More Love to Thee O Christ

Yesterday's worship service was one of the most inspiring services I've experienced lately. As we sang songs by Chris Tomlin and other modern worship artists, I was blown away by God's greatness. However, it was the words found in Elizabeth Prentiss' hymn that caught my attention most.

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!

Once earthly joy I craved, sought peace and rest;
Now Thee alone I seek, give what is best.
This all my prayer shall be: More love, O Christ to Thee;
More love to Thee, more love to Thee!

Let sorrow do its work, come grief or pain;
Sweet are Thy messengers, sweet their refrain,
When they can sing with me: More love, O Christ, to Thee;
More love to Thee, more love to Thee!

Then shall my latest breath whisper Thy praise;
This be the parting cry my heart shall raise;
This still its prayer shall be: More love, O Christ to Thee;
More love to Thee, more love to Thee!

I found it easy to sing along as we praised God for his greatness and his strength, but as I read over these words pleading with our heavenly Father to turn my heart towards him and to give me the ability to love Him more I struggled to sing along. Not because I didn't agree completely with what was being said, but because I was amazed at the conviction and passion that drove the original author. As I've thought over the words this morning, I wanted to know a little bit about the women that wrote this song. So with the help of google here's what I found.

The History Behind the Hymn

Elizabeth Payson Prentiss came from a family steeped in faith. Her father, Edward Payson, was a famous and beloved Congregational minister. Her husband was a Presbyterian minister and seminary professor.

Elizabeth struggled with insomnia and severe headaches for her entire life. After the loss of two children in short succession, Elizabeth’s frail health was nearly broken and she cried out in her distress “Our home is broken up, our lives wrecked, our hopes shattered, our dreams dissolved, I don’t think I can stand living for another moment.” (Peterson, William J. and Ardythe. The Complete Book of Hymns: Inspiring Stories About 600 Hymns and Praise Songs. Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. 2006. page: 348)

May we all have the faith to plead with our Father during tough times to give us the ability and strength to have more love for Him.

Clinging to God in Solitude

For the past couple of days I've been pondering what life has been like after great loss. This past Sunday marked one year after Brian died. Although Brian wasn't a blood brother, he meant the same to me. In my mind I just always had two brothers, Will and Brian. At first there was sorrow, then confusion, anger, and finally acceptance. Now, there are the memories that I cherish and the moments when I just miss him.

Over the past year I've experienced other loses too. There seems to be a handful of loved ones over the past year that have moved on from my life and with their moving I've experienced a similar emotional process; sorrow, confusion, anger, and then finally acceptance. But I've also recognized what Henri Nouwen calls my need to cling to God in my Solitude.

When we enter into solitude to be with God alone, we quickly discover how dependent we are. Without the many distractions of our daily lives, we feel anxious and tense. When nobody speaks to us, calls on us, or needs our help, we start feeling like nobodies. Then we begin wondering whether we are useful, valuable, and significant. Our tendency is to leave this fearful solitude quickly and get busy again to reassure ourselves that we are "somebodies." But that is a temptation, because what makes us somebodies is not other people's responses to us but God's eternal love for us. To claim the truth of ourselves we have to cling to our God in solitude as to the One who makes us who we are.

Although this quote does not speak to the depth of pain one goes through when they have lost someone, it does give us a clear picture of how we can respond. When there is a void in our lives we often find ourselves in circumstances just like Henri Nouwen describes. We don't want to be alone. In fact, we find anyone and anything to help us run away from those moments of Solitude. There's this tendency to become dependent upon people's presences, drugs, alcohol, and even working out, rather than facing our loneliness and recognizing God's presence in the midst of it. There's a Relient K song that over the years has always spoken to me when I'm struggling to believe and trust that clinging to God through these times of almost forced solitude.


It is my prayer that as we all experience times of pain and lose that we turn our eyes to the one that can heal us and fill those empty spots in our hearts. Cling to the words found in Psalms and remember the end will justify the pain it took to get us there.

Brandy

Seeing and Praying for the Miraculous

As I continue to pray that the Lord would be my voice and the words that I speak would just be a microphone launching words full of grace and mercy, I am reminded that God can and will do the miraculous. My church is currently reading through the new testament, we just finished Mark and Acts. These two books sparked within me this deep desire to continue to not only trust and believe that Jesus came to earth to demonstrate just how miraculous His strength, wisdom, and understanding really is, but also how we as children walking with the Holy Spirit have been granted that great strength, wisdom, and understanding also.

In Mark we see Jesus as a healer, exorcist, chef/baker, and rabbi. (O and mind reader...) We also see His closest disciples being sent out with authority to cast out demons and anointing many sick people with oil and healing them. (Mark 6:13) Which in Acts we see the disciples (now including Paul) having received great wisdom and understanding in order to preach in front of thousands the gospel of Jesus Christ. How is it that they can speak in tongues, heal the lame and brake out of prison with such little effort.
It's at this point in the disciples story that I hear Christ's words in Mark all over again, "And He was saying to them, 'Do you not yet understand?" (Mark 8:21) In Mark we are given just a taste of the strength of the Holy Spirit. But in Acts we see these disciples functioning and performing great feats because they had received the Holy Spirit and finally understood the purpose of Jesus' blood sacrifice. It's amazing to me that not only do we see the disciples praying and walking in the power of the Holy Spirit, but we also see those that believed their words speaking in tongues and prophesying.

"And I remember the word of the Lord, how He used to say, 'John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.' Therefore if God gave them the same gift as He gave to us also after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God's way?" (Acts 11:16-17)

These Gentiles repented and desired to lead lives that were sold out for the cause of Christ, because of this they too were granted the ability to see and pray into existence the miraculous. Acts ends with Paul acknowledging that it's not just the disciples and new believers that have been granted the Holy Spirit but we have seen throughout history men and women who have been walking in the power of the Spirit, proclaiming the desires of our most Holy God for all to return to Him and be healed. (Isaiah, Jeremiah, and King David are just a few.)

So how does this connect with my prayers of seeing and praying for the miraculous? It's the whole point and purpose of my prayers. Although Jesus pointed out that this generation just kept looking for a sign to believe in Him and He didn't seem too thrilled by this fact, it didn't stop Him from still revealing Himself in this way. Sometimes I think it's okay to approach the throne of God with requests like the father who's boy was demon possessed, "I do believe; help my unbelief." (Mark 9:24) There are days where my faith in God's ability to break through life's circumstances is smaller than a mustard see. It's that father's statement that helps get me through those tough times.

It is my prayer that as I seek God for the miraculous and continue to pray that the Holy Spirit would be given more authority over different areas of my life that I would see God in great and powerful ways. That I would be aware of not only the obviously miraculous but also the hidden miracles of life like the breath that I just took. Praying that you too would experience God in miraculous ways today.

B