I read this today and felt my heart scream...Sing it again... I hope this speaks to you as much as it did me.
Keeping Company With God
One of the passages of scripture that I never get tired of hearing, reading, or studying is found in Isaiah 43:1-5. Though the passage is describing the redemption of Israel, as I read the words, I find my own redemption being described. As my eyes pass over the words, phrases catch my attention and capture my heart:
Thus says the Lord…He who formed you…Do not fear…I have redeemed you…I have called you by name…You are Mine! …I will be with you…I am the Lord your God…Your Savior…You are precious in my sight…You are honored…I love you…Do not fear….
Though I read that passage a thousand times, my heart cries out, Sing it again. Those words of scripture never grow old. Like God’s promises, they are new every morning. Yet despite their freshness and life, distraction still gets the best of me.
As followers of God, sometimes I think that our greatest challenge is not having too little information but too much. The Bible makes it clear that God wants us to be able to recognize his voice.
Scripture overflows with examples of God speaking to his people. Adam, Eve, Abraham, Moses, David, Samuel, and Noah all experienced ongoing dialogue with God. Yet God doesn’t just speak to the big-name, biblical-equivalent of rock stars; he spoke to Cain regarding his countenance, Hagar regarding her son, and Ananias regarding a blind persecutor of the church. Meanwhile, Jesus personalized the idea of conversation with God. He demonstrated through his life that hearing God’s voice was more of an expectation than an exception.
I believe that we will never be better able to discern God’s voice from the other voices as quickly, concisely, or accurately than when we spend time in God’s Word. This is where God most often sings it again. Published as the greatest love letter of all time, the Bible is a soul-wrenching invitation to a real relationship with the one who can love us like no other. Whether we read the words in an ancient or modern translation or download an audio version on our iPod, God’s Word breathes life and hope. Specific passages provide the correction and direction we need. When we allow the words of God to come alive in our hearts, they unleash an unmistakable transforming power in our attitudes and actions.
One of my all-time favorite definitions of prayer comes from Clement of Alexandria who simply described the divine activity as “keeping company with God.” Not only are we servants of God, but by his grace he has also made us friends, so that we serve him out of gratitude. Through prayer, we partner with God in the work he is doing throughout the earth.
Through prayer, God invites us to sing the song of our lives to him—every word and every phrase—and he even enjoys the chorus. Prayer matters. Sometimes that’s easy to forget, especially when I don’t see any answers, or worse, when I receive an answer I didn’t really want. Yet the invitation remains:
Sing it again.
I am beginning to believe the real beauty of prayer is not just in the request but in the repetition. Something wondrous happens when we respond to the admonition of Paul to pray without ceasing. Something enchanting happens when we ask God for something more than once, as if with each refrain, our heart aligns itself a shade closer to God’s heart. It’s almost as if something sacred happens in the echo of our prayers. Through prayer we become part of a greater story—the story of what God is doing in our lives, our families, our communities, and around the world.
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