Tag Archive | prayer

Grace Gives Birth to Joy

Apr9
Art, quote and photo by dfav.
Joy!  Joy is still a peace that all of us can claim we've found,
In unceasing waves of calm to wrap life around.
Joy highlights hope.

Hope!  Hope is still very much alive and well,
Countless occurrences of praises to tell.
Hope gives way to prayer.

Prayer!  Prayer is still flowing heavenward from our lips,
It is possible to just touch Your hem with fingertips.
Prayer breaths love.

Love!  Love is still within most human hearts,
Even of those determined to keep us apart.
Love provides forgiveness.

Forgiveness!  Forgiveness is still what we all seek,
For our deepest wounds and anger make us weak.
Forgiveness flows to grace.

Grace!  Grace is still that which we are in great need,
There are unknown harvests from Your gospel seed.
Grace gives birth to joy.

Joy links hope causing prayer where love reveals forgiveness,
Forgiveness gives way to grace and joy returns selfless.
All joined by God. 

----dfav
4/9/21

From the Cottage-by-the-Sea (#4, 4/1/21)

Apr1
artwork by dfav
Here ---
My soul has longed to be here.
Surrounded by reminders
Of Your power
Of Your grace
Of Your awesomeness.

Here ---
Where my heart can beat with each swell
As the waves crash on the shore
Against the sand
Against the rock
Against the cottage.

Here ---
Where burdens flow out with the tide
Return battered and bruised
In broken pieces
Broken chains,
Broken strongholds.

Here ---
In the vast openness of the ocean
Where the wind snatches
Every stench away,
Every forgotten truth,
Every failure.

Here ---
Where my heart and soul know
The wonder of Your might
Is ever present
Is always felt
Is always welcoming.

Here ---
In our Cottage-by-the-Sea
Our prayer closet expanded
Though You remain
Steadfast
Proclaimed.

Here.

----dfav
4/1/2021

Wheels Keep on Rolling

Oct19
photo and “art” work by dfav
The wheels are rolling beneath the car
Wheels have carried us near and far,
Other trips come to mind so fast,
When pleasure and pain reared in the past.

It seems a metaphor for the present
To return to where we once were residents,
Life was hard but so much to come
Who'd have thought in all life's sum,
We'd find solace where we least expect
By physically returning will we connect
To who we were and who we are now?
Wheels keep rolling there's a reason somehow.

Do you remember the trip that day
Mother broke her leg that awful way?
We drove to visit and I cross-stitched
We were only a few years hitched.

Then the day that she died
How I wanted someone to have lied.
Or the day we moved to my home state
Sure of the future we did not hesitate.
Two became three after one trip
The wheels kept turning they did not slip,
The big trip to Walt Disney World that year
Our daughter grinning from ear to ear.

Now she's all grown and it's you and me
After nineteen years of us three.
Wheels keep rolling take us far
Further than wheels on a car.

Help us remember every single blessing,
Hear our praise and our confessing.
Open our ears to hear Your voice in the wind
For You Lord God are our Savior and Friend.
One day You'll call us home forever
Where our joy will not end, never.   
Home to forever be with You,
All our souls long to do.

Prayer wheels keep on rolling far,
For they carry us further than any car,
To the throne of God, the King of Kings,
Hear our voices as Your praises we sing.


-----dfav
10/19/2020

From the Cottage-by-the-Sea 10/11/2020 – #1

Oct12
Art by dfav, edited using PhotoGrid.
Here I am and here are You
Meeting once again in this place
In this Cottage-by-the-Sea I am humbled
I dare not look into Your glory filled face.

My soul draws in Your very presence,
As my lungs breathe in the sea air,
How is it always possible dear Lord,
You always love me and always care?

Today I throw myself at Your feet,
Casting all my weariness and cares upon You,
You speak to my heart and very soul,
Reminding me of Your love and what I am to do.

From deep within me praise by song I offer up
The words lapping on Heaven's very shores,
Here I worship and praise You Lord,
Heaven itself has flung open her doors.

My soul is washed its windows flung wide,
As You accept my worship, prayer and praise,
Here in our place of intervention
I offer You my heart and soul to raise.

From our Cottage-by-the-Sea just You and I,
In the falls nipping sea salty bracing winds,
I freely give all I am to You my Savior,
Freed because I know in You there is no end.

----dfav
10/11/2020

When I’m Pushing My Own Agenda

Sep23
Photo by Erik Mclean on Pexels.com

Forgive me Lord, for the times I’m selfish,

When all I see are things from my point-of-view,

When my own hurt and pain are all I feel,

When I fail to acknowledge my own costs are due.

Photo by Karolina Grabowska on Pexels.com

Forgive me Father, for the times I close my ears,

When all I hear are the beats of my own heart,

When my own fears have reared their heads,

When I forget to trust You to do Your part.

Photo by Anna Romanova on Pexels.com

Forgive me Lord, for the times I judge others,

When all I see are the differences in others,

When I think I understand all that makes me right,

When I just don’t see the sin in which I smother.

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Forgive me Lord, for damaging Your Holy reputation,

When all I do is push our own human laws,

When I think I’m right and I’m actually so wrong,

When I draw people away from Your Holy cause.

—-dfav

9/22/2020

Less of Me, More of You

Sep18
Photo by James Wheeler on Pexels.com

O Holy God:

Less of me, more of You

Let that be what they see—

Less of me, more of You

Let that be all they read.

For it’s not my strength or abilities

That holds me in this hour—

It’s less of me, more of You

From which flows Your mighty power.

—-dfav

1/25/2020

Weeping in the Parking Lot

Sep17
Photo by Karolina Grabowska on Pexels.com

Weeping in the parking lot,

Crying out God’s name,

Praying in the parking lot,

Lord, I am not ashamed.

It’s not just any parking lot,

It’s for appointment ninety-five,

When we leave this parking lot,

Please let us know what’s wrong.

Please rain mercy in this parking lot,

Flood the exam room with it too,

There’s hope alive in this parking lot,

We’re sure You’ll see us through.

Worshipping in the parking lot,

Clinging onto You for who You are,

Weeping in the parking lot,

Praying for answers from You.

—-dfav

6/17/2020

Prayer for Wisdom

Sep16
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Dear Lord,

Let me act wisely

Let my feet walk in Your lane

May I choose You first,

Shake free of sins curse

Though doing so bring joy or pain.

Dear Lord,

Wrap me in Your light

Let my mind choose to be wise

May I taste all Your Word

Be it bitter or honey

Let me choose You to authorize.

Dear Lord,

Open my heart to Your’s

May I put aside all that will hinder

May I remember my call

Though it be easy or hard

To You I must completely surrender.

—-dfav

9/3/2020

To You I Offer

Jul31

Photo courtesy of Shane Hobson.

Into Your presence I commit my spirit.
Unto Your will I surrender my plans.
To You and You only I offer my heart,
To You the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit,
Together as one You cannot be torn apart.

Before You I kneel with true awareness,
You are the Master of the Universe,
The God of Abraham, Jacob and Moses,
A God who has a history loyal to fickle man,
Who has pierced Him with thorns and neglected the roses.

To You I give up my selfish ambition.
It’s to You I release the love in my soul.
To You I turn for eternal salvation,
To You I concede I’m at my core a sinner,
And only in You, through You, can I have redemption.

Take of me whatever it is You can use,
Mold me and shape me by Your standard,
Remake, refashion, recreate the disciple You need,
Purge my heart ’til its whiter than snow,
Reap from my life where You’ve planted the seed.

When this life has passed for me,
Repentance will be far too late,
Hear my soul cry out to Jehovah God today,
As the sun breaks with brilliance across the sky,
It is to You, in You, with You I beg to stay.
            —dfav 7/31/17

—Donna

Abba Father, Thank You

Jul27

Abba Father,

Thank You for air.
Air that fills my lungs naturally
And that air pumped in to complete the need.
Thank You for the care
You demonstrate in this provision.

Thank You for choice.
For being able to choose my action,
To decide what I believe and don’t,
And even what in my heart gets traction,
And what slips on away.

Thank You for encouragement.
For voices of now and past,
Who clean out my wounds and scars
So poisonous infections can’t last
But are washed away by caring.

Thank You for this moment.
Of awareness of my many blessings.
For too often I focus on my needs
On what I perceive as being lacking
Instead of what You’ve already given.

Thank You for Your love.
This never-ending resource of Your being
That sets within me the standard
Through which all of life and man needs viewing.
So I can be Your hands and feet.

Thank You for this time.
When our hearts truly communicate,
When there’s no motivation or mission
Beyond what You would dedicate
Towards You and Your people.

Amen.
       —dfav 7/27/17

—Donna