflessness and service are what remain.

I remember when my youth minister in high school got married and the pastor was teasing him from the pulpit about being a newlywed. “He thinks that marriage is exciting right now. Sex every night (yes, he said that in a Baptist church from the pulpit). But it won’t always be like that.” It’s true. It’s okay that it’s true. It’s nothing to be afraid of. But it’s true.

I heard someone say recently that choosing a mate isn’t about picking that person who excites you or turns you on the most. It’s about picking the person who will be good to go through life’s challenges with. That’s true too.

So back to the song. When life’s not easy and the rain falls. When the waves toss our lives in reckless motion. When night falls. Will we have built our foundation on you and relationship with each other. I remember being grateful as empty nest approached that my wife and I enjoy each other’s company. We work to serve each other in the little things. No, we aren’t perfect. Yes, we frustrate each other sometimes. But we also give the other the latitude to be who the other is. But you are our anchor–at least, as best as we know how to make you our anchor.

Holy Spirit, be with me today as I go through this day. Love my wife through me and give her what she needs through me. Be with the marriages that are on my heart. Be with those who are single and trying to find their way in the world. Forgive me for when I have failed you as your son-in-law. Forgive me for the times I fail your will for your daughter. Help us to model what you have for men and women to be as husband and wife as others such as our children, relatives, and friends look at us. Inspire others through us. And raise up people who will inspire us to be more as well.

I pray this, asking that you advocate for me to the Father through Jesus,

Amen

 
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Posted by on September 29, 2022 in Hymns and Songs

 

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“Oh, My Soul” by Casting Crowns

26 Sep

“Oh, My Soul” by Casting Crowns

Oh, my soul
Oh, how you worry
Oh, how you’re weary, from fearing you lost control
This was the one thing, you didn’t see coming
And no one would blame you, though
If you cried in private
If you tried to hide it away, so no one knows
No one will see, if you stop believing

Oh, my soul
You are not alone
There’s a place where fear has to face the God you know
One more day, He will make a way
Let Him show you how, you can lay this down
‘Cause you’re not alone

Here and now
You can be honest
I won’t try to promise that someday it all works out
‘Cause this is the valley
And even now, He is breathing on your dry bones
And there will be dancing
There will be beauty where beauty was ash and stone
This much I know

Oh, my soul
You are not alone
There’s a place where fear has to face the God you know
One more day, He will make a way
Let Him show you how, you can lay this down

I’m not strong enough, I can’t take anymore
(You can lay it down, you can lay it down)
And my shipwrecked faith will never get me to shore
(You can lay it down, you can lay it down)
Can He find me here
Can He keep me from going under

Oh, my soul
You’re not alone
There’s a place where fear has to face the God you know
One more day, He will make a way
Let Him show you how, you can lay this down
‘Cause you’re not alone
Oh, my soul, you’re not alone

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Bernie Herms / John Mark Hall

Dear God, I’m still not sure what happened yesterday. Was it good? Did I do something wrong? Did I leave something crucial out? Or was it exactly what it was supposed to be? I taught a Sunday school class on Hezekiah and his desperation in praying before you. I used “He’s My Son” by Mark Schultz as an illustration of what pleading with you looks like. It’s a song I’ve certainly prayed. I’ve ugly-cried to that song. I ugly-cried yesterday. But playing that song yesterday ended up being a trigger for some of the people in the room. Some have had their children die. Some have children in prison. Some have seen their children go through horrific physical issues that resulted in them living but with significant remnants of the disease they will carry with them for the rest of their lives. Some have broken relationships with children.

I feel bad right now. Did I do the wrong thing? I know I just asked this, but it’s the question that is running around in my mind. If I were to be teaching the class next week I might continue with healing and leaning on you. What that looks like. What it doesn’t look like. One thing it doesn’t look like is just “being fine.” No, sometimes this is just going to hurt, and sometimes the hurt will never go away. Like I said yesterday, sometimes that anchor will be there, but you can use it to form us into something that we’d never have otherwise been.

The second verse of the song above is what is speaking to me this morning:

Here and now
You can be honest
I won’t try to promise that someday it all works out
‘Cause this is the valley
And even now, He is breathing on your dry bones
And there will be dancing
There will be beauty where beauty was ash and stone
This much I know

Yeah, this might never work out the way we want it to this side of heaven. But there is something you will eventually do for me. At the end of this physical life, you will breathe on my dry bones. There will be beauty made from ash and stone.

Holy Spirit, please be the comforter and counselor for each person in the class yesterday and those who were touched beyond the class. Forgive me if I missed something I should have said. Use the pain that happened yesterday for your good and the good of everyone in there. Use it as an opportunity to heal, call us to repentance, and teach us to lean into you a little harder.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on September 26, 2022 in Hymns and Songs

 

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“He’s My Son” by Mark Schultz

25 Sep

“He’s My Son” by Mark Schultz

Down on my knees again tonight
Hoping this prayer will turn out right
See there’s a boy that needs your help
I’ve done all that I can do myself

His mother is tired
I’m sure You can understand
Each night as he sleeps
She goes in and holds his hand
And she tries not to cry
As the tears fill her eyes

Can You hear me?
Am I getting through tonight?
Can You see him?
Can You make him feel alright?
If You can hear me
Let me take his place somehow
See he’s not just anyone
He’s My Son.

Sometimes late at night
I watch him sleep
I dream of the boy he’d like to be
I try to be strong and see him through
But God who he needs right now is You.

Let him grow old
Live life without this fear
What would I be
Living without him here?
He’s so tired and he’s so scared
Let him know that you’re there

Can You hear me?
Am I getting through tonight?
Can You see him?
Can You make him feel alright?
If You can hear me
Let me take his place somehow
See he’s not just anyone
He’s My Son.

Can You hear me?
Am I getting through tonight?
Can You see him?
Can You make him feel alright?
If You can hear me
Let me take his place somehow
See he’s not just anyone

Can You hear me?
Can You see him?

Please don’t leave him
He’s My Son

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Don Robey / George Hollis

Dear God, this song means a lot of complicated things to me. I’ve used it to pray for my own children. Not because they were physically ill, but because my wife and I were equally desperate for them.

As I sit here this morning, I am thinking about the hopes we have for our lives when we are young. “When I grow up I want to _____________________.” Answers can be “get married,” “have children,” “be rich,” “play professional sports,” or even “be an accountant.” Whatever it is, we all have our dreams. But then life gets in the way.

I have a niece who got married 18 months ago. In a letter I wrote her before her wedding, I encouraged her to plan more around facing life’s unexpected hurdles together than making her own plans about how life will turn out. My life, for example, overall has turned out pretty well, but there are clouds that hang over me. There are sorrows. I haven’t experienced the pain the parent in this song is experiencing, but I’ve certainly experienced considerable parental pain. I am still considering pain. I still have what feels like an anchor on me that is directing the way the ship of my life is moving. Yes, my ship might still be moving forward, but that anchor is dragging and impacting the course of my life. And I’ve prayed to you. I’ve prayed like the father in this song. I’ve prayed like Hezekiah in 2 Kings 19:14-19:

14 After Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it, he went up to the Lord’s Temple and spread it out before the Lord. 15 And Hezekiah prayed this prayer before the Lord: “O Lord, God of Israel, you are enthroned between the mighty cherubim! You alone are God of all the kingdoms of the earth. You alone created the heavens and the earth. 16 Bend down, O Lord, and listen! Open your eyes, O Lord, and see! Listen to Sennacherib’s words of defiance against the living God.

17 “It is true, Lord, that the kings of Assyria have destroyed all these nations. 18 And they have thrown the gods of these nations into the fire and burned them. But of course the Assyrians could destroy them! They were not gods at all—only idols of wood and stone shaped by human hands. 19 Now, O Lord our God, rescue us from his power; then all the kingdoms of the earth will know that you alone, O Lord, are God.”

And you’ve answered some of my prayers. Okay, you’ve answered all of my prayers, but some of your answers I’ve been able to see. My faith tells me you’ve answered the others as well. And sometimes you’re going to say, “No. No, I cannot answer the prayer the way you want it answered, but you have to trust me that I am doing things beyond what you can see or know.” That’s where the faith of Hebrews 11:1 comes in: Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

Holy Spirt, Jesus, Father God, please. I lay my heart before you like Hezekiah laid the letter from the Assyrians about before you. It feels hopeless. It is hopeless in my own power. I have no control over anyone or anything. But you can move the heart of Nebuchadezzar and use him for your purposes. You can certainly move my heart to be what you need me to be. You can move others as well. Please work all things for good. I’ve prayed this so many times. Even though I cannot see what you are doing, I pray that your kingdom will come and your will will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Hezekiah decided to ignore the practices of his father and submit himself to you. I’m sure he had dreams of what his kingdom would be like when he took over. How things would run. How his army would be tough. But his kingdom didn’t work out as he thought. Many of the cities of Judah fell under his watch. He paid a tribute to Assyria to get them to go away, but they didn’t go away. He was left with nothing but you. That’s where I am right now. I’m left with nothing but you. And my desires are very selfish. I’m not praying over an entire country. I’m simply praying over the people who mean the most in the world to me. But maybe that’s just as important to you as well. I guess I’ll end with this: I really do love you.

Thank you for allowing me to pray all of this to you through Jesus,

Amen

 
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Posted by on September 25, 2022 in Hymns and Songs

 

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“Oh, Lord, Your Love” by Caedmon’s Call

22 Sep

“Oh, Lord, Your Love” by Caedmon’s Call

Oh Lord I give you all I have
But it seems so little
When you have given me so much
I come to you with empty hands
And a heart that’s fragile
You come to me with a wealth of love

Oh Lord Your love
Is new with every morning
Your faithfulness
It gets me through the night
You bid me come
You know that I am weary
Your yoke is easy
Your burden is light

And now I sing you songs of praise
But your greatness is beyond me
I know I can not comprehend
How You, Ancient of Days
Stoop Yourself to call me
To be Your son
To be Your friend

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Fred Hammond / Joann Judith Rosario / Joseph Tyrone Woolfork / Noel Christopher Hall

Dear God, it’s one of those mornings when I just need to remember to praise. I’m just listening to this song and singing it in my heart while I type this. There’s a part of my heart that is aching this morning. I’m aching for a loved one going through a divorce. I’m aching for broken relationships in my life. I’m aching for problems and looming conflicts in my community. My heart aches this morning.

I am preparing to teach a Sunday school lesson about Hezekiah on Sunday. He ached too. He was afraid. He tore his clothes. And he had to lead others into apparent doom through his aching. What did he do to get through it? He went to the Temple, laid out his problems before you, and prayed.

Father, here I am this morning. I am giving you all I have, but it seems so little when you have given me so much. I come to you with empty hands and a heart that’s fragile. But you come to me with a wealth of love. Oh, Lord, your love is new with every morning. Your faithfulness gets me through the night. You bid me come. You know that I am weary. But your yoke is easy and your burden is light. And now I sing you songs of praise, but your greatness is beyond me. I know I cannot comprehend how you, Ancient of Days, stoop yourself to call me to be your son…to be your friend. Oh, Lord, your love is new with every morning. Your faithfulness gets me through the night. You bid me come. You know that I am weary. But your yoke is easy and your burden is light. Thank you.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on September 22, 2022 in Hymns and Songs

 

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