Lord, Speak to Me That I May Speak
Lord, speak to me that I may speak
In living echoes of Thy tone;
As Thou has sought, so let me seek
Thine erring children lost and lone.O lead me, Lord, that I may lead
The wandering and the wavering feet;
O feed me, Lord, that I may feed
Thy hungering ones with manna sweet.O strengthen me, that while I stand
Firm on the rock, and strong in Thee,
I may stretch out a loving hand
To wrestlers with the troubled sea.O teach me, Lord, that I may teach
The precious things Thou dost impart;
And wing my words, that they may reach
The hidden depths of many a heart.O give Thine own sweet rest to me,
That I may speak with soothing power
A word in season, as from Thee,
To weary ones in needful hour.O fill me with Thy fullness, Lord,
Until my very heart overflow
In kindling thought and glowing word,
Thy love to tell, Thy praise to show.O use me, Lord, use even me,
Just as Thou wilt, and when, and where,
Until Thy blessèd face I see,
Thy rest, Thy joy, Thy glory share.
Author : Frances R. Havergal
“I will help you speak and teach you what to say.” Exodus 4:12
I was thinking of choosing some of the stanzas only for this post, but I really couldn’t make up my mind. All are equally meaningful, important, and so complementary of each other that I dare not even take out one stanza.
I love the spirit of this song, the attitude demanded by the author to those singing this hymn. To humbly acknowledge that without His grace, His mercy, His power, His love, we are nothing, we are so useless and yet even if we have received all those, we do not stop right there, we ask to be blessed so that we can be blessings for others until we see His blessed face and share the rapture soon.
The music used is by Robert Schumann, and in my opinion, it was really a wise choice. Well, looking at the starting tune itself, which is something like : D B B B C’ B A G A B. Note the three similar notes, which may be interpreted as the Trinity. When we pray, when we ask, we ask from God the Father to fill us with the Holy Spirit such that we can grow to be more like God the Son, Jesus Christ. This can be portrayed by the tune C’ B A which is descending from above (heaven blessings), G A B, ascending such that we who have received those blessings, may be blessings to others such as to reflect His glory (up to Heaven). The best attitude in making ourselves blessings to others is that we do not hope they remember us, but they remember the One who has first blessed us.
The last stanza is particularly reminding us of our position in Him. Remember Isaiah when he first saw the Lord and the cherubim. He felt dirty, unworthy, sinful. For God to want to use someone like him, he thought, was far from deserving because of his status, therefore he was all ready when God wanted to use him. Now, if the Lord want to use, even us, those who fail to be obedient all the time, those who keep hurting Him, those unworthy, dirty and undeserving, are we equally ready to say “Here I am, Lord.” ?
Every hour, every minute, every second, every moment, we need the Lord. We need His constant grace, power, wisdom, care, and presence. O Lord, give us hearts that yearn Thee constantly. Amen
Tuhan Ajarlah Aku Berdoa (Lord, Teach Me How to Pray)
Tuhan ajar aku berdoa
‘gar ku peka kan kehendakmu
Tolongku serahkan semua
seg’nap hati setia ikutMu
Dalam hidup penuh pencobaan
b’ri kekuatan ingat firmanMu
Air Hidup penuhi hatiku
rendah hati melayaniMu
Author and Composer : Billy Kristanto , 2003
I remember this song having the English version of it but I am having trouble searching for it. So for now I should just provide the word by word translation :
God teach me to pray
such that I’m sensitive to Your will
Help me surrender all
Whole-heartedly faithfully following You
In this life full of trials
give us strength to remember Your Words
Living Water, fill my heart
Humbly to serve You
The words and music combine humility and desire to be closer to God. Someone once said that prayer is the breath of every Christians’ lives. It is communicating with Our Father in heaven, a testimony of our connection with God. For communicating always involves two sides, reciprocating. We pray, then, not only to cast our burden, problems, petitions on Him, and not to have it our way, but to ask for us being more in tune with His will.
Analyzing the music is even more interesting. It really shows that this is not just another piece of music which is nice to the ear, but it really shows strong doctrine, composed by someone who wants to convey His Word through his music.
For instance, the refrain’s first line, he introduces a change of key from F major to A minor (pardon me if I’m wrong). In layman language, major probably is happy and minor probably is sad. However, the next line, there’s key change back to F major again. I interpret this as eventhough life can be full of trials and there seemed to be no hope for people of this world, we have our hope in Christ, who will give us strength if we ask for it, strength to remember His Words, for it is the word of the ultimate source of wisdom and it contains His heart’s contents.
Note too, where the word ‘humbly’ comes in, the singer will find himself singing a very low note, not only expressing that we have to lower ourselves in His Presence, but it really does take effort to do that, considering our fallen nature, our ego, our pride, and all the foolishness this world is teaching us these days.
not what my hands have done
-
- Not what my hands have done can save my guilty soul;
- Not what my toiling flesh has borne can make my spirit whole.
- Not what I feel or do can give me peace with God;
- Not all my prayers and sighs and tears can bear my awful load.
- Your voice alone, O Lord, can speak to me of grace;
- Your power alone, O Son of God, can all my sin erase.
- No other work but Yours, no other blood will do;
- No strength but that which is divine can bear me safely through.
Thy work alone, O Christ, can ease this weight of sin;
Thy blood alone, O Lamb of God, can give me peace within.
Thy love to me, O God, not mine, O Lord, to Thee,
Can rid me of this dark unrest, And set my spirit free.
I bless the Christ of God; I rest on love divine;
And with unfaltering lip and heart I call this Savior mine.
His cross dispels each doubt; I bury in His tomb
Each thought of unbelief and fear, each lingering shade of gloom.
- I praise the Christ of God; I rest on love divine;
- And with unfaltering lip and heart I call this Savior mine.
- My Lord has saved my life and freely pardon gives;
- I love because He first loved me, I live because He lives.
- Author : Horatius Bonar, 1861
- This less popular piece of hymn was written by Bonar, the author of “What a Friend We Have in Jesus”.
- I was introduced to this hymn when I was attending a sunday service in my church and the four choral soloists there sung this hymn very beautifully. The lyrics were also shown using two projectors and two big screens. Not only is the tune so sincere and gentle, but when they finished singing the hymn, ending with the last sentence, I was moved to tears.
- Sometimes we nod our head along when preachers told us that salvation is by grace alone. We act as if we’ve heard that ten thousand times, so boring, can’t they preach some other stuff. We fail to reflect what it is really about. I guess the lyrics itself say much about what to reflect.
- Who are we, really? We always think we are something, think that the world needs us, and even worse still, that the Lord needs us.
- I remember my preacher one said about how God has changed Moses through out his life.
- He once thought he was “something” in his first forty years on earth, living in a palace and all.
- God made him “nothing” in his forty years in the deserts.
- Until he realized that God is “everything” for the rest of his life.
- It is when we have nothing to boast, that we realize the One who deserves all the boasting, all the honor and glory.
sweet hour of prayer
Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
That calls me from a world of care,
And bids me at my Father’s throne
Make all my wants and wishes known.
In seasons of distress and grief,
My soul has often found relief
And oft escaped the tempter’s snare
By thy return, sweet hour of prayer!
Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
The joys I feel, the bliss I share,
Of those whose anxious spirits burn
With strong desires for thy return!
With such I hasten to the place
Where God my Savior shows His face,
And gladly take my station there,
And wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer!
I chose this hymn while I was MC-ing for the first time at a fellowship. The main reason of me deciding is because this hymn and the meaning it comes with really reprimanded me. Prayers may seem like something very simple and very easy to do, but prayers demand consistency, faith and obedience to Him.
The author of this hymn is a mystery and researchers speculated William Walford to be the author though it sort of contradicts the “note” accompanying the submission of this piece of hymn to a certain publisher.
However, the greater mystery should be why Peter couldn’t stay awake while Jesus was praying in Gethsemane? Why can’t the disciples enjoy their last few hours with Jesus, their Master? If prayers, direct relationship with God are so sweet, so wonderful, why do we always go through our days prayerless and only squeeze a few of our petitions and wants to the few minutes of prayer before bedtime?
Indeed, the author says it correctly. This world is really a world of care. Everyone has their own needs to be satisfied, their own anxiousness, worries and sufferings. In fact, they may be too common that people tend to forget that they have a God who promises as such :
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7
So often we have found relief through our prayers, but we took them for granted, we sigh again, we complain again. I pray that we too, will have the similar spirit as the author of this hymn, who has a heart that longs for more private time with the Lord. Not to let Him wait for us, but we should “station” ourselves there and always look for opportunities to spend time with Him.
I chose the image because that is sort of what I was imagining when singing this hymn. God is the moon, the only source of light at that night, and I was alone in that boat, in the midst of the calmness of the ocean, with only the light as my company. Feeling the breeze, the greatness of the Lord and the closeness of my everlasting Friend.
Search me o God
Search me, O God,
And know my heart today;
Try me, O Savior,
Know my thoughts, I pray.
See if there be
Some wicked way in me;
Cleanse me from every sin
And set me free.
I praise Thee, Lord,
For cleansing me from sin;
Fulfill Thy Word,
And make me pure within.
Fill me with fire
Where once I burned with shame;
Grant my desire
To magnify Thy Name.
Lord, take my life,
And make it wholly Thine;
Fill my poor heart
With Thy great love divine.
Take all my will,
My passion, self and pride;
I now surrender, Lord
In me abide.
O Holy Ghost,
Revival comes from Thee;
Send a revival,
Start the work in me.
Thy Word declares
Thou wilt supply our need;
For blessings now,
O Lord, I humbly plead.
A wonderful hymn. One that makes us reflect again and again. Just when we thought that we are in the “okay” zone as christians, we should always ask God to search us and purify our hearts, teach us to be aware of schemes of the evil ones.
I love the tune to this hymn, because to me, it sounded very personal, very close to the heart. Who else can search our heart completely if not for our creator, God Himself?
The last stanza must, however, be correctly interpreted and understood. With blessings, come responsibilities. God’s grace should always couple with our responsibilites such that revival can be completed in us.
