As Did David

Dear Father, as King David prayed, please give me an undivided heart that is set on You alone. Only You know the full extent of the things that lead me away from You, and yet I too have realized many of them. How long will You allow such behavior to continue? How long until holiness is perfected? How long until love for You replaces worship of me? You tell us to pray with thanksgiving. How can I hold it back even while I ask so many questions? Thank You and praise You for the love You give that draws out my heart to You. May I never take it for granted. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Impressive Giving

How impressed I am with my giving, dear Lord! You call me to give You everything, even my life, and so I do. Isn’t that wonderful? Have I not fully grasped the essence of what it means to follow You? Doesn’t this demonstrate how much I care about what You say? Of course not. At least, not if I’m applauding myself for it. Teach me that the object of these actions ought to be You, not my own self. Teach me further that to love You is better than to act unselfishly. How often I settle for what is good rather than for what is best. May I press on to become like Christ, trusting in the work of the Holy Spirit, and humbly seeking Your grace when I fail. I desire to find You. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

The Plans I Have for Me

Father, You know all the plans I have in my heart. Plans for good and not for evil, at least, that’s what I think. Are they really? Have they really been submitted to Your authority? Am I just writing out my life plan and asking You to sign at the bottom? So many questions. So difficult to discern answers. For those that walk with You, I know You direct their steps, though they may seek to plan their own way. May I trust You to do so for me and may I surrender the right I don’t actually have to plan the way You would have me to go. I want to walk with You. As did Enoch. As did Noah. Through Christ. Amen.

Sunday is for Sacred: Abide with Me

Abide with me; fast falls the eventide;
The darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide;
When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, oh, abide with me.

Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day;
Earth’s joys grow dim, its glories pass away;
Change and decay in all around I see—
O Thou who changest not, abide with me.

I need Thy presence every passing hour;
What but Thy grace can foil the tempter’s pow’r?
Who, like Thyself, my guide and stay can be?
Through cloud and sunshine, Lord, abide with me.

I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless;
Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness;
Where is death’s sting? Where, grave, thy victory?
I triumph still, if Thou abide with me.

Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes;
Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies;
Heav’n’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows flee;
In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.

- Henry F. Lyte

Poems and Prayers: Finding Healing

I sought to love my fellow man today

I realized that I knew not the way.

O God what can You do

With me, so unlike You?

I seek my own desires

And thus built hideous fires

Which have destroyed all of the things that I had loudly lauded

While deep inside my sickened soul I only sat and rotted.

Dear Christ we pray You’d fill our hardened hearts with Your great love

That thus renewed, our souls would seek Your perfect courts above.

And as our frozen beings are once more restored to feeling

May others in our words and deeds find faith, hope, love, and healing.