The world’s inflamed with war —
Neighbor against his neighbor,
Nations set upon nations,
Race divides, and riches. Continue reading “Inflamed with War”
O Lord of Thrones
God of many names and One,
I-AM who is, besides you none,
Above, below, within, without,
A small, still voice, creation’s shout;
O Lord of thrones, upon us look,
Restore to us what Satan took;
Your gracious face to earth incline,
Around this table’s bread and wine;
Of what does life consist?
To have you in our midst.
The perfect wedding
Lord God, let knowledge and love be joined permanently together in my faith, as the perfect wedding of groom and bride. Teach me your ways, and help me to obey your every command.
Make your truth my clothing and protection, for I seek your wisdom night and day. Let the facts of the gospel be precious to me, and its commands always in my heart.
Make my teaching and life a powerful argument before those outside of Christ.
The doctrine of Christ is light and life, O Savior. Let his words be our constant meditation and our insistent message to all.
That I may breathe freely
Let me not seek outside of you
what I can only find in you, O Lord.
Peace and rest, and joy and bliss,
which abide only in your abiding joy.
Lift up my soul above the weary round
of harassing thoughts to your eternal presence. Continue reading “That I may breathe freely”
To You Belongs
To you belongs praise, O God who acts,
O God who speaks, our God of facts;
Behind the facts, a love undying
To save a world, in lostness crying. Continue reading “To You Belongs”
With Me Most
Lord God, I want to stay,
Be close to you, enjoy
communion in your presence.
But I trust what you say
That you are with me most
When out to preach I’m going.
In truth lie our hope and strength
Strengthen us, O Lord, to resist Satan and to subdue sin in our lives. Help us to do what is right. Keep our eyes fixed on the Lord Jesus Christ, who did not sin and who always pleased you by doing your will.
Keep us from being naive. Let us not underestimate the power of Satan to deceive. Remind us, however, of the greater power of your Spirit, the marvelous Force of your Word, the live, ongoing transformation that Jesus works in us. Continue reading “In truth lie our hope and strength”
Don’t Stand Aloof
In Jesus Christ, O God, you came from afar,
With all my being I seek you, with talon and tooth,
Don’t stand aloof from me — quickly come near!
Dear God, I’m nothing without your love and truth!
Let shine your light upon me strong and clear,
In passing years I seek you, as in my youth,
Be not to me a distant, twinkling star.
We want others to see Jesus in us
Heavenly Father, make us like Jesus, for we strive to be like him. This is our goal, because we know he pleased you in all things and shared an intimate relationship with you.
Also, we want others to see him in us, so that they might be saved through our words and actions.
Empower us to remove any thoughts or behaviors inconsistent with his life. Continue reading “We want others to see Jesus in us”
If clothes make the man
Father, if clothes make the man, we want to put on Christ and be clothed with your love and compassion.
If accessories complete a wardrobe, we want to be complete in the Lord Jesus by not lacking in any attribute of his, as we imitate his example.
We want people to identify us by the attitudes and actions of him who saved us by his blood. Continue reading “If clothes make the man”