Take away Master!
O Lord and master of my life
Take from me the spirit of sloth,
Despair, lust of power, and idle talk
(Prostration)
The prayer of Saint Ephrem is famous for being said during Great Lent. It is clear to many of us that this prayer was composed to reflect the basic tenets of community life. All of us can relate to the words in this prayer, which is why we say it during Lent and fall to our knees in prostration. Saint Ephrem understood that living together in a community brings with it many ups, downs, and challenges. It is not always easy! Yet, when we fail, and we will, we must ask God for forgiveness and ask Him to take away from us the sin that so easily besets us such as:
The spirit of sloth- Having a spirit of sloth means that we are lazy and unprofitable servants. To be lazy does not necessarily mean in our jobs, but in the use of our free time that we squander sitting on our phones or the internet rather than reading scripture, spiritual writings, or praying. Indeed, if we are honest, many of us prefer technological distractions over our relationship with God, for this, we need to repent!
Despair- Beloved, despair is of the Devil. Despair is a spirit of unbelief, a lack of faith, and an individual devoid of hope. The opposite of despair is faith or trust. Satan tries to put many stumbling blocks in our way, but if we have faith, those stumbling blocks can become stepping stones toward the Kingdom of Heaven. We must put our trust in God in all situations and He will bring us through it. Men will fail you, and people will let you down, as the Beatitudes say, “Do not put your trust in a princess in whom there is no salvation.” Therefore, we trust our Lord and God Jesus Christ in every circumstance in our lives and we have hope as an anchor of the soul.
Lust of power- Sadly, power and control are two sins that often are combined. Many rich people can see the power and control money can give them, but few can see the good they can do with their money. Judas was the treasurer for the Lord and yet he agreed to betray our Lord for thirty pieces of silver…at what price would you agree to betray Him? They say every man has a price, do you? GOD FORBID! Power and control are in God’s hands; we are just stewards of His resources.
Idle talk- The fourth major sin mentioned in this prayer is idle talk. Idle talk is also referred to as gossip. Gossip often begins innocently, pointing out an irksome personality trait, but soon it snowballs into murder. Yes, murder! The murder of a person’s character, murder of a person’s reputation, etc. Beloved, gossip is a grave sin and we all must take heed to the words we use when speaking about other people. Yes, if there be anything good, lovely, or praiseworthy about them, speak on these things.
How do we apply these things?
- Take time to reflect on your laziness and ask God to help fill that time with Him.
- Identify times you felt hopeless and reflect on God’s providence over your life.
- Do you have power over anyone in life? At work? At Home? How can you exercise that power in a godly way?
- Do you find yourself gossiping about other people? Identify ways to refrain from idle talk and speak about the good qualities in others.
May we all draw closer to Jesus this Great Lent. God loves you!
Fr Lazarus