Minus all the fancy "thee's and thou's", I have loved this prayer lately...
Gracious Lord,
Thy name is Love,
in love receive my prayer?
My sins are more than the wide sea's sand,
but where sin abounds there is grace more abundant.
Look to the cross of thy beloved Son,
and view the preciousness of His atoning blood;
Listen to the never failing intercession,
and whisper to my heart, "Thy sins are forgiven,
be of good cheer, lie down in peace."
Grace cataracts from heaven and flows for ever,
and mercy never wearies from bestowing benefits.
Grant me more and more to prize the privilege of prayer,
to come to thee as a sin-soiled sinner,
to find pardon in thee,
to converse with thee;
to know thee in prayer as
the path in which my feet tread,
the latch upon the door of my lips,
the light that shines through my eyes,
the music of my ears,
the marrow of my understanding,
the strength of my will,
the power of my affliction,
the sweetness of my memory.
May the matters of my prayers always be wise, humble, submissive,
obedient, scriptural,Christ-like.
Give me unwavering faith that supplications are never in vain,
that if I seem to not obtain my petitions,
I shall have larger, richer answers,
surpassing all that I ask or think.
Unsought, Thou hast given me the greatest gift,
the person of thy Son,
and in Him, thou wilt give me all I need.
(The Valley Of Vision)
I know, it's awful wordy. But each time I read it, this is what I hear.
"Kacy, you're sin-drenched, yes.
But it's nothing My grace can't handle.
I know life has been a bit over whelming lately, but even when you come to me and you have no idea what to pray, you must know that My Son is always interceding for you. How beyond great is that?
You're loved,
You're loved,
You're loved.
Even when my answer to your prayers is seemingly more pain, surely I am answering you with LARGER, RICHER answers.
All you need on this crazy planet earth is My Son."
It's strange how when you walk through the yuck of this world, you can find yourself in a place of joy. When I keep my eyes on Him, I can see Him working all things together for His good.
There is so much going on right now that I just plain don't understand. And the truth of the matter is that I probably won't ever really have a clear picture this side of heaven. But my hope in not in my own understanding, it's in Him.
And so,
"This I recall to mind,
Therefore I have hope.
The Lord's loving-kindnesses indeed never cease,
For His compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
Great is your faithfulness.
"The Lord is my portion," says my soul,
Therefore I have hope in Him."
Lamentations 3:21-24
It doesn't really matter how hard things might seem, or how south things might actually go, when we're in Christ, we always have hope.
Woohoo!!! :)
