PRAYER POEMS FOR "THE STRUGGLING HEART"
SECTION 3

Death to Life

Back on my knees,
The vessel broken once again.
That which was filled, poured out.
That which appeared strong, weak and broken.
Leaning against Your Cross for strength,
I wonder if You wanted it this way?
You know I have no strength but You.
Is it Your wish that I be sure?

I watch myself fail, try again, fail.
Not on the mountain, not even the pebbles,
But on every tiny grain of sand, I stumble.
Can I not move without Your help?
...stand without Your arm?
...think without Your thoughts?
...love without Your love?
Can I even just be, present in Your love,
Or must You hold me even then?
Is this feeling, this nothingness,
This dependence on You,
This brokenness, this death,
Is this the death to self You speak of?
Or is there more?

The compost pile of my life,
Is always changing,
Always growing into something new
By brokenness, decay and
A surrendering death.
Will the Spring come when
The seeds You planted will sprout
And someday bloom?
Was this Your plan, my Lord,
To make me nothing
So in Your Heart
I could find my everything?

Will You take this nothingness
And make it Yours?
Will You build Your temple in me
Stone by stone,
Day by day,
So that in time
You may be praised in it?
You may be worshipped in it?
That it may absorb Your tender love,
Then raise the fragrance
Of a sanctified life
From the compost of my soul.

Scars

As Your hand reaches for mine,
I see Your scars,
A remembrance of my past,
An acknowledgement of my present.
I cringe at the sight,
Knowing full well my part
In Your pain.

In Your Mercy, still,
You offer Your hand
Inviting my love,
Forgiving my ignorance,
Dissolving my arrogance,
Giving strength to my weakness.

As I take Your hand in mine,
Your warm, strong touch of love
Dissolves the bars on my heart.
My heart seeks Yours and
Like the sinful woman,
My tears wash Your wounds,
My love seeking to heal.

You, in Your infinite kindness,
Wipe away my tears.
Drawing my eyes to Yours
You betray no accusations, no bitterness,
As your gaze floods through my soul
Making all things new.

Lift me, Lord

Release me, Lord,
From the density of this place.
Lift me up to You
Away from the mire
Our human weaknesses have created.
This soup of all our sinfulness
Carefully prepared by the hand of Darkness,
When taken all together,
Weights us down in hopelessness.
You who gave all
To save us from this mess,
Who broke the chains of evil,
Break these chains in me again, my Savior,
And release me from the power
Of those who would so willingly
Shackle me again.

Let me live in You, Lord,
Apart from this place.
While walking this journey as You did,
Help me to walk apart, living in You.
While among Your people, Lord,
Help me to live in the Light
Apart from the darkness
That I may not cast my darkness on any man,
But that Your Light may shine through me.

Lift me, Lord, and
Fill me with Your Light
Pouring forth from Your Sacred Heart
Into the darkness of my heart and soul.