HYMN FOR PENTECOST 7 Lord Listen to your Children Praying
- Gracia Grindal
- 14 hours ago
- 3 min read
Tune and Text: Ken Medema (1943-)
For copyright reason I cannot quote the text, but it is easily available.
REFLECTION:
Jesus teaches the disciples about prayer, and in this lesson we hear Luke’s version of the Lord’s Prayer, plus other advice on praying. Prayer is our relationship with God. In the parable God is compared to an earthly father, who gives good things to his children, despite his failings. If a fallible human father can do that, how much more can our heavenly father do, Jesus asks?
In his creation, God provides all the things we need and for this we owe him thanks. And as good farmers know, we also can pray for rain and sunny weather which God bestows on the just and the unjust. As the daughter of farm kids who knew how intimately they lived with nature and its gifts, I keep a close eye on the weather, always looking west for the rain or sunshine. I watched my parents and grandparents do so throughout my life and understood in their sighs and prayers how much indeed we need from the Lord through the weather.
While now we can ship food from places that had a good crop to places where they did not, thus avoiding starvation, we still are dependent on the graces of God.
But more, we trust God to be benevolent in nature, but we also know that he cares for us as we live our lives. Our health, our relationships, our faith. Prayer is our telling God exactly how we feel and think, all that we need and want. We can bring the smallest things to God. Here in this song we pray that he will listen, knowing that he does. We cry out for help when we or others are sick and dying. We are appalled by mass violence and war and pray for peace.
I think of telephone calls to friends. Even today as we are walking along the street, we notice people talking, not to themselves, but to friends on their cell phones. What they are saying, if we overhear, may be trivial, but it keeps the relationship alive. God already knows everything about us, but prayer helps us to realize how much we need from him. That works a goodness in our lives because it keeps us in touch with the source of all good and love. Listen to your children praying.
HYMN INFO
Ken Medema, born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, was born blind and early on began studying music. He graduated from Michigan State University where he studied to become a music therapist. He began writing hymns that spoke to the situations of his young students. From there he moved on to writing and performing his songs. He created the Briar Patch Music company and has published almost 30 CDs of his music. He has traveled far and wide with his music. This hymn is easy to sing and remember so we can lose ourselves in it and repeat it over and over again without reading it. Its mantra character frees us to lose ourselves in the moment of prayer. Often the worship leader will insert prayers in between its repetition and the congregation will repeat the refrain again and again.
LINKS
Ken Medema playing and singing with choir
Spring Hill Choir
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
At the end of this week you can buy my latest book. Click on this link.
