Tag: passion

Posted in Through the Bible Devotions

Passion, confidence, and anticipation

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Priscilla Du Preez 🇨🇦 on Unsplash

A “through the bible” devotion from Psalms 3, 4, and 5.

There’s passion, confidence, and expectation in the prayers and songs of these psalms.

  • “I cried aloud to the Lord…Arise O Lord! Save me, O my God!” (Psalm 3:4, 7).
  • “The Lord hears when I call to him (Psalm 4:3).
  • “O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch” (Psalm 5:3).

In these psalms, David audibly voices cries for help. After falling asleep, he rises with anticipation of God’s presence and steadfast love. His tone of voice is different than I typically hear in prayer. It’s different from my typical prayers.

Think about it. How much passion do you hear in prayer? Confidence? Anticipation? Not much. Certainly not much compared to David’s words. You may disagree, but most prayer sounds rote, listless, timid, vanilla, and generic. Too often my own sound that way.

First of all, that’s okay. In Romans, Paul admits he doesn’t know how to pray. Thank goodness for the Spirit who intercedes for us, who translates our awkward words into powerful prayers. (Romans 8:26,27).

Next, I believe we worry too much about what others will think of our prayers. Don’t. It’s not about them, but the Lord. You don’t need to infuse your prayer with a doctrinal statement. Just speak from your heart.

Finally, just read some psalms. They have a way of spawning the passion, confidence, and anticipation we may have lost somewhere along the way. Imagine sitting there with David as he sang about his experiences.

You’ve got the words. Just sing along. And then add your own stanza here or there.

Posted in Life

The holy week experience

Posted on by William Douthwaite

When I was growing up, attending church for all the services of holy week was a given. On Thursday we remembered the institution of the Lord’s Supper. On Friday, we came at both noon, remembering the time Jesus spent on the cross, and again in the evening, as candles were extinguished and the church became eerily dark. On Sunday, we were up for a sunrise service and then another service later in the morning.

It’s always a challenge for me to remember that many have not grown up with these traditions, so it does not occur to them to come to church on any day other than Sunday. I have to remind myself to walk them through the passion of our Lord, rather than assuming they know it, for many just don’t know the story. If we don’t get a chance to pause and think of the agonizing prayer in the garden, the betrayal and denial, the false charges, the cries and “crucify him,” and the cruel nails of crucifixion, we may miss some of the impact of the resurrection, too.

I owe my parents and the church I grew up in a debt of gratitude for making sure I got the complete experience of holy week. I hope I get a chance to pass that along to others.