I’ve been thinking recently about one line in particular that has caught my attention from Alvin J. VanderGriend’s book Joy of Prayer. He states: “Listening is mostly about love—his love for us and our love for him. God, above all, wants you to ‘hear’ his heartbeat, a heart that beats with love.”
Can we truly ever understand God’s love? Probably not. But I believe we can experience it if we will take time to ponder His passion and how totally crazy He is about us.
Our son has decided to be baptized this summer and in celebration of that event and the Spirit’s skill in drawing us to God’s heart, I wrote the following:
Heart Beat
In a place far away before time began
God’s passionate heart with joy made a plan.
Creation, the flood, down through prophets and kings,
providing, protecting, His wild heart still sings.
It’s beating with love; I can hear it just now.
The birth of a Baby, the carpenter’s shop,
the waters of Jordan, the temple the cross.
He’s rising, ascending, redeeming our race,
He’s watching, He’s listening He’s pouring out grace.
He’s bursting with love; can’t you feel it right now?
He’s beating, He’s bursting, He’s breathing us close.
He’s pounding, He’s pulsing, He’s praying the most.
The deep part of prayer is the listening it takes
to hear what He’s saying, to feel His embrace.
He speaks through the Scriptures; His answers are best.
My eyes on His face and my ear to His chest.
