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Category Archives: Hymns and Songs

Chronic Dissatisfaction

21 Nov
From Simply Sacred by Gary Thomas – 11/21

Dear God, I started this a few days ago, but never got to come back and finish it. Okay, I never prioritized making the time to come back and finish it. But now it’s the morning after Thanksgiving, and I am wanting to spend a little bit of time with you before I get going with my day.

My wife and I were talking about a month ago about our “bucket list.” The list of things we want to do or places we want to visit or things we want to accomplish before we “kick the bucket.” It’s odd, but I told her I have no such list. If I were to be on my death bed right now, the only thing that I think would be on my mind is how it would impact my wife and children. I don’t think I would have any places I wish I had gone, things I wish I had done, or accomplishments left unfinished. Well, I take that back. I have a few writing projects I’ve started but haven’t finished. I really do need to focus and get those completed. I just might feel bad if I didn’t finish those. But those are also things I think you’ve put on my heart to work on. But as far as experiences and places visited, there just isn’t anything in that realm that I care about.

I wish I could say that I feel that way because I am a great Christian and I don’t have a need for travel or experiences. But the truth is that I’m kind of lazy and not very ambitious. However, I do think there is a contentment in my spirit that comes from your Spirit ministering to me as I get to know you and spend time with you. I think part of it might be 1.) you have unreasonably blessed me with a wife who is a delight, and 2.) you have given me a life that pretty much wants for nothing even though I would consider myself solidly middle class to lower-middle class. But you have given me so much, it makes it easier to accept what I have. With that being said, I know people who have what I have and more, and they are still looking.

That makes me think of the U2 song “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.”

Even in the last verse, when they acknowledge they haven’t even found what they are looking for even in you:

I believe in the kingdom come
Then all the colors will bleed into one
Bleed into one
But yes I’m still running

You broke the bonds
And you loosed the chains
Carried the cross
Of my shame
Oh my shame
You know I believe it

But I still haven’t found what I’m looking for

This used to really bother me about this song. I know Bono is a Christian and believes in you. Where is this continued search still coming from after he found you? And I don’t know exactly what he means by this, but one thing it could mean is that it’s one thing to know this about you, and even believe it, but it’s another thing to develop a relationship with you that will allow you to minister to me and develop my soul.

Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit, I offer you this day. I thank you for ministering peace to my soul. I confess the times when I allow my heart to dwell on the cares of this world and I don’t weed the soil of my heart well. I am sorry for that. That is when my heart is unstilled. So help me to enjoy you today and to embrace fully, warts and all, the life and path you have given me to walk.

I pray this joyously as your servant and worshipper,

Amen

 
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Posted by on November 21, 2023 in Hymns and Songs, Miscellaneous, Musings and Stories

 

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“I Just Want To Be With You”

18 Nov 
I just want to be with you 
So come close and put your arms around me. 
I just want to love you. 
So come close and look right at me. 

So I can sing into your eyes. 
So I can look into your heart. 
So I can feel you by my side 
And know that you're here.

Dear God, my wife and I went to the chapel at our church last night to pray for a friend who is seriously ill. While we kneeled on the front row and prayed silently, I had this song come to mind. The church we attended nearly 20 years ago in Waco used to sing it. I’ve searched it and Googled it, but I can’t find it online anywhere. Maybe it was original to the church and the music minister, Antioch Community Church and James Mark Gulley, respectively. I don’t know.

One thing I’ve always found interesting about this song is that it is a little vague about who the singer is. Who is “I” in the song and who is “you?” My inclination is to say that I am the singer and it’s from my perspective. And that’s certainly how I felt last night as I prayed. I just wanted to be with you. As I prayed, I was praying about my lack of faith. I was praying, “Father, I believe. Help my unbelief.” (Mark 9:24) But as I sat there in the silence and tried to tap into the Holy Spirit’s presence, I just felt this song pouring out of me. “I just want to be with you.” Sometimes there aren’t great, or even good, answers to our concerns. In those moments, all I’m sometimes left with is your comfort. I just want to be with you so I can feel your arms around me. So I can feel you look right at me. So I can sing to you. So I can look at you. So I can feel you. So I can just know that you’re near.

But then there’s the flip side of this song. What if it is you singing to me? What if you are the one saying, “I just want to be with you”? What if you want to feel my presence? What if want to sing to me? What if you want to see my heart? What if you want to feel me by your side and know that I’m near?

Hagar named you El-roi, the God who sees me. (Genesis 16:13) You see me now. You see me as I sit here at my computer. You see me when I am scared. You see me even when I walk away. But the idea that you love me that much…well, sometimes it’s simply impossible to believe.

Father, I am substitute preaching tomorrow morning for a pastor who suddenly got COVID this week. I think I know which direction I’m going, but I want to make sure. I want to just sit with you for a bit and feel your presence. I want to feel you by my side and know that you’re near. Thank you, Father.

I pray all of this only through the grace you afford me through Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection,

Amen

 
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Posted by on November 18, 2023 in Hymns and Songs

 

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Old Hymns

11 Nov

Dear God, it’s early on a Saturday morning, and I just feel a need to worship a little. I usually listen to something on my phone in the morning. Frankly, I like to have some sort of noise happening at any given time. Pure silence is not natural for me. I grew up with background noise, so I almost never live in pure silence.

With that said, I normally watch some YouTube videos when I get going on a Saturday morning, but this morning I find myself just wanting to hear some old hymns. I currently have “Tis so Sweet” by Shane & Shane going in my headphones as I type this. “Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus, how I trust Him!” It’s a balm for my soul.

Growing up Baptist in the 70s and 80s, we used that standard white Baptist Hymnal. It has some great songs I’m glad I carry with me to this day. It’s so sentimental. For me, it’s the way I first learned to worship you. Singing off of a page. Not knowing how to read music but trying to follow along what I now know is the soprano/melody line as I figured out the tune, following the notes up and down. (Oh, now Shane & Shane are singing “How Great Thou Art.” Classic!) My favorite parts were when the men would echo in the chorus. “It is wellllllll (echo: It is wellllllll), With my soulllllll (echo: With my soul), (join together) It is well, it is well with my soullllll.” Love it! I remember one time in a contemporary praise and worship service that it seems that the new Christian praise songs that include the echo have the men lead with the women echoing. I prefer the classic way. I don’t know. Somehow in my little boy heart, it felt like the women were worshipping and then men were coming behind and supporting them. Giving them a foundation for their worship. Interesting. I wonder why this pattern has changed with our modern music.

By the way, I have to say, this Shane & Shane Hymns, Vol. 1 is really well done. They’ve kept the integrity of the hymns without altering them too much, but they’ve still added some nice repeats here and there. This is definitely going to go into the rotation.

Now I have “Give Me Jesus” going in my ears. “When I am afraid, give me Jesus.”

I spent the day helping a friend have a surgical procedure yesterday. I spent right at 12 hours in a hospital waiting and helping him while his wife was out of town. It was a long day. But whenever I thought about complaining, and there were plenty of things I could have complained about with what the hospital did, I would think about the people in Israel, Gaza, Ukraine, etc., who are injured and needing hospitals that aren’t safe. I thought about the chaos of their situations. The trauma. It made me hurt for them and more accepting of my first-world problems of things not moving as swiftly as I would like. It helped.

We are up to “Come Thou Fount.” Good stuff. “Praise the mount, I’m fixed upon it. Mount of thy redeeming love.”

So Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit, I’m not going to lie. Yesterday taxed the patience that you give me as your fruit. It was easy to will myself to be patient and kind for the first half of the day, but by 8:00pm, when things weren’t progressing, they started to exhaust my good will. But you gave me the strength I needed to help my friend and stay positive for him. He was frustrated too, but we got through it. I got him home to his daughter who can care for him until his wife gets back in town. It was a long day, but in retrospect I wouldn’t trade it. I pray that you use this procedure and the pain of it for his good. Both physical good and also good in the other areas of his life. In his wife’s and children’s lives. If there has to be pain, please don’t let it be wasted. Please don’t let it be wasted. And don’t waste it in my life either. Help me to grow from this as well. And let it all be for your glory. “Prone to wander, Lord I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love. Here’s my heart, Lord. Take and seal it. Seal it for thy courts above.”

I pray this in your name,

Amen

 
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Posted by on November 11, 2023 in Hymns and Songs

 

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“The Father’s House” by Cory Asbury

29 Oct

“The Father’s House” by Cory Asbury

Sometimes on this journey, I get lost in my mistakes
What looks to me like weakness is a canvas for Your strength
And my story isn’t over, my story’s just begun
And failure won’t define me ’cause that’s what my Father does
Yeah, failure won’t define me ’cause that’s what my Father does

Ooh, lay your burdens down
Ooh, here in the Father’s house
Check your shame at the door (ooh)
‘Cause it ain’t welcome anymore (ooh)
Ooh, you’re in the Father’s house

Arrival’s not the end game, the journey’s where You are
You never wanted perfect, You just wanted my heart
And the story isn’t over, if the story isn’t good
A failure’s never final when the Father is in the room
And failure’s never final when the Father is in the room

Ooh, lay your burdens down
Ooh, here in the Father’s house
Check your shame at the door (ooh)
‘Cause it ain’t welcome anymore (ooh)
Ooh, you’re in the Father’s house, yeah

Prodigals come home
The helpless find hope
Love is on the move
When the Father’s in the room
Prison doors fling wide
The dead come to life
Love is on the move
When the Father’s in the room

Miracles take place
The cynical find faith
And love is breaking through
When the Father’s in the room
The Jericho walls are quakin’

Strongholds now are shakin’
Love is breaking through
When the Father’s in the room
I said love is breaking through
When the Father’s in the room

Ooh, lay your burdens down
Ooh, here in the Father’s house
Check your shame at the door
‘Cause it ain’t welcome anymore
Ooh, you’re in the Father’s house
Yeah, lay your burdens down
Ooh, here in the Father’s house
Ooh, you’re in the Father’s house

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Cory Asbury / Ethan Hulse / Benjamin Hastings

Dear God, I want to get into the lyrics of this song in a second, but my overall thought this morning with this song is, what would it be like if the church represented this to people? If they didn’t see our politics or our policing of sin? If they saw a place for the wounded to come and be loved? To be supported, nurtured and healed? If they saw us living your fruits of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, kindness, and self control?

I’ve mentioned the Apple TV+ show, Ted Lasso. I think what makes it so appealing to the world is that Ted is completely worldly, as is everyone else in the show, but he exhibits nearly all of the fruits of the Spirit (besides peace). While the writers can create an extraordinary character who exhibits the other fruits, peace is one even they cannot write about apart from you (in my opinion). But thinking of the locker room on Ted Lasso as the English Premier League football team’s version of a church, the environment Ted created is the kind of thing Cory Asbury is singing about here. He created a type, albeit incomplete, of your House. At one point at the end of the series, Ted looks at the guys on the team as they all have their hands in the middle and says, “I know folks like to say, ‘There’s no place like home.’ And that’s true. But, man, there ain’t a whole lot of places like AFC Richmond either.” Here is a link to the scene from Ted Lasso with the warning to anyone reading this that it contains a huge spoiler at the end of the series should you want to watch it.

With that said, let’s look at some of these lyrics:

Sometimes on this journey, I get lost in my mistakes
What looks to me like weakness is a canvas for Your strength

I’ve heard this song several times, but I’ve never spent time with the lyrics. Some of them caught my ear this week and I knew I wanted to sit down with it like this this morning. So what if we allowed ourselves to live into this verse? What if I allowed myself to live into this verse? I get lost in my mistakes. [My] weakness is a canvas for Your strength. What if we lived into that and then offered that to the world?

Arrival’s not the end game, the journey’s where You are
You never wanted perfect, You just wanted my heart
And the story isn’t over, if the story isn’t good

I LOVE this first line. I’m not here this morning so you’ll let me into your eternal life. I’m here this morning because I need you. I need to spend some time focused on your Holy Spirit ministering to me, speaking to me, teaching me, and comforting me. The arrival is not what my life is about. If you had created me for just the afterlife then you would have just created me as an angel. No, you wanted me for this journey. You are here in the present moment, not the future. I cannot find you there this side of death. No, you are only in this present moment.

The other parts of this verse are also good. First, I think you do want perfect, but you just know it isn’t going to happen. But if you have my heart then the rest will follow. Because where my heart is, there will my treasure be also (See Luke 12:34 – Parable of the Rich Fool). And just because my story doesn’t look good doesn’t mean it’s over–even if it doesn’t look good at the time of my death. I don’t have to see what you are doing long-term to have faith in you now. Thinking of Job 38, who am I to question you?

Oh, Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit, you know what’s happening for me right now. You know where my concerns are. You know I have people I love who think of me as their enemy. You know there are strangers who think of me as their enemy as well. Well, I surrender any rights I might feel in this moment to deserve their love or respect. It’s no mine to give or to demand. But I do pray for each of them. I pray for the soil of their heart. Some of them have hearts akin to the path. Some of them have rocky soil. Some with thorns. And some have great and rich soil. Whatever the case, and whomever they are, I pray that all of them will have deep, rich, dark soil that will give your Holy Spirit to move in them. I pray the same thing for myself. Help me to weed the soil of my heart. Help me to get rid of the thorns that represent the cares of this world and the pursuit of wealth. Help me to get rid of the cares of advancing myself over my neighbor. Help me to get over the cares of my rights not being respected. And I pray this for all of those on my heart as well. Heal them. Help them to find you. Help them to find peace. Help them to truly channel you into this world. Help us all, Jesus. Help us all, Holy Spirit. Help us all Father.

I pray this in the name of the Triune God,

Amen

 
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Posted by on October 29, 2023 in Hymns and Songs, Job, Luke

 

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“Thursday” by Jess Glynne

27 Aug

“Thursday” by Jess Glynne

I won’t wear makeup on Thursday
I’m sick of covering up
I’m tired of feeling so broken
I’m tired of falling in love
Sometimes I’m shy, and I’m anxious
Sometimes I’m down on my knees
Sometimes I try to embrace all my insecurities
So I won’t wear makeup on Thursday
‘Cause who I am is enough

And there are many things that I could change so slightly
But why would I succumb to something so unlike me?
I was always taught to just be myself
Don’t change for anyone

I wanna laugh, I don’t wanna cry
Don’t want these tears inside my eyes, yeah
Don’t wanna wake up and feel insecure
I wanna sing, I wanna dance
I wanna feel love inside my hands again
I just wanna feel beautiful

Oh-oh-oh, oh I
Oh-oh-oh, oh I
Oh-oh-oh, I just wanna feel beautiful

I’ll wear my sweatpants on Thursday
And I’ll drink sloe gin from a can
I’ll build my own independence
I don’t always need a man

You know sometimes I feel lonely
Could do with the company
Oh, I get high when I’m down
But you know that’s alright with me
So I will do nothing on Thursday
Sit alone and be

And there are many things that I could change so slightly
But why would I succumb to something so unlike me?
I was always taught to just be myself
Don’t change for anyone

I wanna laugh, I don’t wanna cry
Don’t want these tears inside my eyes, yeah
Don’t wanna wake up and feel insecure
I wanna sing, I wanna dance
I wanna feel love inside my hands again
I just wanna feel beautiful

Oh-oh-oh, oh I
Oh-oh-oh, oh I
Oh-oh-oh, I just wanna feel beautiful
Oh-oh-oh, oh I
Oh-oh-oh, oh I
Oh-oh-oh, I just wanna feel beautiful

I won’t wear makeup on Thursday
‘Cause who I am is enough

And I, I wanna laugh, I don’t wanna cry
Don’t want these tears inside my eyes, yeah
Don’t wanna wake up and feel insecure
I wanna sing, I wanna dance
I wanna feel love inside my hands again
I just wanna feel beautiful

Oh-oh-oh, oh I
Oh-oh-oh, oh I
Oh-oh-oh, I just wanna feel beautiful
Oh-oh-oh, oh I
Oh-oh-oh, oh I
Oh-oh-oh, I just wanna feel beautiful

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Steve Mac / Ed Sheeran / Jessica Glynne

Dear God, I came across this song about a week ago on one of my Ed Sheeran playlists. He doesn’t sing it, but he is one of the writers and his fingerprints are definitely on it. I’ve thought about the song since then. I decided I wanted to journal and pray to you about what is hitting me about this song a few hours ago, so since then I’ve listened to it about 10 times.

So what is it that strikes me about this song? I think it’s the ache. The fatigue. The giving up and surrendering in it. It reminds me of coming to the end of myself and just falling into your arms. I don’t think that’s what Jess Glynne is implying when she sings it, but that’s what it reminds me of. It reminds me of the freedom of turning loose of what others think and only finding my feeling of “beautiful” in your eyes.

As I read back over the lyrics of this song, I wonder why Thursday. If I were to have picked the most likely out of the seven days of the week, I would have thought it would be a Saturday or Sunday. I also wonder what her (and when I say “her” I mean not just Jess Glynne, but the anonymous woman who relates to this song) other days are like. Performing. Acting. Putting on a show. Even for someone who works a regular job who identifies with this song. Maybe a school teacher or even someone who works with me. Maybe the person next to me in church. Maybe someone who has built a life of isolation. Maybe someone who is in need of real community.

Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit, like I said, there is a real sense of ache in this song. I pray this morning for anyone for whom it might apply. I have a couple of people on my heart right now. Set them free. Give them a path to your peace. Help them to feel their beauty from your eyes. When I was first married, I really looked to my wife for my sense of affirmation. And while I certainly lean on her to tell me when I’m in error, I don’t feel that endless need for her adoration. I can just let her be. And the irony is that letting her go like that only makes me love her more, and I think it frees her up to love me as well. So I pray that the spirit of this song would be broken in the lives of those for whom it relates through Jesus’s mercy and blessing, I pray that they, and I, would feel our beauty in your eyes.

I offer this to you through the mercy of Jesus and in his name,

Amen

 
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Posted by on August 27, 2023 in Hymns and Songs

 

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“I Have Been There” by Mark Schultz

20 Aug

“I Have Been There” by Mark Schultz

In a room without a view, a new mother smiles and holds
The tiny fingers of her brand new baby girl.
Her husband takes her by the hand, so unsure about the future
Have no money can they make it in this world?
And they pray, Lord all we have to give is love
Then they heard a gentle voice like an echo from above,

I have been there. I know what fear is all about.
Yes, I have been there and I’m standing with you now.
I have been there
And I came to build the bridge oh so this road could lead you home.
Oh I have been there.

He’s been a pastor twenty years
But tonight he sits alone and broken hearted in the corner of the church
He tried to change a fallen world
With his words and with his wisdom but it seems like it is only getting worse
And he cries, Oh Lord I just don’t understand
Then he felt the hand of grace, and he heard a voice that said

I have been there, I know what pain is all about
Yes I have been there, and I’m standing with you now
I have been there, and I came to build a bridge
Oh so this road could lead you home
Oh I have been there.

An older man up on a hill
Holding flowers but he can’t hold back the tears.
Oh he has come to say goodbye.
He thinks about the life she lived,
Thinks about how hard it’s been to live without her
Sixty years right by his side
And he cries, oh Lord I loved her till the end
And he heard a gentle voice say you’ll see her once again

I have been there
I know what sorrow’s all about
Yes I have been there and I’m standing with you now
I have been there, and I came to build a bridge
Oh so this road could lead her home, the road could lead her home

Oh I have been there, You know I overcame the cross, yes I have been there
So her life would not be lost
Oh I have been there, and I came to build
A bridge so this road could lead you home
The road could lead you home

Oh I have been there
Yes I have been there

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Mark Mitchell Schultz

Dear God, I haven’t done two of these prayer journals in one day in a long time, but today seemed like a good day.

In 2005, I was unemployed for about six months. One of the things I did back then was make a CD of songs that comforted me. Several years later, since CDs are much of a thing anymore, I made a playlist with those songs and saved them to my iTunes. I came across that playlist today. Coincidence? Maybe not. It feels like something the Holy Spirit led me to. The songs have been great and brought back some memories. Here’s a list of the songs, in order:

All of these songs are a comfort to me. They are a touchstone to a time when I was very sad, scared, down, and even a little depressed. I’m grateful for this list.

With all of that said, “I Have Been There” by Mark Schultz is the one that brought tears to my eyes. There is nothing I can experience you haven’t experienced. I wish I could find it, but there was something fictional I heard someone read about 35 years ago that still sticks in my brain. I’m sure the person who wrote it would be flattered that it made that much of an impression on someone. In this case, it was people lining up to say what they thought you should have to experience, as God, to understand us better. These are me paraphrasing some of the things. It’s been a long time, and I only heard it once, but it was something to the effect of:

  • One person said that God should have to be poor so he can understand what it’s like to struggle without anything.
  • One person said that God should have to have to endure scandal in his family so he would understand what it’s like to be gossiped about and rejected.
  • One person said he should have to know what it’s like to be rejected for his nationality and be a foreigner.
  • One person said that God should have to lose his son and watch him die a terrible death.

The list went on and on, ultimately ending with that God should have to die to know what it’s like to fear death. Then, one by one, the people walked away because they realized you did all these things through Jesus.

So as I sit here now, feeling rejected by some, there is nothing I can experience you haven’t experienced. Like the song from Mark Schultz says, “[You] have been there.” As I stopped and listened to this song closely, playing it back a second time, I teared up. I felt you comforting me, Holy Spirit. You have been there. You know what I’m going through right now, and you have been there.

Father, I’m sorry for the times I have been a source for your sorrow. I am sorry I have caused you to be there. Thank you for comforting me. Thank you for loving me. Thank you for being a God who left no stone unturned so that you might know everything about me, including what it’s like to be me.

I gratefully pray all of this as your child,

Amen

 
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Posted by on August 20, 2023 in Hymns and Songs

 

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Philippians 1:15-24

18 Aug

15 It’s true that some are preaching out of jealousy and rivalry. But others preach about Christ with pure motives. 16 They preach because they love me, for they know I have been appointed to defend the Good News. 17 Those others do not have pure motives as they preach about Christ. They preach with selfish ambition, not sincerely, intending to make my chains more painful to me. 18 But that doesn’t matter. Whether their motives are false or genuine, the message about Christ is being preached either way, so I rejoice. And I will continue to rejoice. 19 For I know that as you pray for me and the Spirit of Jesus Christ helps me, this will lead to my deliverance.

20 For I fully expect and hope that I will never be ashamed, but that I will continue to be bold for Christ, as I have been in the past. And I trust that my life will bring honor to Christ, whether I live or die. 21 For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better. 22 But if I live, I can do more fruitful work for Christ. So I really don’t know which is better. 23 I’m torn between two desires: I long to go and be with Christ, which would be far better for me. 24 But for your sakes, it is better that I continue to live.

Philippians 1:15-24

Dear God, I know that it’s easy for me to say these words because I do not experience imminent threats to my safety or even my livelihood, but this is the attitude I aspire towards. That my life should really not matter. That I am willing to suffer if it means other will be saved.

Now that I think about it, I had some weird dreams last night. I don’t remember everything, but I remember a mixture of sorrow and joy. I remember one dream where my wife had written a screenplay about our lives that had been sold into a movie. I found out by watching a trailer for the movie and recognizing the story as ours. When I asked her how much she sold our story for, she told me and I was delighted for her and for where we are now compared to the trials I had seen depicted in the trailer. Later, I know I was crying. I’m not sure why. But I was sad about something.

Of course, I do have sorrow. My heart does ache. I guess, like my dream, I have some things in my life that bring me great joy, and other things that make me very sad. It makes me think of the Rich Mullins song “The Love of God.” One of the verses says, “Joy and sorry are this ocean. It’s in their every ebb and flow. Now the Lord a door has opened that all hell could never close. Here I’m tested and made worthy. Tossed about, yet lifted up in the reckless, raging fury that they call the love of God.”

Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit, today, I give you my joy and my sorrow. Both are yours. My joy comes from you and I return it to you. My sorrow is something you will comfort and refine me through. I am tested and made worthy. I’m tossed about, yet lifted up into the reckless, raging fury of your love. Thank you. Thank you.

I pray all of this grateful to be submitted to you,

Amen

 
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Posted by on August 18, 2023 in Hymns and Songs, Philippians

 

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“In Christ Alone” Newsboys

13 Aug

“In Christ Alone” Newsboys

In Christ alone, my hope is found
He is my light, my strength, my song
This Cornerstone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm
What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My Comforter, my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand

In Christ alone, who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless babe
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones He came to save
‘Til on that cross as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied
For every sin on Him was laid
Here in the death of Christ I live

There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave He rose again
And as He stands in victory
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me
For I am His and He is mine
Bought with the precious blood of Christ

No guilt in life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From life’s first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny
No power of hell, no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from His hand
Till He returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I’ll stand

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Donald A. Koch / Andrew Shawn Craig

Dear God, I was in church last night, and this song was one of the hymns we sang. I had a lot of thoughts going through my head while we sang it. I was thinking about political turmoil in our country and how some of your church has chosen to engage in it–wanting power and influence so that your kingdom can come and your will will be done on earth as it is in heaven from the top down. For whatever reason, I thought about the girl who was killed nearly 30 years ago at Columbine High School when the killer asked her if she believed in Jesus and she said yes. That made me think of the man who was healed by Jesus and was being asked by the Pharisees about who healed him and he asked, “Why, do you want to be his disciples too?” All of this was swirling in my head while I read the words Donald Koch and Andrew Craig wrote for this song.

When it comes to what I, as a Christian, am selling to this world, this is my answer. Not that I’m a good salesman, but this is my answer. This song. It’s not saving someone from the threat of hell, although maybe it should be. It’s really not even the opportunity to spend eternity with you, although that is my naivete talking and I’m sure if I really understood how amazing the next realm will be in your presence for eternity then I would only talk about that. But in my head, the message of this song is why I’m here, even in this moment.

So what is this song saying? Well, it’s mainly in the first and fourth verses. The first verse talks about the functionality of being a Christian and the help and peace in can bring me through relationship with and worship of you.

Verse 1:

In Christ alone, my hope is found
He is my light, my strength, my song
This Cornerstone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm
What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My Comforter, my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand

Verse 4:

No guilt in life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From life’s first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny
No power of hell, no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from His hand
Till He returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I’ll stand

Then verses two and three explain who Jesus is and how he functionally made himself capable of saving me and reconciling me with you.

Verses 3 & 4

In Christ alone, who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless babe
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones He came to save
‘Til on that cross as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied
For every sin on Him was laid
Here in the death of Christ I live

There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave He rose again
And as He stands in victory
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me
For I am His and He is mine
Bought with the precious blood of Christ

So what do I have in you, Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit?

  • Hope
  • Light
  • Strength
  • Cornerstone (foundation)
  • Solid ground (build on the rock and not sand)
  • Love
  • Peace
  • Fears stilled
  • Strivings ceased
  • Comfort
  • No guilt in life
  • No fear in death

And finally, no power of hell or scheme of man can take me from you. One of two things is certain. I will either see you return in my lifetime, or, more likely, you will call me home before your return. Either way, What I’m selling while I am here is the list I just made from verses one and four.

Father, help me to be a better maker of disciples. Help me to know how to invite people into what I have found in you. I woke up with another song going in my head that I remember from the church I used to attend when I lived in a different city: I just want to be with you. So come here and put your arms around me. I just want to love you. So come close and look right at me. So I can look into your eyes. So I can see into your heart. So I can feel you by my side and know that you’re near. One of the things I’ve always liked about that song is that it can be seen as being sung by me or by you. I think you would have those words for me, and sometimes, not frequently enough, I have those words for you. Help me, Father, be exactly who you need me to be.

I pray all of this under your authority and in worship to you,

Amen

 
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Posted by on August 13, 2023 in Hymns and Songs, John

 

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“Forever” by Third Day

28 Jul

“Forever” by Third Day

I see a hand reaching out to help me
But I don’t understand all of your ways
You are still the Potter and I am just the clay
And though I know at times I am too proud
To reach for You, to help me out
And if I waited on myself to get it right
I would be waiting here forever

Your grace is never going to change
Your faith will always remain
Your love is the same yesterday, today, and forever

I see a world looking for an answer but I don’t know what for
When will we realize that we’re sinners in the hands of a loving God who came
And died and wants to set us free
Oh how he longs to be with you and me
And if we waited on the truth to change
We would be waiting here forever

Your grace is never going to change
Your faith will always remain
Your love is the same yesterday, today, and forever

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Brian Holland / Freddie Gorman / Lamont Herbert Dozier

Dear God, this is almost a continuation from yesterday’s prayer. It plays off of Hebrews 10:31

31 It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

When I read this for the first time this week a few days ago, it made me think of the line in the second verse of this song that says, “We are sinners in the hands of a loving God who came and died to set us free.” I believe this line from the song is also a twist on the sermon by Jonathan Edwards in the 1740s called “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.”

Reading the Wikipedia description of this sermon, I found this diary entry from pastor Stephen Williams, who was in attendance:

[B]efore the sermon was done there was a great moaning and crying out through the whole house — “What shall I do to be saved?” “Oh, I am going to hell!” “Oh what shall I do for a Christ?” and so forth — so that the minister was obliged to desist. [The] shrieks and cries were piercing and amazing. After some time of waiting, the congregation were still, so that a prayer was made by Mr. Wheelock, and after that we descended from the pulpit and discoursed with the people, some in one place and some in another. And amazing and astonishing: the power [of] God was seen and several souls were hopefully wrought upon that night, and oh the cheerfulness and pleasantness of their countenances that received comfort. Oh that God would strengthen and confirm [their new faith]! We sang a hymn and prayed, and dispersed the assembly.

I bolded part of his diary because that is probably the most amazing thing I’ve seen in myself and others when they come to faith in Jesus and accept your grace through him: “cheerfulness and pleasantness of their countenance that received comfort.” I’ll be frank, Father. I don’t know how I feel about threatening people with hell in order to get them to accept you, but I do know that whenever anyone makes that decision regardless of the motive, the relief and forthcoming joy after that relief is palpable.

So back to this song, for the last two days I’ve had it going in my head when I woke up in the morning. It’s been nice, and I’ve liked it. So I thought I would look at it a little and spend some time with it this morning in your presence.

Here’s the first verse again:

I see a hand reaching out to help me
But I don’t understand all of your ways
You are still the Potter and I am just the clay
And though I know at times I am too proud
To reach for You, to help me out
And if I waited on myself to get it right
I would be waiting here forever

So I truly don’t understand all of your ways. I never will this side of heaven. I can’t figure out the future. I can’t dictate what will happen in the next moment, much less the following years. Sure, I can influence by my actions, but there is no way I can see how the dominoes will fall. I also know that I cannot undo all of the things I’ve done wrong–to you or to others. I simply need grace and to learn from those mistakes so I won’t do it again.

I see a world looking for an answer but I don’t know what for
When will we realize that we’re sinners in the hands of a loving God who came
And died and wants to set us free
Oh how he longs to be with you and me
And if we waited on the truth to change
We would be waiting here forever

This is just kind of an exasperated moment. I think the writer is even exasperated with himself. He uses the collective “we” in the second line. But we do. We pursue happiness. We pursue self-fulfillment. We pursue peace. We pursue what essentially turn out to be the fruits of your Spirit, but we try to grow them by planting our seeds in rocks and thorns. In fact, I really enjoyed the Apple TV+ show Ted Lasso, and a lot of people who watched it loved it. It finally occurred to me that it was teaching pursuing the fruits of the Spirit. The problem is that it was doing it apart from you so it needed a contrived television script to pull it off. People are hungering for your fruit. They just don’t want to humble themselves and risk losing themselves. What they do not realize is that surrender brings them to a freedom through which they can find themselves.

Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit, my Triune God, I give you all my praise and worship. Thank you that your grace is never gonna change and your will always remain, and your love is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Amen

 
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Posted by on July 28, 2023 in Galatians, Hymns and Songs, Matthew

 

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“Rattle!” by Zach Williams & Steven Furtick

13 Jul

“Rattle!” by Zach Williams and Steven Furtick

Saturday was silent
Surely it was through
But since when has impossible
Ever stopped You

Friday’s disappointment
Is Sunday’s empty tomb?
Since when has impossible
Ever stopped You?

This is the sound of dry bones rattling
This is the praise make a dead man walk again
Open the grave, I’m coming out
I’m gonna live, gonna live again
This is the sound of dry bones rattling

Pentecostal fire
Stirring something new
You’re not gonna run out of miracles
Anytime soon

Yeah, resurrection power
It runs in my veins, too
I believe there’s another miracle
Here in this room!

This is the sound of dry bones rattling
This is the praise make a dead man walk again
Open the grave, I’m coming out
I’m gonna live, gonna live again
This is the sound of dry bones rattling

My God is able to save and deliver and heal
And restore anything that He wants to
Just ask the man who was thrown
On the bones of Elisha
If there’s anything that He can’t do
Just ask the stone that was rolled
At the tomb in the garden
What happens when God says to move

I feel Him moving it now
I feel Him doing it now
I feel Him doing it now
Do it now
Do it now

This is the sound of dry bones rattling
Yeah, this is the praise make a dead man walk again
Open the grave, I’m coming out
I’m gonna live, gonna live again
Open the grave, I’m coming out
I’m gonna live, gonna live again
Open the grave, I’m coming out
I’m gonna live, gonna live again
This is the sound of dry bones rattling

So I prophesied as I was commanded
And as I was prophesying, there was a noise
A rattling sound and the bones came together
Bone to bone
I look, and tendons and flesh appeared on them
And skin covered them but there was no breath in them
Then He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath
Prophesy son of man and sing to it”
This is what the sovereign Lord says
“Come breath from the four winds and breathe
Into this land, today live!”

Live!
Live!
Dry bones
Hear the word of the Lord!

Live! (Live!)
Live! (Live!)
Dry bones
Hear the word of the Lord!

Live! (Live!)
Live! (Live!)
Dry bones
Hear the word of the Lord!

Live! (Live!)
Live! (Live!)
Live! (Live!)

Oh, this is the sound of dry bones rattling
Yeah, this is the praise make a dead man walk again
Open the grave, I’m coming out
I’m gonna live, gonna live again
Open the grave, I’m coming out
I’m gonna live, gonna live again
Open the grave, I’m coming out
I’m gonna live, gonna live again
This is the sound of dry bones rattling

Dear God, I feel hopeless. I feel like I’m experiencing “Friday’s disappointment.” Can you really turn this into Sunday’s empty tomb? This song is so hopeful. I feel like I need to just drive with it playing in my car and sing it as loud as I can. I know this is the second time I’ve ever done a prayer journal to it, but I didn’t feel this much despair last time. Right now, I feel desperate. I feel hopeless. Is there really hope?

Then there’s my role in all of this. What do I do next? How can I go from here? I know what my human heart wants to do. What do you want me to do?

Holy Spirit, I need your counsel. I need your light. I need your help. I need you to speak to me. I need you to speak through me. I am truly empty. Fill me, please.

I pray all of this in the name of the one true God,

Amen

 
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Posted by on July 13, 2023 in Hymns and Songs

 

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