Eddie Espanoza

God can change people. I have experienced it. I have witnessed it, and surely the people in these daily prayer posts could attest to it. We also resist change. Change brings fear and discomfort. A.W. Auden said it well, “We would rather be ruined than changed.” Eddie Espanoza (1953-) was driving in his car one morning in 1982 on his way to work as a high school teacher. He had been a Christian since 1969 but had come to the place where he recognized some things needed changing. He began to pray, “You must change my heart, O God.” He pulled over at a stop sign and wrote down the prayer on paper. A melody came to him at the same instant. The words of David’s prayer in Psalm 51 for God to create in him a new heart flashed into his mind as did the image of God as potter and people as clay (Isaiah 64.8). He shared the beginnings of this new song with the Bible study group that met in his home. The pastor at Vineyard Christian Fellowship in Anaheim, where Eddie attended, heard about it and asked him to sing it in worship. Music leaders in the church assisted him in recording it, and it wasn’t long before Eddie was listening to the song played on Southern California radio stations. The song’s brevity and simple words made it an ideal “go-to” song in the early days of the modern worship movement. Its first-person references aid worshipers in making it a personal prayer. Eddie said of the song, “I never intended it for anyone but God to hear it. It was my Psalm 51.” What a great way to ask God to change us: