John Koza

Dear friends

The Psalm reading for today is Psalm 105, which begins:

“O give thanks to the Lord, call on his name,
make known his deeds among the peoples
Sing to him, sing praises to him;
tell of all his wonderful works.”

The beginning of Verse 2: “Sing to him, sing praises to him,” reminds me of how I end my morning prayers.  I always end by praying the texts of two beloved hymns, one of which I have altered:

Open my eyes that I may see,
Open my ears that I may hear,
Open my mind that I may know and understand,
Open my heart that I may be loving and compassionate.

Melt me, mold me, fill me, use me.

These texts center me and tell God that I am here, ready, willing and able to be of service, as God sees fit. I have been a student of hymns for a very long time. I find them to be an invaluable resource for prayer and meditation, particularly when I am spiritually “dry.” 

Another way to “Sing to him, sing praises to him, tell of all his wonderful works,” is to write your own song of praise or thanksgiving.  When we were children I think most of us wrote songs at one time or another. Yet as we have grown older, most of us do it much less so.  Songwriting is much like prayer, in that we only improve with practice.

Take a minute or two today (or longer if you can) and think of the texts from some of your favorite hymns and offer those texts to God in prayer. You may want to sing them aloud. Perhaps, you might even write your own song!  “Sing to him, sing praises to him!”

John Koza