To the One so familiar with sorrow and stings:

Help us know Your nearness in our suffering.

Help us glimpse a shred of the picture You see;

Help us look, in faith, for the goodness You’ll bring–

–

Yes, even You are bringing right now

And have already brought here somehow,

That every tear will carve a path for mercy

And every sigh will open deep for blessings.

–

But not that we should crave our comfort only.

Would that You teach us to want most Your glory:

Your name to be, forever, lifted upward–

Our praise in testifying echoes long heard.

If I could say–only–“thanks”–endlessly

With all my might and every breath

And every moment I have left

To walk this earth, it wouldn’t suffice

To show Your heart how much I’ve prized

Your ceaseless blessings poured down-over–

The last one uncounted before there’s another.

But, still, now, Lord, let me praise You–so freely.

Have mercy on us in our plight

Of fallenness, yet set our sights

On righteousness, and help us crave

Your holiness. And make us brave

Enough to try, clothed in Your strength,

To leave behind excuses–weak–

Which tempt us to resist this growth.

Oh, Mercy: please define our worth!

Glory-Honor-Wisdom from above:

Imbue my every need with Your enough.

Eradicate ideals which take Your place,

Which tempt my heart in gaudy masquerade.

–

My mind is wander-prone;

You offer changeless grace.

My faith shifts like the waves;

You teach me to be calm.

–

I see the good in what You give.

I feel the all in what You are.

This is the beauty of Your peace.

Son-rise, Lord, upon my day

And guide my heart till my eyes close–

That all I choose to do and say

–

Would show Your good, reflect Your love:

Until those placed around me know

The great things You alone have done.

–

Amen.

When I have trusted and been cleansed–

My way to God made clear by Christ–

What then shall block my prayers to Him

Except my pride and worry-vice?

O Lord of clarity and light,

Diffuse the fog that skews my thoughts.

Lift all distractions from my mind;

Help me address You as I ought.

Amen.

Hail, Light of the World and King,

Of every heart that humbly sees

The ray of sun piercing their gloom,

The hand of God op’ning their tomb

And calling them out, calling forth–

The old man to be cast down, no more–

The new man to breathe afresh, again.

The glory of God has worked this plan.

Stone souls made flesh

To reflect Him for eternity.

ACTS Prayer in Four Haiku

1.

Eyes up, jaw hanging

At grandeur of You, My King,

Before I kiss the earth,

2.

For my thoughts are low,

My habits bent opposite–

Compared to Your ways.

3.

So I cry my thanks,

That You would make covering

And draw me so near.

4.

Now open my eyes

And uplift my face to taste

Your divine beauty.

Only in the Name of Christ may I come

Under His blood, His mercy enough–

Removing the stain of all wrongs I’ve done–

*

Freely to approach, then, Heaven’s throne.

Awe stills my tongue, gives my heart true pause.

Thanks, thus, must flow next, and praise, for Grace shown.

Help me, Spirit, to divine and speak, honestly, my wants.

Encourage me to seek His glory be more widely known:

Refined, I pray, will be my heart in relation to my God.

To the Maker of all,

I make all my pleas

And give back all praise

To the One who made me.

And when I have seen

How all I can bring

Is only a mite’s worth,

I will recognize

How You have supplied–

Already–

Every good thing.

Amen.