Wisdom from Mrs. Wesley
Wednesday, January 27th, 2010“May I be careful to have my mind in order when I take upon myself to speak to the sovereign Lord of the universe, remembering that upon the temper of my soul depends, in very great measure, my success.”
Susanna Wesley (1669-1742), mother of John & Charles
I ran across this quote a few weeks ago, & it blew me away. The temper of my soul when I pray is precisely what I’ve been trying to observe for a decade, in hopes of writing about it in my book.
I won’t try to approach Mrs. Wesley’s level of eloquence, but maybe I can suggest some of what she might have meant by this captivating phrase.
Her other remarkable phrase, the sovereign Lord of the universe, makes me think of the humbling of ourselves that I’ve found is absolutely necessary if we want to have “success” when talking to God. The Bible says (doesn’t it?) “Be still and know that I am God,” and that’s exactly what we have to do.
One way of doing this that works for me is to walk outside at night & look up at the starry sky. Notice how small you are compared to this infinity, yet also how close—you’re really contained in the same space as it is. Think about all this power & goodness, to have made these wonders of nature as well as our ability to appreciate them. (I don’t see how blind chance could possibly be responsible.)
Then, if you want to relax into the arms of the Creator of all this glory, take a deep breath & lean your head back so that you’re looking directly up into the sky. Focus on a star or constellation if you want. The important thing is to relax and take deep breaths, imagining your troubles being exhaled with the air, and your self-centered will being submitted to God’s will. Look at the moon & let it represent the face of God as you speak to him or her. I do this all the time, it’s not idolatry! It’s getting my soul into the right temper to communicate with the Almighty.
Once you’re feeling both your own smallness and the Creator’s power, you then need to listen to him or her as much or more than to talk.
Several other aspects of getting our minds in order before talking to God were offered by Jesus himself.
The most obvious of these is that we must have faith. And that is a major requirement. But Jesus gave at least two other tips for getting prayers answered just as explicitly, yet we tend to ignore them. (Maybe because they require something of us beyond merely trying to believe we’re getting what we’re asking for.)
The first is forgiveness. The Lord’s Prayer gets right to the point: if we want our petitions to be granted, we must begin by forgiving others. At another time (Mark 11:25), Jesus explained more completely, “Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone.”
I don’t know about you, but for me, there’s pretty much never a time when I don’t, in my heart, have anything against anyone. To get my soul into the right temper, I have to stop those angry, irritated, or complaining thoughts in their tracks and ask God to take them away.
The second of Jesus’ tips was that we need to be sure we’re praying “in [his] name.” He didn’t say exactly what he meant by this, but since the essence of Jesus is mercy and love, then praying in his name must mean, at the very least, praying with mercy and love. Which means not just pretending to love others as ourselves, but truly loving them, even the ones it’s hardest for us to love. Here, again, I have to let go of my natural feelings and ask God to change them. It’s not easy, but it works if I stick with it.
What’s more, if we can get in the habit of doing all this pretty regularly—getting our souls into the right temper & listening to God as we ask God for help with our difficulties—we’ll discover that it not only leads to real solutions but also has the wondrous side effect of—surprise!—bringing us deep peace & joy. (And, after years of research and observation, I think I can safely say that this is the only way we humans can be truly & lastingly happy while on earth.)
One more thought on the Wesley quote. One way God doesn’t give us what we ask for when we don’t have our minds in order is simply that as long as we stay in self-centered moods, we can’t access the answers God’s trying to send. In angry, self-absorbed, or otherwise negative moods, we aren’t able to receive the gifts or feel the joy. So this is another way that the temper of our souls when we pray is absolutely essential for the success of the whole enterprise. People who never get themselves into the right attitude and right relation to God never experience the joy and bounty and peace and power that they could be experiencing while on earth. They’re saved in the end if they want to be, but they miss out on a lot of joy that they could be experiencing now. (Maybe this was what Jesus meant by the “abundant life.”)
Thank you, Mrs. Wesley, for writing down your wisdom for those of us who came after you!
