PrayerThots Devotional

Dear Friends,
We have ended our third series
of weekday topical devotion
on Praising God thro Hymns
following two earlier series on
Adoring God thro Thanksgiving
& Knowing God thro His Names.
Praising God is the key reason for
our existence for we were made
to worship Him! And hymns with
their meaningful lyrics are great
means to give due glory to God!!
Hope that the backgrounder and
the scripture inspiring the hymns
have enhanced your emotional
understanding of the hymns;
and together with the application
prayers help raise your worship to
God to a higher level than before.
Continue reading “Imploring God thro His Promises (Nov 13)”

A Wedding Song of Love
(Prayer Walk thro Song of S 1-8)

Backgrounder: Song of Songs
is a wedding song honouring
marriage. The most explicit
statements on sex in the Bible
can be found in this book.
It has been often criticised thro
the centuries because of its
sensuous language. The purity &
sacredness of love represented
here are greatly needed in our
day where distorted attitudes
about love and marriage abound.
God created sex and intimacy,
and they are holy and good
when enjoyed within the bounds
of marriage. A husband and wife
honor God when they love
and enjoy each other.
Continue reading “Praying thro Song of Songs (Nov12)”

All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name

Backgrounder: Edward Perronet
(1726-1792) was not an easy
person to get along with. After
being a minister in the Anglican
Church for some time, he became
fed up with what he felt was the
church’s “Nonsense” and joined
with the Wesleys. As a Methodist
he faced persecution. Perronet
soon broke with the Wesleys over
the issue of who could administer
the sacraments. He joined a group
called the Connexion but later
broke with then as well. It was
as this majestic hymn. Whether
Perronet intended or not,
the hymn points to the time all
believers in Christ- irregardless
of petty disagreements will join
together in a celestial chorus.
Continue reading “Prayer Thot for the Day (Nov 10)”

Victory in Jesus
Backgrounder: Eugene Bartlett
was born in December 1885 in
Missouri and grew up in Arkansas.
He was educated as a music
teacher at Hall-Moody Institute
in Tennessee and William Jewell
College in Missouri. In 1918,
he established Hartford Music
Company. Over his career, Bartlett
wrote more than 800 songs.
In 1939, Bartlett had a stroke
that left him partially paralyzed.
After the stroke he was bed ridden.
Bartlett continued to study his Bible
during this difficult time. Although
he dealt with the physical strains,
he also looked towards the eternal
victory he knew was approaching.
During this difficult time after his
stroke, Bartlett wrote the words
to Victory in Jesus, which was the
final song he wrote. The hymn is
an optimistic reminder of the hope
of heaven. In the second stanza,
there are references to the
healing ministry of Christ.
Continue reading “Prayer Thot for the Day (Nov 9)”

We Shall Overcome

Backgrounder: We Shall Overcome
is synonymous with the African
American Civil Rights Movement
(1955-1968). And is frequently
sung today after hate tragedies.
Most ascribe the origin to a gospel
hymn by Methodist preacher
Charles Albert Tindley (1851-1953),
who penned 50 hymns while
ministering in Philadelphia; and
credit the lyrical origins of “We
Shall Overcome” to the refrain of
Tindley’s “I’ll Overcome Some Day.
Guy Carawan (b.1927), a white
folk musician introduced the song
to the Civil Rights Movement
by teaching it to the Student
Nonviolent Coordinating Comm
in North Carolina, in 1960.
The song was then picked up
by folk singers such as Joan Baez
in the early 1960s and sung at
folksong concerts & protest rallies
where it became adapted for the
Civil Rights Movt with new stanzas.
Continue reading “Prayer Thot for the Day (Nov 8)”

Pass It On

Backgrounder: Kurt Kaiser was
born in 1934 in Chicago. While
known primarily for his youth
musicals, Kaiser has composed
more than 60 hymn texts & tunes,
the most famous is “Pass It On.”
Kaiser provided the background
to the hymnal song: In 1969,
I collaborated on a musical, Tell
It Like It Is. It was written to get
young people involved in Church.
On a Sunday night I was sitting
in by the fireplace where there
were remnants of a fire, and it
occurred to me that it only takes
a spark to get a fire going . . .
and the rest came very quickly.
My wife suggested that I should
say something about shouting
it from mountain tops, and that
ended up in the third verse.
Pass It On gained traction in
congregational circles when it
appeared in Hymns for the Living
Church (1974). Since then, the song
has appeared in about 10 hymnals.
Continue reading “Prayer Thot for the Day (Nov 7)”

God of Grace & God of Glory

Backgrounder: God of Grace was
written in 1930 by Harry Fosdick
for the dedication of the famous
Riverside Church in New York City.
The hymn was written while the
US was in the throes of the Great
Depression between the two world
wars. Fosdick was a champion of
social gospel, a movement that
recognized the plight of the poor
during the Industrial Revolution.
The hymn is essentially a petition.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage
concludes each stanza with the
effect of a refrain. A petition begins
stanza 3 with Cure thy children’s
warring madness, bend our pride
to thy control.” The final stanza
begins with “Save us from weak
resignation to the evils we deplore.”
Continue reading “Prayer Thot for the Day (Nov 6)”

Wise Words from the King
(Prayer Walk thro Prov 25-31)

Backgrounder: In his closing
contribution to the book of
Proverbs, Solomon records
the riches of righteousness and
the fatal danger of foolishness.
False witnesses and friends,
the corrupt and the righteous,
the foolish and the wise,
the slothful and the diligent,
the deceitful and the dependable
– Solomon has something to say
to each! God’s wisdom gives
a proper perspective of things
and guidance in choosing the
right response to life’s situations.
Continue reading “Praying thro Proverbs (Nov 5)”