“Naught be all else to me save that thou art.”

“Naught be all else to me save that thou art.”

Hymn: “Be Thou My Vision” – Ancient Irish
Music: SLANE

This is one of those prayer hymns; today I’m zeroing in on the second line of the first stanza. Immediately after we begin the prayer, asking that Christ the Lord of our hearts might be our true vision, this hymnline comes into play.

In reality, when we are involved in the privileged activity of prayer – communication with the Almighty – we need to focus our attention on him and him only. "Naught be all else to me." We’re all familiar with those mind-wandering prayers in which we suddenly realize we are no longer praying but planning our day or solving our problems.

The most effective prayer times – those which affect our lives most deeply and probably please God most – are the ones where we are determinedly centered on the One to whom our prayers arise. This hymnline/prayerline sets us in that direction. It is as if we are saying/singing, “For the next few minutes I am going to forget that there is anything or anyone else of any importance except you, Lord. The only thing that matters is that you exist and that you have the role of Master of the Universe. I am going to spend this time focused only on you.” ["... save (other than) that Thou art."]

If you haven’t taken time recently for an intense period of undistracted prayer, give it another try. If we construct our prayer times in that way, we are more likely to strengthen our relationship with God and to build our lives around Christ-centeredness. Stepping out of that intense prayer time, our lifestyle - like our prayer times - will not be diverted or detoured off course.

                                                  One of Those Six-Part Solos (!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8t-sQ8savg