A poetic paraphrase of the Lord’s Prayer

Our Father in Heaven we pause now to pray
enveloped by pressures on earth.
We struggle to trust You when life hems us in
or when critics question our worth.

We honor Your name Elohim, Adonai,
El Shaddai, Tzevaot, Yahweh, too.
Most Holy, Almighty, Compassionate One,
You are just, ever faithful and true.

We welcome Your Kingdom, Your Highness, we’re Yours
surrendered to what You allow.
Your will is what matters for You know what’s best.
So we (in humility) bow.

May You reign supremely in Heaven and here
accomplishing what You deem best.
A Kingdom of kindness, forgiveness and love,
of order, rich beauty and rest.

We pray that this day we’ll be nourished with food,
by our friendships, the arts and Your Word.
Our bodies and spirits rely on Your grace
lest our focus on Truth becomes blurred.

Forgive us our failures, O Father, we pray.
We stumble so often it seems.
Our willful desires breed actions that wound
while exposing our self-centered schemes.

But only forgive us, dear Father, we pray
as we are inclined to forgive
the ones who have wronged us. May we offer grace
even though it’s so hard to give.

Temptations that threaten our lives loom ahead.
Like landmines they can’t be perceived.
Please, Father, protect us and guard us from harm
and the evil that seeks to deceive.

Deliver us daily from sin’s unseen traps
that trip up those blind to their pride.
Admitting our weakness, we ask for Your help,
God of mercy in You we confide.

For Yours is the Kingdom to which we belong.
It’s glory, dominion and might
defy understanding and can’t be explained
by the smartest (no matter how bright).

By faith we submit to Your unending reign.
As Your children we live quite assured
that what You intend, loving Father, is good.
And that what we’ve just prayed has been heard.

Amen!

A poet’s prayer on New Year’s Eve

Lord, as this dying year
gasps its final breaths,
I am mourning
squandered choices and wasted time
that have marked this season of my life.
Forgive me, Father!

All the same I am celebrating
a new year about to be born!
With this birth announcement,
I am motivated by the beauty
of an unblemished calendar
and the promise of new opportunities
yet to be embraced.

Thank You, God, for not defining me
by the things I have carelessly left undone
or by the actions I have selfishly pursued.
How grateful I am that You see me
through the filter of what I one day will become.

As I cradle this newborn year
and gaze into its potential,
please help me bury regrets of the past twelve months.
In so doing would You also raise to life
those hopes within me
that have slumbered in a deathlike sleep
for far too long.

Although the graveyard of good intentions
may be punctuated with headstones
that call to mind failed attempts at reaching dreams,
I refuse to grieve as one who has no hope.

With the stroke of midnight
comes the ring of Easter truth.
Thanks to an empty tomb,
death (in all its forms) has been trumped by life.
Lifeless resolutions are animated once again
by the breath of grace
and the ability to start anew.

Enable me, Lord,
to be purposeful and focused
in this new year
as I look to You for daily guidance
and dance with the blessings that come my way. Amen.

A July 4th prayer

The purple mountain majesties
and snow-white Mt. Rainier
remind me of what’s grand to me and you.
There’s Red Rocks Park and Yellowstone.
Mt. Rushmore’s hills are black.
And add to that our flag’s red, white and blue.

America is colorful.
The beige and ebony
blend in with those whose skin is tan and brown.
The colors of the rainbow
form the spectrum of our land
that’s haloed by the gold of freedom’s crown.

God, bless America today
in all its many hues
and may the colors of our nation gleam
as ethnic groups of every kind
and landmarks near and far
become the focus of our leaders’ dreams.

Do-able options for the coming month

May you discover in this month
that Easter’s not a day,
but rather it’s a way of life
by which faith learns to play!

May you experience the joy
just knowing Jesus lives!
May you not fear what’s still to come
but trust a God who gives.

May you determine to give thanks
for all that’s going right.
May you look past another’s wrong
so you’ll sleep well at night.

May you dust for God’s fingerprints
in all that springtime brings:
a flow’ring shrub, a fragrant rose,
the tune a songbird sings.

May you decide to make a friend
of someone you don’t know.
May you mend frayed relationships
although you cannot sew.

May you delight in getting fit
by walking every day.
May you eat what is good for you
and chart how much you weigh.

May you take time to talk to God
and then to contemplate
the ways the Lord has answered prayer
with “Yes” and “No” and “Wait!”

May you begin each day this month
by reading from God’s Word
and listening expectantly
for what the ancients heard.

May you unwrap each day as if
the present is a gift.
And may God’s presence grant you peace
and give your soul a lift.