scripture and prayer reflection
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Lyrics
I buried myself in a hundred books
And I can't see out
Nor can I breathe out
I'm struggling to make sense of simple words
And I can't mold them
Nor can I hold them
So Love
Teach me Your way
Teach me to pray
Love
Sing in me Your song
That I'll be made strong
When all the world crumbles around me
Lead me to goodness and teach me justice
And when my world crumbles inside of me
Lead me to grace and teach me my name
Love
Teach me Your way
Teach me to pray
Love
Sing in me Your song
That I'll be made strong
Romans 8:26-27
26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
Luke 11:1-4, 11-13
1 Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” 2 And he said to them, “When you pray, say:
“Father, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come.
3 Give us each day our daily bread,
4 and forgive us our sins,
for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us.
And lead us not into temptation.”
11 What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; 12 or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
John 14:25-27
25 “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. 26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.
Reflection
At times it can be hard to know what to pray. When we feel overwhelmed by our surrounding circumstances, when we’re at a loss for words in the face of evil or pain, when we feel stuck or confused about what to do, even wondering if there is anything we can do, it can be hard to know what to say, even with God.
This song captures that lost feeling, opening with the difficulty of hanging onto and putting words to what the singer is wanting to articulate. The song turns to a prayer for the God of Love to teach him and shape him. As followers of Jesus, we have His Spirit in us, to intercede for us when we do not know what to pray. We can lean into His holding us even when we have no words.
The song continues by reflecting both on outward and inward crumbling. When everything external is not as it should be, the singer asks that the Spirit would lead him to what will resist and hold back evil. When everything internal is collapsing in, the singer asks to be led to a grounding for his identity as God’s child. The Spirit not only intercedes for us, but He also teaches us, using all things - even painful wrongs - to shape us and grow us as we entrust ourselves to Him.
Though describing difficult realities, the tone throughout the song is one of quiet stillness, of dependence and trust. The whole piece is full of requests - for learning and growing, for goodness and justice, for grace and grounding, for strength. And yet, the requests are made with that undergirding tone of quiet trust that God does not give begrudgingly, but out of His abundant love. As Jesus invites us to do in His prayer, we can ask for what we need, each day.
Take some time to reflect on your own life. When have there been times when it was difficult to know what to pray, or how to articulate what you were experiencing? What is it like knowing that God enjoys giving good gifts? When has that been hard to trust? What made it difficult to believe in that time? What would it look like to lean into entrusting yourself to God’s plans and His ideas of what you need each day? Talk with God about what comes up.
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