Prayer for a Brother

April 21, 2014

Prayer for a Brother

Lord, use me to bless now my brother.

Although he may not think of me,

I think of him oft' at Thy prompting;

I pray as You help and cause me.

He seemed so unstable, so shaky,

He seemed to be easily moved.

I pray that you'll help him, mature him,

Show him Your love which I've proved.

Perhaps his upbringing was lacking,

Perhaps his dad never cared

To teach him what "real men" look like

(And who are sometimes quite scarce).

Perhaps his mother neglected

To teach him the way of the Lord,

To stay home with him in his childhood,

To teach him to honor God's Word.

Perhaps he was rarely in Thy house.

Maybe he never was taught

By teacher or pastor's compassion

Of Christ Who our pardon has bought.

And now, he's a man, Lord, and searching,

And swayed by the things of the world,

He seems unsure of the position

He now wants to fill for the Lord.

Oh Lord! What a shame! But I'm hopeful:

I know You are able to do

Exceeding great and abundant

Beyond what we can construe!

Lord, help him, please help him, please help him!

Yes, I know I pray for him less

Than I know that I really ought to,

Help! I need change, I confess.

Make me a better prayer warrior,

Not just for this brother, but all

The ones whom You put on my heart.

With love for them, to You I call.

A Prayer in Serving

April 12, 2014

A Prayer in Serving

Servant of all,

Precious Servant of all!

How I need Thee!

Hear Thou my call!

Great is the task

Which before me lies—

‘Tis nothing to Thee,

‘Tis small in Thine Eyes.

How weak I am,

How prone to pride!

Selfish I am,

Before Him Who died.

How dids’t Thou do it?

All of Thy time

Here on this earth

In this evil clime?

I’m so prone to chafe,

So often put-out:

Inward I groan,

Inside I pout.

Help me, dear Servant!

How great Thy strength!

Change this vile heart!

Give me Thy peace!

Help me to serve

With love and in peace

Help me to give

My all for Thy sake.

How can I serve

Except Thou change me?

I can’t continue

Unless I have Thee!

Open my heart

As Thy skillful hands can

Remove all the sin

That now dwells therein.

Create in my heart

A clean place to dwell

Set Thy Throne there,

Then all will be well.

Salvation

March 12, 2014

Salvation

My frame is dust,

My life is wind;

Before Thy Throne

I see I’ve sinned.

The best in me

Is filthy rags,

I come a wretch

With nought to brag.

No tears can dim

The Ordinance;

No works can give

A second chance.

I plead the Cross,

I plead the Blood--

The Blood I spilt

Of Christ of God.

I bow in shame;

He gives me faith,

And now I claim

His Blessed Name.

My filthy rags

Are torn away,

And in their place

White robes to stay.

How can this be?

What is this crown

That I perceive

Adorns me now?

One day I know,

(For I believe),

I’ll lay this crown

Before His feet

And with the saints

And seraphim,

I’ll sing His praise:

Glory to Him!

Pride

March 11, 2014

Pride

I’ve sometimes encountered

“The coming of age”

As an often-heard

And familiar phrase.

But what about this:

“The coming of shame”?

Not very popular

With that one word changed.

“The coming of shame?”

You ask, “Whatchu mean?”

“It’s here in the Bible

For any to read.”

“ ‘When pride cometh,

Then cometh shame:”

The mouths are stopped;

Don’t know what to say.

Pride is so huge

It fills up our lives.

It’s like a balloon

With air forced inside.

It permeates all

Like yeast in a cake

And rises, puffed up,

The longer it bakes.

But with its advent,

(Woe to the one!)

Shame’s in hot pursuit

Like a good huntin’ dog.

It catches the one

Who entertained pride.

No hole to crawl in;

No good place to hide.

The Bible says,

“Humble yourself before God.”

Confess all your sin,

Give Him all your pride.

Pride and the proud

Are disgusting to Him,

But He loveth the one

Who hateth his sin.

 

Interests

March 8 or 9 & 12,  2014 

Interests

LORD, You’ve given me these int’rests,

And I’m not sure what to do;

Can I pursue them all?

I want to follow You.

I hope that I can be involved

With each of these topics

I’m not sure how all that would work,

(But perhaps a little bit...?)

I’m concerned about the alley teens

And kids left on the streets.

The ones that have no godly guide,

No direction and no means.

I want to talk to Deaf folks

Yes, in their “native tongue”

To be like one who, with them,

Blended in among.

I have a love for Spanish

And other foreign language;

Perhaps translation work I’ll do

As a witness or for friends.

I’m drawn to those who have

An extra chromosome;

I’d love to be of service to

Sweet folks with Down Syndrome.

I’d like to rescue babies,

Those who are facing death.

United States or China?

The problem is widespread.

And what of euthanasia?

This fright has plagued my mind;

The dream God gave of rescuing

Still comes back fresh, I find.

No matter where You put me

No matter what my place,

Content me with Your work, Your way

And cover me with grace.

Prayer for Revival

                                                        Jan. 4, 2014 & April 21, 2014

Prayer for Revival

Father, will You be at church tomorrow?

Will You hear the well-tuned guitars?

Will You listen to practiced musicians

And hymns with familiar bars?

Will you look at the clean, well-groomed people?

The glitzy and glittering crowd?

Hear the well-planned Sunday School lessons,

Or the sweeping prayers prayed right out loud?

Will You smile at our well-done performance?

Or be wowed with our perfect programs?

We’ve done it so well, we’ve not noticed,

We’re lacking Your Touch, Great I AM.

We’ve stepped right in front, moved You over,

And then, with finesse, sat You down.

And as You exit the building,

Our bowing prompts clapping that drowns.

Father, I don’t think they’ve noticed,

Or if, at the least, they’re like me,

They’ve just realized what has happened:

You’ve been gone a year, two, or three.

Oh return to us, Father Eternal!

Fill us up again with Your ways,

Bring fresh Your dear Holy Spirit

Cleanse our hearts that You gain all praise.

How we need You! how desp’rate You find us!

How we’ve turned from You to our sin,

O have mercy, come back, and forgive us

Come now, Lord, and fill us again!

Flexibility

                                                                         Dec. 2013? 

Flexibility

Flex-i-bil-i-ty is a ne-ce-ssi-ty

For those who would be servants of the Lord.

How we work and speak,

how we act and think

Conveys a loud, clear message to the world.