[January 10. 2014] —
Rick Hove (pictured with wife Sonya) is the national director of Faculty Commons.
We share a tiny bit of history with them. When Rick joined the staff of Campus Crusade in 1979, Steve was his trainer in how to raise financial support.
When Sonya Chesky joined the staff of Campus Crusade in 1985, she was assigned to North Texas as a staff member — only to be given a new assignment a few months later when she became engaged to Rick. Rick by that time was the Crusade director at Rice University.
Rick speaks not only to our Faculty Commons staff, but also to groups of Cru staff around the nation. Recently he spoke about his own tendency not to come to God to worship Him, but to get stuff from Him:
“I think when I go to church and sing ‘Thou Art Worthy O Lord’ what I should be singing is ‘Thou Art Useful, Thou Art Useful O Lord.’
I come to God often because He is useful to me — because of what He can do for me. I don’t come to God because He is totally worthy of praise independent of what He can do or will do for me.
I know that I want to come to God and remember that Christ is beautiful. He should be my greatest desire because He is worthy of praise.”
His words reminded me of how often my prayers center around what God can do for me. The Psalms help remind me that God is worthy, that spending time praising Him is part of how He has made us. I don’t pray to push God’s buttons and get some blessings; I pray to spend time with Him.
As this year has started, I am reminded that prayer, my communion with God, is to be at the heart of my life.
Amen.