"My stubborn will subdue."

Hymn: “Holy Spirit, Breathe on Me” – Edwin Hatch (1835-1889) Adapted and set to music by B. B. McKinney (1886-1952)

Tune: TRUETT

A few years ago there was a very popular book published by James Dobson called The Strong-Willed Child. People in my church were discussing it almost as if it should be added to the canon. It seems that every parent in the country began to think that they had the one about which he was writing. I never read it because at the time all my ‘children’ were those in my choirs at the church… and in my opinion most of them were plenty strong-willed!

The book would not have been nearly as marketable as “The Stubborn Child,” but that’s basically what Dobson was trying to help parents deal with.

Our heavenly parent must feel the same way about us… his stubborn children! Don’t you wonder if God has a shelf full of books on how to deal with his children? Of course he doesn’t – he’s all-knowing, you know! But my guess is that there are times when he gets pretty frustrated with us when we dig in our heels, stomp our feet, bang our fists on the floor and scream loudly… figuratively speaking, of course. The truth is, most of us can be pretty stubborn at times; even as adults, our inner strong-willed child rises to the surface.

In this hymn-line, we pray an incredibly poignant prayer when we ask God to mollify the part of us which tends to be rebelliously determined… even obstinate. The picture of a horse being reined in comes to my mind – those scenes we’ve seen in movies where the wildest breeds of horse are in the corral, and they are being brought under the control of the one in charge until finally they are almost docile – even useful.

Okay, Lord Jesus: by the breath of your Spirit calm my restlessness, my inflexible insubordinate self in order that I may be useful-er – make that more useful – to you, to your kingdom, and to the world in which I have been placed. Take thou my heart, cleanse ev’ry part… including my stubborn streak! Amen.

Sorry, I could not find a halfway decent recording of this online!

"Alexander Taming Bucephalus" - F. Schromer