Weekend Talk: ‘Let me be like a well’

The song must have done the rounds for some time in churches before I heard it only recently.

The lyrics, expressed in simplicity, touched me deeply. It is true that gospel songs and hymns are a means by which God communicates deep truths.

Prepare me

The song starts with, “Prepare me, my God, prepare me!” Sang in Twi, the lyrics immediately usher the listener into an alert mode.  But prepare me for what?

To ask God to prepare you is a bold appeal.  Indeed, in the song, what follows the request to be prepared is something that takes us by surprise, for we don’t usually ask this of God.

The Pentecostal song, composed by Mrs Grace Gakpetor, states courageously: “Prepare me, my God, prepare me; / Let me be like a well / Out of which you can fetch water / To give to those who are thirsty.

That is the rare prayer of someone who desires to be a blessing to others.

“Let me be like a well” is a metaphor for every good thing—food, clothing, shelter, encouragement, cash, caregiving and support of all kinds.

What we ask

We don’t usually ask this of God.  Rather, we ask, “Lord, please let someone fetch water for me to drink!”

Every time we think more of ourselves than of others, we embrace self-centredness, which dilutes the virtue of love. True love gives.

The water is dispensed from a well, and that means it is not easily reachable.

The giver’s resources may not be so much, but he is willing to make them available to others.

Giving is a difficult and selfless act, which is why many are found wanting when it comes to sharing.

Hence the song starts with, “Prepare me, my God, prepare me.”

Prepare Ghana

God has prepared Ghana as a “well” from which deprived and vulnerable citizens and foreigners drink of our peace, hospitality, shelter and food.  

May officials of institutions, who are responsible for handling the poor and needy among us, be guided by wisdom, circumspection and fellow-feeling.  

For it is painful to be thirsty and hungry.  

Destiny helpers

As the term suggests, destiny helpers are those who help others to achieve a goal.

Therefore, destiny helpers are like wells out of which to draw water to quench the thirst of others.

If you are a destiny helper, your resources are linked to God’s inexhaustible supplies.  

Hence the prayer, “My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:19).

And the Lord Jesus, the ultimate destiny helper, encourages us to give.

"Give, and it will be given to you . . .” (Luke 6:38). 

Reverse the prayer

The song, “Prepare me, my God, prepare me,” invites us to revise the prayer for destiny helpers to come our way.  

Instead of asking that water be fetched for us from someone’s well, how about becoming the well out of which water may be fetched for others?

So, instead of praying that someone else becomes my destiny helper, how about praying, “Lord, make me a destiny helper for someone today”?  

Perhaps that is the essence of, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

‘Give me a drink’

Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well reveals the need to look beyond the physical when providing water for the thirsty.

We must attend to their deepest need, which is the salvation of the soul.

While his disciples concerned themselves with food, Jesus said, “My food is to do the will of him 
who sent me,” which included harvesting the woman’s ripe and ready soul.  

For what does it profit us if we gain only material things and forfeit the soul?

When Jesus approached the woman, he was the woman’s destiny helper.

Now the destiny helper asked the woman, “May I have a drink?”

Jesus would give her “water” to quench her immoral lifestyle and frustration.

But, first, could she give her destiny helper a drink of water?

Centuries earlier, Prophet Elijah was going to become the destiny helper to the poor widow of Zarephath during the severe drought.  

When the widow complained that she was about to eat her last meal and then die with her son, Elijah said, “First give me something to eat.”

Even for Jesus to become the destiny helper for thousands of stranded hungry people in the countryside, a small boy had to first give away his lunch.

It is a divine principle that works: If you want a destiny helper, be one first.

“Give and it shall be given to you.”

“Let me be like a well,” says Mrs Grace Gakpetor’s worship song, out of which God may fetch water for those who are thirsty.

This should be the song, the prayer, and the desire of everyone who seeks destiny helpers.

The writer is a publisher, author, writer-trainer and CEO of Step Publishers.

E-mail: lawrence.darmani@gmail.com