Giving the Control Over

“It’s not wrong to have strong emotions,

but when I let them affect my words and actions,

they sometimes get out of control.

I need your Holy Spirit to take charge over my emotions, Lord.

Help me give the control over to you.”

— 365 Pocket Prayers for Graduates, page 181

Our old friend John Wesley would love this third sentence: “Help me give the control over to you.”

Mr. Wesley believed it was only through God’s grace that we could begin to make any progress,  Even our very choosing to ask was evidence of God at work in us, he said.

Where did he get such an idea?  Maybe from things like the 7th chapter of Romans in The New Testament, where St. Paul writes about wanting to do the right thing but not being able to, apart from God’s powerful help.

Maybe you’re like some others of us, and in the abstract this ability to “give the control over to” another sounds great.

But who’s holding the TV remote?  And how tightly?

See you back here tomorrow.