Lord, sometimes I'm afraid to pray.
It scares me,
this whole business of talking to you.
Listening to you.
Who am I ...?
And what does it mean?
It's a heavy thing, Lord,
to be in contact with you.
It would be all right
if I could just use the passkey,
open the letterbox,
drop in my requests,
like a mail order catalogue,
and wait for the parcel to come.

But when I pray
I hear you talking back to me.
I hear you saying
„You've used the words.
Now what are you going to do about it?“
Confronting, searching.
I think of Jesus, in the garden.
I catch a glimpse of what prayer meant to him.
Sweat ... like blood ...
Agonising, painful.
Prayer from the depths of his being
whether for others, or himself.
Prayer beyond easy words.
Commitment.
To the cross. And beyond.

Lord, teach me to pray
in his name.
In his spirit.
Not only believing prayer.
Not simply believing you'll do something about it.
But identifying prayer.
Putting myself into it,
standing alongside you, Lord
and committing myself to do all I can
to bring about what I'm praying for.

Lord, help me.
When I pray for peace, help me not to create dissension.
When I pray for my neighbour stir me up to help him.
When I pray „Your Kingdom come“ inspire me to
share in its building.
Help me put my will where my mouth is.
And not to shift onto your shoulders
the things I can do something about myself.

Eddie Askew
(Disguises of Love)

Almighty, eternal, just and merciful God,
give us the ability to act in accordance with our knowledge of your will
and to desire always what pleases you.
Cleanse and enlighten our hearts and enkindle in us the fire of the Holy Spirit,
that we may follow in the footsteps of our Lord Jesus Christ your beloved Son,
and with your grace alone make our way to you, Most High.
You who live and reign in perfect Trinity and simple Unity,
glorified and all-powerful God,
now and forever. Amen.
St. Francis

Wait With Faith

Lord you have faithfully shown me
So many times before
And this time is no exception, Lord
And simply can't be ignored

That you know all that concerns my life
Everything your eyes do see
You always come through at just the right time
To meet my every need

For nothing escapes your watchful eye
No problem that we may cross
But so often, Lord, it seems as though
There's a delay in your response

I know it's a testing of our faith
To wait so patiently
You stretch us so our faith may grow
Though we want it instantly

But it's for our good that you respond
In your time, not in ours
For if you didn't - we'd stay as infants
Getting everything right now

For us to grow more Christ-like
We need to learn to wait
For often that's the answer to prayer
And builds us up in faith

So I thank you for the answer to come
As I hand it over in prayer
Thank you that you're still working on me
And my breakthrough's drawing near.

© By M.S.Lowndes