Have You Asked the Spirit to Heal Your Heart?

Holy Spirit, Joy divine,
Cheer this saddened heart of mine;
Bid my many woes depart;
Heal my wounded, bleeding heart.

Holy Spirit, Light Divine (1817)

By: Andrew Reed, (1787-1862)

Listen to this karaoke version as you prepare to ponder this old hymn. Please make certain to enjoy the podcast below.

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Everyone enjoy this podcast and transcript below!  It features meditative music and moments to contemplate the Scriptures and reflections shared.

Transcript may be found below, at the end of the blog.

We began our journey of resonance toward Pentecost with this lessor known hymn last week. We celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the early followers of Jesus Christ.  Like them, He cheers us to live a joy-filled life. Let’s think about this.

Not Knowing What to Pray For

Now sometimes we know what to pray for. Comfort for a friend who is grieving a loss. Strength for a family member who is facing dilemma. Peace for ourselves in the midst of a storm, sometimes of our own making.

But sometimes, I would suggest oftentimes, we do not know what to pray for. We often pray for a change in the symptoms of a problem, when we should be trying to discern and cry out for the infirmity or cause. It’s like praying your boat won’t sink, instead of praying for the storm to cease. Jesus always knew what to pray for.

And so does the Holy Spirit.

Bid my many woes depart;

The line before asks Him to cheer saddened hearts. That is a good prayer. This line asks Him to remove the cause of the sadness. Bid the woes depart, the many woes, that are causing my heart to be sad.

We don’t have to know what to pray for. We can ask the Spirit to do it for us. Our part, asking Him for the help. His part, being that help.

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. Romans 8:26 ESV

We are weak and frail and sometimes so much so that we do not even know what to pray for.  Our griefs and woes leave us speechless before our gracious Lord. Even then the Spirit works to send those woes packing.  That cheers our hearts and creates an environment for joy to take root. We are responsible to cultivate that sprout, by regularly asking Him to pray for us, effectively removing the weeds of woe that would otherwise choke the life from our joy.

Will you welcome Him to do that work for which He is uniquely equipped?

RESONATE!
Looking to the Spirit to speak to our woes, as opposed to speaking to them ourselves, makes a lot of sense. Often we do not have much authority to make them depart, but He always does. Even when He does not immediately answer this prayer, turning it over to Him helps. Try it now. Ask Him to bid your woes depart.

Seeing the Progression that Leads to Healed Hearts

There is an interesting progression in this stanza that is easy to overlook since each line is strong enough to stand alone. It is really beautiful when you see it. Think about it for just a few moments.

1. We acknowledge the Spirit is the joy of God. That creates a standard we can measure our countenance against, and when we do, we will often find ourselves lacking, or falling short, of our inheritance. So we determine to do something about it.
2. We respond by asking the Spirit to cheer our hearts, which when set against the reality of His joy are clearly sad. As He does this work, we realize there are woes, or causes of our sadness, which are deeper than we first recognized.  This leads us to a franker, more honest prayer.
3. We ask Him to tell our woes to depart, to leave us. We may not even understand the real cause of some of them, but we ask not simply to be cheered, but delivered, from them entirely. As He does that gracious work, we begin to see there is one final prayer we must pray.
4. We ask for healing. As the Spirit delivers us from the cause of our woes, we come to find that they have left wounds, and often, we are still bleeding even after they have gone. We invite the Spirit to heal our hearts.

And He does it all.

Heal my wounded, bleeding heart.

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. Psalm 147:3 ESV

What has broken your heart? What has caused you wounds? Maybe you are still bleeding. Have you brought those woes to the Spirit and asked Him to heal your heart? If not, do so right now. List them off and ask for His healing.

Seriously. If anything came to mind you have not brought to Him, don’t put it off. Stop and do it right now.

If you already have, and nothing new is coming to mind, thank Him again for the healing He has brought and will continue to bring.

RESONATE!
Thank the Holy Spirit for His work of joy in your wounded heart. You have faced many woes, and there may even be some places you are still bleeding, but you can trust He is able to heal them. Ask Him to remind you to bring all your sadness to Him without hesitation.

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Image Attributions
Many Woes – https://pixabay.com/illustrations/sad-cry-tear-emotion-mood-face-1533965/
Wounded, Bleeding Heart – https://pixabay.com/photos/broken-heart-heart-bleeding-heart-2318143/