Seeking, finding, and doing God’s will
Jerry Flora, a faithful friend, posted these lines of a prayer from antiquity. "Grant me, O Lord, to know what I ought to know, to love what I ought to love, to praise what delights you most.” (Thomas a Kempis, 1379-1471, Dutch monk, alt.).
For several years I served as organist/choir director in the Episcopal Church where I discovered the richness of written prayers. I have friends I’ll never meet this side of eternity, but my faith has grown as I revisit and inwardly digest the words of Isaac Watts, Charles Wesley, Martin Luther and many other saints of old. We don’t sing and read their lyrics because they’re old; we revisit them because they’re good and relevant today.
I want to love what I ought to love and praise what I ought to praise. I’m convinced that what I feed grows and what I starve dies. My life is shaped by what I see, hear, and inwardly digest. This includes my choice of entertainment, what I read, and the people I befriend. The parts of our being are inextricably linked. Our bodies hear and respond to the words we speak and the thoughts we entertain.
In Philippians 4:8 Paul admonishes the people to think about things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and praiseworthy. In verse 9 he tells them to practice what you have received, and the God of peace will be with you.
JB Phillips translated Romans 12:1 in a refreshing way, “Don’t let the world squeeze you into its own mold, but let God re-mold [or shape] your minds from within.” The words of scripture and song not only shape our minds, they provide fuel and inspiration to carry on during hard times.
During the past six months of rehab for Linda, my wife, I’ve often listened to, played and sung the words of scripture and song. Sometimes it’s not a church song. Irving Berlin wrote a wonderful love song called Always. “I’ll be loving you always…not for just an hour, not for just a day, not for just a year, but always.”
I frequently ponder and share these words of wisdom from Dan Allan, Pastor at Grace Church. “When hard days come, you do the things you said you’d do on the day you said, I do.”
During difficult days we’ve been blessed by the prayers and expressions of love from our pastor and friends at Ashland Brethren in Christ and from other churches.
Recently, at a funeral for Norman Wynn, the pastor shared a question that Norm often asked, “What do people do in hard times when they’re living without an active faith in God?” It’s important to put first things first. In Matthew 6:25-32 we read about all the things we tend to worry about and seek after in this life. Instead, Jesus said, “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well" (v. 36). He also said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you’ll have the light that leads to life.” (Matthew 5:16).
Ron Sprunger, Professor emeritus at Ashland Seminary and member of Ashland Brethren in Christ
This article originally appeared on Ashland Times Gazette: Prayer can help center the Christian life
