Friday, August 17, 2012

prayer II

"Trust Him always; pour out your heart to Him;
God is a refuge for us."
-Psalm 62:8

***

I've numbered all your wanderings
I hold all your tears in a jar
I'm here to listen to your heart, my dear one
tell me , my love, how you really are

My Lord, life feels so unwieldy
life and the choices it brings
what happened to my little hindsfeet
what happened to my wings?

I Am your wings, my brave one
You need have no alarm
I Am the Path that bears you up
Underneath are my everlasting arms

But I don't feel so brave, my Love
I don't see what you see
I am so flimsy, frail ,and fickle
How can what you say be?

(Love leans in with the most tender smile
and takes my face in His Hands...)

My Darling, listen close to Me
I see how hard you try
to make sense of all that is at hand
to navigate what feels like shifting sand

Remember the Lilies and the birds?
and all the lessons that you've learned?
yours is not to worry about tomorrow
I Am your Shepherd, all you need to do is follow

I do not trust my feet just now
or my eyes to see
or my ability to hear
each step I take is met with fear

Then trust My Footsteps in the Sand
I carry you, I hold your hand
Trust that you are the apple of My eye
Trust My ears to hear your cry

My dearest love for whom I gave all
Do you really think I'll let you fall?
You are the one who has ravished my heart
You are Solomon's song, life imitating art
Remember you are royalty
Remember who you are!

Now rise, my love, my fair one,
and leave your worries be
It's not so important that you know the way

What matters is that you know Me

***

"You have been upheld by Me from birth, you have been carried from the womb: Even to your old age, I am He, And even to gray hairs I will carry you!  I made you and I will care for you; I will carry you, and will deliver you."
-Isaiah 46:3, 4

Thursday, August 16, 2012

prayer.....


"At the beginning of your supplications the command went out, and I have come...for you are greatly beloved."
-Daniel 9:23

***

When we need something from God, I mean really need something, what sort of response do we expect from the Most High?  How do we perceive His posture toward us?  Do we see a God "afar off", arms crossed, awaiting our polished prose and practiced petitions for help?  Is the assumption that we must make our case with carefully measured monologues, forty day fasts, lobbying, as it were, for even an audience with our Leige?  Do we feel the need to pound down Heaven's door to be heard? ..........Remember, it is He who stands at our door and knocks........

Here's the deal: We ask, God answers.  The answer may not show up for awhile; we may attribute it's arrival to our dutiful self-deprecating demonstrations, assuming our song and dance finally warranted the Almighty's attention, but the truth is, God sets an answer in motion the moment we ask, sometimes before we ask ("Before they call, I will answer"-Isaiah 65:24).  We have a God who is "ready to save" (Isaiah 38:20), an "In The Beginning" God, a God who answers not based on our "righteous deeds", but based on His mammoth mercies (Daniel 9:18).

So next time you need something, really need something, just ask;

the answer may already be on its way.

***

"Do not fear...for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come..." 
-Daniel 10:12

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Homecoming


***

The One Who makes His home in our hearts invites us to make our home in His.  He found His way into our stable so we could find our way into His Kingdom; He lived among men so that we could live among angels; He had nowhere to lay His head so that we'd always have somewhere to lay ours.

Hardly seems a commensurate arrangement.  Under the circumstances one might say Love is blind....

....I say Love saw clearly

....and came anyway.

***

"I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever."
Psalm 23:6