Gerhard Tersteegen (1697-1769) qualifies as a holy man. He lived in a small town along the Rhine River in Germany, eking out a modest living as a weaver. His only visitor was a girl who came daily to wind silk thread for him. He was, for five years, “deprived of a sense of God’s favor.” He was plagued with doubts about whether God even existed. On Maundy Thursday in 1724, this twenty-seven-year-old seeker after God was traveling along a country road to a neighboring town when he became acutely aware of God’s presence. He wrote of the moment, “The dayspring from on high visited me, and Christ became convincingly apparent to me.” He began to speak and write about his spiritual awakening. His days of solitude were over. His time was occupied from morning until evening with people seeking spiritual direction and carried on a lively correspondence with people who wrote letters asking for his counsel. They came from distant lands to visit him. Even King Ferdinand the Great sought a private audience with him. He was forced to move from his small cottage to a larger home to accommodate the crowd. It was not uncommon for twenty or more people to congregate in his waiting room to talk with him. Whenever he preached, his house was jammed full of people. Ladders were propped against the side of his home so people could listen through open windows. Local clergy whose churches were languishing tried to finagle civil magistrates to close his house down, to no avail. He couldn’t understand the fuss people were making of him. “I cannot think what the people seek from such a poor creature,” he wrote if himself. His message was simple. Withdraw from worldly pursuits. Forget yourself and live for God. Open your heart to Jesus and seek God through prayer. I leave you with this sentence from his writings, “Jesus alone is sufficient, but yet insufficient when he is not wholly and solely embraced.” Maybe it all comes down to how much we want God. Gerhard somehow found time to write prayers in poetic style, such as one that follows here:
Gerhard Tersteegen
My God, my God, my life divine! To Thee, I cordially resign.
My heart, my soul, my powers and will;
My all is Thine and shall be still.
Myself I will no more regard,
But every thought of self discard,
Entirely upon thee confide,
And love thee like a tender bride.
To Thee, O God! Myself I give,
For Thee alone I wish to live;
The heart no more by self oppress’d,
May rest as on a parent’s breast.
In me, I nothing good can see;
I nothing am, and still would be;
O Thou that dost my sins remove,
Thou art my wealth, my joy, my love.
The Life and Character of Gerhard Tersteegen, 1832.
Rev. Dr. Peter James served 42 years as the senior of Vienna Presbyterian Church in Vienna, VA — 21 years in the 20th century and 21 years in the 21st century. He retired in 2021 and now serves as Pastor-in-Residence at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.
Even as a pastor, prayer came slowly to Pete. Read Pete’s story.