i-Llan: 16th February 2025 – A prayer for discipline and discernment

A reflection on the week's collect:

Almighty God,
 who alone can bring order
 to the unruly wills and passions of sinful humanity:
 give your people grace
 so to love what you command and to desire what you promise,
 that, among the many changes of this world,
 our hearts may surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found;
 through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord.

Readings for the week are

Jeremiah 17. 5-10

1 Corinthians 15. 12-20

Luke 6. 17 - 26

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Transcript

Welcome to i-Llan, a podcast connecting faith, life and scripture. This episode is about a traditional prayer for discipline and discernment.

In Munich this week, speeches from world politicians have been met with stunned silence. Clearly, international leaders see things very differently. Meanwhile, I ran into a difficult personal situation and I’ve spent much of the week stomping along local footpaths, arguing with God and wondering how I could have handled things better. Perhaps you’ve had similar experiences.

So, this week’s collect prayer is another which seems apposite for the world and individuals.
 Almighty God,
 who alone can bring order
 to the unruly wills and passions of sinful humanity:
 give your people grace
 so to love what you command and to desire what you promise,
 that, among the many changes of this world,
 our hearts may surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found;
 through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord.

I’ve certainly been aware of my own ‘unruly wills and passions’ as I try to clarify whether criticism was justified; where I need humility and where I can have confidence in myself; how I need to resist the urge to ‘win’ the argument and, instead, learn from it. Like a needle swinging wildly in a compass, I’ve needed to regain my ‘north’ and ‘fix my heart where true joys are to be found’. 

But that’s easier said than done! The spirit may want to be willing, or even manage to be willing, but the flesh is weak, and it’s so tempting to put myself in the right! 

Last week’s prayer asked for help and support. This week’s moves on to focus on particular forms of help: discipline to curb our waywardness, and the desire to follow divine direction rather than selfish ambition. It calls for the ability to discern what is good and true from what is deceitful or wilful. How is that possible? As the prophet Jeremiah remarks in the first reading: The heart is devious above all else; it is perverse—who can understand it? (Jeremiah 17. 9)

 Well, as Jeremiah goes on to observe, ‘the Lord test[s] the mind and search[es] the heart, to give to all according to their ways, according to the fruit of their doing’ (Jeremiah 17. 10). So this prayer reminds us that only God can give the grace needed to bring human passions into line with divine desire. The second reading (1 Corinthians 15. 12-20), underlines the core tenet of Christian faith, the resurrection of Jesus, which assures us we can rely on God’s commitment to humanity. We don’t have to rely on our own insufficient wisdom but on God’s promise of help. 

A good first step is to pray this prayer with an open heart—and keep praying. But divine grace, while it is mysterious, works with human reason and imagination. And the readings for this Sunday offer two threads to help guide the process of discipline and discernment.

In the gospel reading (Luke 6. 17-26), Jesus warns against the complacency of the rich and comfortable. The world may disregard those who are poor, disadvantaged, grieving, or persecuted, but God does not. Social justice is a fundamental element of God’s order in the world, and part of ‘loving what God commands’ is compassionate action to support others in their need.

But action needs to be guided by prayerful reflection. Jeremiah contrasts the picture of scrubby desert growth with that of a tree planted by water:
It shall not fear when heat comes, and its leaves shall stay green; in the year of drought it is not anxious, and it does not cease to bear fruit.’ (Jeremiah 17. 8) 
The spiritual nourishment of prayerful reflection on scripture keeps us confident and fruitful.

Change is a constant in the world. No earthly security is guaranteed. But, with divine help, unruly human wills can be curbed by divine discipline, and human passions fired with divine love. To change the metaphor back to the magnetic compass, ‘those who trust in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord’ (as Jeremiah puts it) have an inner sense of right direction. However circumstances fluctuate around them, their hearts are surely fixed ‘where true joys are to be found’. May that be true of you.

So, as well as this week's collect, my prayer is:

May your will be aligned with God’s commands
and your heart aligned with divine desire.

Like a tree planted by water,
may you draw deeply on God’s goodness, 
and be fruitful in good to nourish the world. Amen.