Changing Pronouns

I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  No one comes to the Father but through Me (Jn.14:6).

 

Lord, You are the Way,

the Truth,

and the Life (Zoe).

No one comes to the Father

but through You.

 



At first, we "read" Scripture -- or sometimes "read through" Scripture.  But eventually the time comes when Scripture becomes prayer, and we find ourselves changing the pronouns as we read/prayer the words we see.  That is the moment of faith, the moment when knowing "about" God becomes "knowing God."

 

When I read the Psalms, I am struck by how many times the psalmist begins by reciting what he knows about God and then switches to a direct conversation -- prayer -- with the God about whom he was writing.  He changes the pronouns halfway through his meditation.

 

In Psalm 23, for example, David begins by praising God's loving care:

 

The Lord is my shepherd,

there is nothing I shall want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures,

he leads me beside still waters,

he restores my soul.

He guides me in paths of righteousness

for his name's sake.

 

In the midst of his recital of praise, the prounouns suddenly shift from the 3rd person - He- to the second person -- You:

 

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil,

for you are with me;

Your rod and your staff,

they comfort me.

 

You prepare a table for me

in the presence of my enemies.

You annoint my head with oil;

my cup overflows.

 

Surely goodness and kindness will follow me

all the days of my life,

and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

 

When we begin to sing what we know about God, or to pray, rather than simply read, Scripture, we find that we have moved into a personal relationship with the God of the Word, and with the Word of God.  We are no longer reading for information, the way we read a newspaper, or for entertainment, the way we read a novel.  Now, the words on the page have become spirit and life to us; they give us a way to prayer, a way to talk to our God.  And our prayer becomes our faith:

 

When Jesus says, I have chosen you that you might go and bear fruit -- fruit that will remain, we can pray, "Lord, You have chosen me to go and bear fruit that will remain.  Now show me today where to go and how to bear the fruit that will remain.  You are the vine; I am the branch.  The Life is in You and flows through me because I am attached to you.  Bear Your fruit in me today, and let me not stop the flow of Your Love to others I meet today.  Let me put no obstacle through laziness, indifference, or personal ambition in the work You choose to do today through me. Live Your life in me today."

 

We will find that praying what we read leads us out of our narrow world into a much larger and more vibrant existence; it is beyond anything we ourselves can ask or imagine, because it is being guided by the Spirit of God.  This kind of prayer also releases us from imagining that we have to begin reading the Bible in Genesis and continue reading until the end of Revelation.  Rather, we will trust the Good Shepherd to lead us to the "green pastures and still waters" of Scripture until our souls are restored.