Listening for God

Lord, I need to know Your will.

I pray, but do not hear Your voice.

Perhaps I am so busy babbling

That I do not hear You.

I will try to listen for Your answer.

I know that it may not come in words of fire

Or even in whispers of smoke,

But through the actions of those around me

Or chance encounter with a stranger.

All I ask is that I know when I receive that answer.

Fear of the Lord

These words from Proverbs echo in my mind.

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,

And the knowledge of the holy is understanding."

Is that the answer to the problems of our age?

Have we lost our fear?

Not soul-wrenching terror that drives out reason,

But the awe of God's power and glory,

The knowledge that all life flows from God

And would not exist without God.

Help me to know the fear of the Lord

And so gain understanding.

Forgiveness

I ask for God's forgiveness often,

For my sins, for my omissions.

Do I offer forgiveness to those who wrong me?

Seldom, I fear.

Forgive me for my inability to follow in Jesus' footsteps

And to obey the words of the model prayer:

"Forgive us as we forgive those who trespass against us."

I know that alone I cannot forgive,

So I ask God not only for forgiveness,

But for the power to forgive.

Friends

I contemplate the story of the healing of the paralytic.

How his friends tried to bring him to Jesus,

But were blocked by the crowds.

How they made a hole in the roof of the house that Jesus was in,

And lowered the paralytic to Jesus who healed him.

I would have such friends,

Friends of faith and of deeds.

But more I would ask of God:

Give me the strength to be such a friend.

The Trinity

Christians speak of God as One

And yet as Three.

How can this be?

Perhaps we are like some two dimensional creature

That beholding a cube sees only a square.

Is that the answer?

We perceive only part of You

Confined as we are by space and time.

When we die is that barrier removed?

I pray that it is so.

Heaven

Where is heaven?

I have studied the grand emptiness of space,

And I see not the face of God,

But only the miracle of Creation.

Where do You dwell?

I know that question has many answers.

I seek only the answer that brings me closest to You.

For now, I must be satisfied with the words of Your Book,

And the knowledge that You are present everywhere,

In every moment of my life,

I must trust that death is the gateway to heaven,

And someday I will hear You say,

"Welcome home."