This is a continuation of a series I started last week. Click HERE to go to that post.
St. Ephrem the Syrian (306-379) often prayed,
O Lord and Master of My Life!
Take from me the spirit of sloth, faintheartedness
Lust for power, and idle talk.
Give rather the spirit of chastity, humility,
Patience and love to Your servant.
Yes, O Lord and King!
Grant me to see my own error
And not to judge my brother.
For You are blessed unto ages of ages. Amen.
The prayer resonated with others. Eventually it became so widespread many churches incorporated it into their annual season of prayer and fasting known as Lent.
Lent means, “Spring.” Many Christian traditions around the world observe the ancient custom of setting aside a 40 days period of focused prayer and fasting leading up to the celebration of the Resurrection of the Son of God. You could say this was the original “40 Days of Purpose”.
Though Lent is not typically part of the Christian stream I swim in (I am a missionary in the Foursquare Church, a Pentecostal/evangelical movement within the Christian church), I have found the disciplines of the Christian Year very beneficial for my own personal growth and walk with Jesus.
This prayer of St. Ephrem continues to be for me a powerful resource in my pursuit of Christ.
The negative beginning of the prayer is repulsive to our current cultural mindset. We are done with talk of being unworthy worms who must humbly beseech the Sovereign Dictator of the universe to have mercy upon our wretched souls by begging him to restrain his powerful hand from smashing us like the vile maggots we are, though we certainly deserve it.
Yes, I too want no part of that kind of praying. It insults God as the lover of humanity and it insults humanity as those created in the image and likeness of God.
Yet this prayer of St. Ephrem begins with what could be considered something very negative: Our broken human condition.
Take from me the spirit of sloth, faintheartedness, lust for power, and idle talk.
In every journey we must know where we are and where we want to go before we can know how to get there. The old saying is true, “If you don’t know where you are going any path will do.” It is equally true to say, “If you do not know where you are, your map is useless.”
During this season of Lent, St. Ephrem nailed my location more precisely than Garmin or Google Maps: Sloth, faintheartedness, the lust for power, and idle talk have been taking a toll on me.
Sloth and faintheartedness are not content to remain hidden in the secret chambers of my private world. This inner rot is a gluttonous monster. It is not satisfied with consuming me. It works its way into all my relationships seeking new victims to devour.
Sloth and faintheartedness, when left unchecked, fills me with a lust for power because when my life is not oriented toward God it will inevitably become self-centered. When I am self-centered all other beings become means to my own desires and self-satisfaction, including God himself.
If God is not the Lord, Master, and King of my life then I am. I become the absolute center of my world. I evaluate everyone and everything in terms of my wants, my needs, my desires, my opinions, and my judgments. God and others are only important to me as long as they fulfill something I deem important. I seek to subjugate all to myself.
This lust for power is the fundamental depravity in all my relationships, a search for their subordination to me. It may express itself explicitly through my desire to command and dominate others; or it may express itself covertly through indifference, contempt, lack of interest, lack of consideration, and lack of respect.
I may manipulate through coercive words and deeds of control, violence, and abuse. Or I may manipulate subversively through guilt and shame as I seek to control others through the intentional use of my hurt feelings and being offending. Either way, the outcome is still the same: I seek to control others rather than control myself.
Sloth and faintheartedness directed toward myself results in spiritual suicide. Sloth and faintheartedness directed toward others results in spiritual murder: I negate their personhood and ascribe meaning to them only in relation to what they do for me. This is the lust for power.
Bereft of all life and action, I am now reduced to empty words. Words that neither give life nor speak truth. Empty words used to cover my darkness. Empty words used to cover my intentions. These words are idle. They are the meaningless, hollow bloviating of a heart devoid of disciple, character, and courage. These words carry no meaning, no life, and no commitment. It is sloth and faintheartedness revealed in the empty sounds of used breath deceptively pressed through my vocal cords.
Take from me the spirit of sloth, faintheartedness, lust for power, and idle talk.
This prayer of St. Ephrem has pinpointed my location. It is painful to see. It really is. But it is hopeful as well, because now that I know my location I can begin my Lenten Journey to Life and Freedom in Christ.
To be continued…
Debbie and I serve as the FMI Global Associate Director for MENACA and Europe. We focus on cultivating disciples, leaders, and church planting movements.
