Matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers – Saturday, July 11, 2015
There’s a Sweet Spirit in This Place
Holy Spirit. Heavenly Dove. Third member of the Trinity. So mysterious, yet so needful. You are a presence, a comforter, a helper to me. Coming alongside of me, helping me even when I am not sure You are there. I mean, here. I mean to say, with me.
These verses from this chapter of Praying the New Testament as Psalms intrigue me. They surprise me. Not because of the content backing up these modern verses, which I’ve known so well for decades. But, because of the format.
I was taken aback when I considered this to be such a moving psalm. (Yes, it is a modern adaptation, it is a psalm!) However, I’ve always seen these as more intellectual statements, printed in the New Testament. (And, sometimes, the transition to another format is quite a shake to the systems.)
Here’s a verse I felt was incredibly moving, adapted from the Gospel of Luke: “Send me to proclaim release to the captives,/recovery of sight to the blind,/and to let the oppressed go free.”[1] I know when Jesus read these words in the Hebrew Scriptures, He knew exactly how and when He was going to fulfill those words. I do not. However, as I read them in this different format, Luke’s words were packed with new meaning for me. Fresh import. I mean,
Sweet Holy Spirit, You seem to be the quiet one, the restful one. I know there is so much going on under Your mysterious surface. Holy Spirit, help me to act in a courageous way, in keeping with You and Your purposes. Lead me in a powerful way, ready to follow Your will and Your ways. I pray these words in Jesus’ risen name, amen.
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[1] Praying the New Testament as Psalms, Desmond O’Donnell, OMI, and Maureen Mohen, RSM, (United States of America: ACTA Publications, 2002.), 100.
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