Sword Beach is a place that inspires a lot of reverence and tears. It's a testimony that the power of evil is temporary. 🙏
✦ Holy Ground
The pilgrims stand today where the soldiers landed eighty-one years ago. Young men who crossed the sea to break the power of evil on a beach in Normandy. Many did not return. The sand they touched was the last ground their feet knew. And the freedom they bought with their lives — is the freedom a Portuguese American woman and her husband use today to travel Europe in a motorhome, reading Scripture by lamplight and writing a devotional journal in gold and darkness.
Le reads James Smith at Sword Beach — her good friend in the Lord returning to the journal after a long absence. And the ground beneath the reading gives the words a weight that no library could. Pray without ceasing — read where prayer was the last breath of the dying. The breath of the soul, offered on ground where breath was the final offering. 🙏
In prayer we must approach God as a Father, ask of Him what we really need, and expect to receive according to His wisdom and Word.
Our needs are constantly returning; therefore our prayers should be constantly ascending.
The ear of God is always open. He is ever ready to listen to us. He invites, exhorts, and commands us to pray always, in everything.
Smith begins with the simplicity that has been his gift from the first entry in this journal. God is a Father. We approach Him as children. We ask for what we need. And we expect — not hope vaguely, but expect — to receive according to His wisdom and Word. The needs return constantly — so the prayers must ascend constantly. Not as a burden. As breath. The body does not think about whether to breathe. It breathes because it is alive. And the soul that is alive in God prays — because prayer is what living souls do.
Every object that meets the eye, every circumstance that occurs, every employment in which we engage, would afford matter for prayer if properly viewed.
The believer should acquire the habit of prayer. He should look up to his God for all he needs, through all he sees, whenever he has a moment to spare.
Smith teaches what William Law reached for but could not deliver with warmth: the devotion of common life. Every object — matter for prayer. Every circumstance — an invitation to look up. Every employment — an occasion to ask. But where Law turned this into a demand that beat the soul with its own failure, Smith turns it into a gentle encouragement: if properly viewed. The key is not effort. The key is sight. When the eyes are open — every object speaks of God. Every circumstance points upward. The prayer rises not because the soul forces it, but because the soul sees what is there.
At Sword Beach, every object meets the eye with weight — the sand, the sea, the memorials, the silence. And the soul that sees properly cannot help but pray. The ground itself is the invitation.
The prayers of a Christian are pleasant to his God. He says: "Let me hear your voice, let me see your countenance; for your voice is sweet, and your countenance is lovely" (Song of Solomon 2:14).
The believer should pray as naturally and as constantly as he breathes; for prayer is the breath of the soul.
Beloved, if prayer dwindles into a mere duty, is but occasionally offered, or becomes burdensome, it is clear that you are in a most unhealthy state.
Smith reaches for the Song of Solomon — and gives prayer its most intimate image. God does not merely tolerate the voice of the one who prays. He delights in it. Your voice is sweet. Your countenance is lovely. The God of the universe — the consuming fire of MacDonald, the inexorable love that will not yield — finds the pilgrim's prayer sweet. Finds her face lovely. Asks to hear more. This is not the God who demands prayer as a tax. This is the Lover who longs for the voice of the beloved.
And the test Smith offers is gentle but clear: if prayer has become a duty, a burden, an occasional obligation — the soul is unwell. Not condemned. Unwell. The way a body that cannot breathe easily is unwell. Prayer is breath. When breath is labored, something is wrong — not with the air but with the lungs. And the remedy is not more effort. It is healing.
"The believer should pray as naturally and as constantly as he breathes; for prayer is the breath of the soul."
James Smith · Daily Remembrancer · Sweet voice, lovely countenance — read at Sword Beach✦ The Power of Evil Is Temporary
Le stands at Sword Beach and draws the testimony that the ground has been speaking for eighty-one years: the power of evil is temporary.
On the morning of June 6, 1944, the evil that held Europe looked unconquerable. The fortifications. The guns. The occupation that had swallowed nations. And young men stepped out of boats into the water and walked toward it. Many fell. Many did not rise. And the evil that looked permanent — broke.
The gospel says the same. The sin that looks permanent — the debt that looks unpayable, the darkness that looks unbreakable, the power that looks unconquerable — is temporary. The cross looked like defeat. The tomb looked like the end. And on the third morning — the power of evil broke. Not gradually. Not partially. Completely.
MacDonald said: the consuming fire will burn until. Murray said: the absolute surrender is accomplished by God. Smith says: pray without ceasing — because the God who hears is the God who acts. And the power of evil — however real, however terrifying, however entrenched — is temporary.
The soldiers at Sword Beach proved it with their lives. The empty tomb proved it for eternity. And the pilgrim who stands on this sand tonight — knows it in her bones. 🙏
Pray Without Ceasing
Our needs constantly return, so our prayers constantly ascend. God's ear is always open. He invites, exhorts, and commands: pray always, in everything. Prayer is breath — and the soul breathes.
Every Object — If Properly Viewed
Every object, every circumstance, every employment — matter for prayer when the eyes are open. The key is not effort. The key is sight. At Sword Beach, the ground itself is the invitation.
Your Voice Is Sweet
God finds the pilgrim's prayer sweet and her countenance lovely. Not a tax demanded. A voice longed for. The Lover who asks to hear the beloved. Let me hear your voice.
Evil Is Temporary
Sword Beach testifies: the power of evil is temporary. It looked unconquerable — and it broke. The cross looked like defeat — and it broke death. The power of evil is real. But it is not permanent.