"Pray" | Reflection by Eleanor Q. Tignor

“Take it to the Lord in prayer.”  When I was growing up, we had a Sunday morning tradition in our home.  Before sitting down for breakfast together, our father instructed us to kneel to say the Lord’s prayer.  After we had all knelt in prayer, our mother said grace, and then we had breakfast. Next, we got dressed up for Sunday school and church.  My mother sang in the choir.

A hymn sung frequently in our Methodist church was “What A Friend We Have in Jesus”:

“What a Friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear!/What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer!/O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear,/All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.”

“Have we trials and temptations?  Is there trouble anywhere?/We should never be discouraged; take it to the Lord in prayer./Can we find a friend so faithful who will all our sorrows share?/Jesus knows our every weakness; take it to the Lord in prayer.”

“Are we weak and heavy laden, cumbered with a load of care?/Precious Savior, still our refuge, take it to the Lord in prayer./Do your friends despise, forsake you?  Take it to the Lord in prayer!/In His arms He’ll take and shield you; you will find a solace there.”

This hymn was written by a man named Joseph M. Scriven, in 1855.  He wrote it “to comfort his mother.”  I find it to be a comfort at all times and often a lead in to prayer.  I have three hymnals from which I may read it, but my most comforting way to experience it is through listening to a CD entitled “Songs of Inspiration,” originally owned by Leonard Goss, for many years an assistant to Walden Moore.  I was blessed to see it and purchase it at a Trinity Holiday Bazaar about ten years ago.

So, always pray for guidance and support.  Seek “the counsel of Jesus” in “life’s turbulent times.”  “Take it to the Lord in prayer.” Thanks be to thee!

Words in the Wilderness - Walk through the season of Lent with Trinity, one word at a time. Every day (except on Sundays) we will post a photo and a brief refection written by someone in our Trinity community. https://www.trinitynewhaven.org/words-in-the-wilderness