James Weldon Johnson

James Weldon Johnson (Famous Black Poet) 1871-1938

~JTMT/Did You Know~

Born James William Johnson in Jacksonville, Florida, on June 17,1871; he changed his middle name to Weldon in 1913.

James was the son of a headwaiter and the first female black public school teacher in Florida, both of whom had roots in Nassau, Bahamas. He was the second of three children. Johnson’s interests in reading and music were encouraged by his parents.

Johnson earned an A.B. in 1894 from Atlanta University. He was brought up in a middle-class setting, and for a time shielded from poverty. The summer before he graduated college, James attended the Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois where he visited a celebration called “Colored People’s Day” and heard Fredrick Douglass speak, and heard the poetry of Paul Laurence Dunbar whom he instantly befriended.

Answer to Prayer

Der ain’t no use in sayin’ de Lawd won’t answer prah (prayer);

If you knows how to ax Him, I knows He’s bound to heah (hear).

De trouble is, some people don’t ax de proper way,

Den w’en dey git’s no answer dey doubts de use to pray.

You got to use egzac’ly (exactly) de ‘spressions (expressions) an’ de words

To show dat ‘tween yo’ faith an’ works, you ‘pends on works two-thirds.

Now, one time I remember — jes how long I won’t say—

I thought I’d like a turkey to eat on Chris’mus day.

Fu’ weeks I dreamed ’bout turkeys, a-struttin’ in der pride;

But seed no way to get one — widout de Lawd pervide.

An’ so I went to prayin’, I pray’d wid all my might;

“Lawd, sen’ to me a turkey.” I pray’d bofe day an’ night.

“Lawd, sen’ to me a turkey, a big one if you please.”

I ‘clar to heaben I pray’d so much I mos’ wore out ma knees.

I pray’d dat prah so often, I pray’d dat prah so long,

Yet didn’t git no turkey, I know’d ’twas sump’n wrong.

So on de night ‘fore Chris’mus w’en I got down to pray,

“Lawd, sen’ me to a turkey,” I had de sense to say.

“Lawd, sen’ me to a turkey.” I know dat prah was right,

An’ it was sholy answer’d; I got de bird dat night.

In this poem by Johnson, he talks about how he prayed for a turkey, but he speaks of how he was asking the Lord wrong.

By James W. Johnson

~JTMT_Notes~

We often forget that God owes us nothing, but “We Owe Him Everything”. and many of us pray selfishly without thinking of how offended the Lord may be. In James 4, he speaks of this and explains, how they prayed for selfish reasons, and how God didn’t answer them. So, when you kneel/bow in prayer, humble your requests before the Lord and present yourselves according to His Will. And remember to pray that God searches our hearts and removes our selfish ways and replaces them with His So that our lives our aligned with His perfect plan for us