Spirit of God, Descend upon My Heart, ELW 800
Devotion
Spirit of God, descend upon my heart;
wean it from earth, through all its pulses move;
stoop to my weakness, strength to me impart,
and make me love you as I ought to love.
I ask no dream, no prophet ecstasies,
no sudden rending of the veil of clay,
no angel visitant, no op'ning skies;
but take the dimness of my soul away.
Have you not bid me love you, God and King;
all, all your own, soul, heart, and strength, and mind?
I see your cross; there teach my heart to cling.
Oh, let me seek you and, oh, let me find!
Teach me to love you as your angels love,
one holy passion filling all my frame:
the baptism of the heav'n-descended dove,
my heart an altar, and your love the flame.
Today is the Day of Pentecost. Remembering that the hymns we sing as a congregation are really prayers set to music, our request this day might be: "Spirit of God, descend upon my heart; wean it from earth, through all its pulses move; stoop to my weakness, strength to me impart, and make me love you as I ought to love."
When we gather to sing together, shouldn't the emphasis be on "us" rather than just "me?" In Acts 2, it says: "All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability."
Isn't this the way the Gospel gets "spread abroad" yet today? It is not a question of "some of us" but "all of us" as missionaries of the Spirit where we live day to day.
Prayer
Gracious God, where we live is where the message of Christ and the Spirit need to be heard. Help us be true witnesses to your love to all. Amen.