This is a blog about hymns--what they are, what they do, how they get under our skin. In exploring hymns, we may also learn how to play them better and, especially, how to pray them.
I'm concerned that we not become shriveled Christians, our prayers limited to the few phrases that have sunk in through our choruses. The choruses can be drops of rain to our spirits, but the Holy Spirit has also provided a river, a full river of prayer, to satisfy our thirst through our hymns.
Hymns can become our prayer in a deep way, engaging not only our minds and intellects, but joining the "inward groaning" as we wait for our adoption as sons, and even the "sighs too deep for words" of the Holy Spirit Himself (Romans 8). Hymns have the power to integrate the many parts of our humanity--our need for the felt presence and emotional connection with God as well as our need for deep thoughts and tricky turns of phrases that challenge our intellects and imaginations--so we may offer one prayer from our many parts to God.
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