poetry Archives - Prayer matters

Slow down

Wise words
Desert father Abba Anthony said, ‘Pay attention to what I tell you: whoever you may be, always have God before your eyes; whatever you do, do it according to the testimony of the holy Scriptures; in whatever place you live, do not easily leave it. Keep these three precepts and you will be saved.’

Prayer
Grow us slowly, persistently, and deeply, Lord, to be people who watch without distraction, listen without interruption, and stay put without inclination to flee. Amen.

from this morning’s devotion in Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals by Shane Claiborne, Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove and Enuma Okoro, p. 304

My life a prayer

by Irene Bom

I pray to GOD – my life a prayer –
and wait for what he’ll say and do.
(Psalm 130:5, The Message translation)

My life a prayer …
      if only!
My life a prayer …
      I don’t know.
My life a prayer …
      really?
My life a prayer …
      please, Lord,
      make it so.

~ written as part of the Presbytery Project, Prayer Poems for Lent 2026

From the blog
Bend down low
Quiet my heart
Sister moon

Rising … into freedom

Good Friday “cross talk” installation with addition of white marks to imply “things rising”

Prayer for all things rising

For all things rising
out of the hiddenness of shadows
out of the weight of despair
out of the brokenness of pain
out of the constrictions of compliance
out of the rigidity of stereotypes
out of the prison of prejudice;

for all things rising
into life, into hope
into healing, into power
into freedom, into justice;

we pray, O God,
for all things rising.

written by Jan Richardson, from paintedprayerbook.com

From the blog
Hear and answer
Interpreting the times
Theme: Change my heart, O God [prayer sheet]

Prayer as a practice

It will pass

from Prayer: Forty days of practice by Justin McRoberts and Scott Erickson

The young woman sat in a wooden chair across from her mentor and grieved, “I am so easily distracted. My mind buzzes with noise and I cannot pray. Please help me.”

Her mentor nodded slowly and smiled, saying, “It will pass. Keep practicing.”

One week later the young woman sat across from her mentor again. This time, sliding slightly lower into the chair, she stared at the empty table. “Nothing works. I sit in silence. I journal. I read the Scriptures. Still, my mind is too noisy. I cannot pray. Please help me.”

Her mentor nodded slowly and smiled, saying, “It will pass. Keep practicing.”

Many weeks went by, during which the young woman did not visit her mentor – until one day, she bounded into the room and stood at the table, beaming. “You were right! I kept practicing. I sat in silence. I journaled. I read the Scriptures. And eventually the busyness of my mind settled like dust and I could pray! I can pray!”

Her mentor rose from the table, set her hand on the young woman’s shoulder, and smiled. “It will pass,” she said. “Keep practicing.”

A poem

Let Your God Love You

Be silent.
Be still.
Alone.
Empty
Before your God.
Say nothing.
Ask nothing.
Be silent.
Be still.
Let your God look upon you.
That is all.
God knows.
God understands.
God loves you
With an enormous love,
And only wants
To look upon you
With that love.
Quiet.
Still.
Be.

Let your God —
Love you.

~ written by Edwina Gateley, posted on www.journeywithjesus.net

From the blog
In the quiet of God’s smile
3 Prayers while waiting
Thank you. For making me

Give in to joy

Don’t hesitate: A poem

If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy,
don’t hesitate. Give in to it. There are plenty
of lives and whole towns destroyed or about
to be. We are not wise, and not very often
kind. And much can never be redeemed.
Still, life has some possibility left. Perhaps this
is its way of fighting back, that sometimes
something happens better than all the riches
or power in the world. It could be anything,
but very likely you notice it in the instant
when love begins. Anyway, that’s often the
case. Anyway, whatever it is, don’t be afraid
of its plenty. Joy is not made to be a crumb.

from Devotions by Mary Oliver, p. 61

Benediction for the New Year

Let us look for Christ wherever we go.

Let us never stop seeking,
believing that there is a light that shines in the darkness
which the darkness shall not overcome

And may the love of the Creator,
the joy of the Spirit
and the peace of the Christ-child
be with you this New Year, and evermore.

~ by Cara Heafey, posted on re:Worship

From the blog
3 prayers for the New Year
On the threshold of tomorrow
On Writing Prayer-Poems

It’s simple

A Poem

WHEN I AM AMONG THE TREES
by Mary Oliver

When I am among the trees,
especially the willows and the honey locust,
equally the beech, the oaks and the pines,
they give off such hints of gladness.
I would almost say that they save me, and daily.

I am so distant from the hope of myself,
in which I have goodness, and discernment,
and never hurry through the world
but walk slowly, and bow often.

Around me the trees stir in their leaves
and call out, “Stay awhile.”
The light flows from their branches.

And they call again, “It’s simple,” they say,
“and you too have come
into the world to do this, to go easy, to be filled
with light, and to shine.”

from Devotions: The selected poems of Mary Oliver, p. 123

SUMMER SCHOOL: CREATIVE ASSIGNMENT

Write our own poem inspired by time spent among trees.

From the blog
On Writing Prayer-Poems
In the school of prayer with Michael Mayne
Carry something beautiful

Slowly learning

Thirst

a prayer poem

Another morning and I wake with thirst

for the goodness I do not have. I walk

out to the pond and all the way God has

given us such beautiful lessons. Oh Lord,

I was never a quick scholar but sulked

and hunched over my books past the

hour and the bell; grant me, in your

mercy, a little more time. Love for the

earth and love for you are having such a

long conversation in my heart. Who

knows what will finally happen or

where I will be sent, yet already I have

given a great many things away, expect-

ing to be told to pack nothing, except the

prayers which, with this thirst, I am

slowly learning.

by Mary Oliver, from Devotions: The selected poems of Mary Oliver, p. 141

SUMMER SCHOOL: CREATIVE ASSIGNMENT

Write a prayer poem, inspired by Mary Oliver’s offering.

From the blog
In the school of prayer with Eddie Askew
The empty cup
Re-turn

Making, making, making

Back story

I shared a version of this poem during the Away Day I led at the Scots Kirk, Lausanne earlier this month. It was so well received the group decided to include it in our presentation during Sunday worship the following day.

I’ve since made contact with the author, Wendy Videlock, and got permission to share it with you too. (Thanks, Erica, for giving me the idea.)

You can hear Wendy Videlock reading the poem on Emerging Form Podcast #51 (from 13:30).

Poem

On Hearing Yet Another Someone Say
they Haven’t Got a Creative Bone in their Body

And yet you’ve spent your entire life
creating — you’ve spent your life
making —
making dinner, making drinks,
making fire, making
the cut, making amends,
making fun,
making the team,
making money, making
lemonade

of lemons, yes — we spend
our whole lives making —
making decisions,
making peace,
making war,
making mistakes,
making a call, making some
kind
of sense of it all —

we can’t help but spend our lives making,
making music, making choices,
making strides, making up

for lost time,
making hay, making haste,
making promises and progress,
making love, making
history, making
predictions, making
productions, making
light

of the situation,

we make space,
we make friends,
we make magic, we make trouble,
we make mountains

out of molehills,

we make tea,
we make tracks,
we make use, we make do,
we make way, we make curds,
we make words, we make waves
we make meaning —
we are born

into this world and are made

(when we’re not humans being)

for making, making, making.

~ from Wise to the West by Wendy Videlock, used with permission

Wait … strong, courageous, stubborn

Whatever befall, I know this for sure:
      I shall see the goodness of the Lord
            in the land of the living.
So wait for the Lord;
      be strong, be courageous, be stubborn;
      but wait for the Lord.

excerpt from Psalm 27
from The Lincoln Psalter by the poet, Gordon Jackson

From the blog
Change from the inside out
Grow how?
Big strong tree

Inspired by trees

A poem

Lost

Stand still. The trees ahead and bushes beside you
Are not lost. Wherever you are is called Here,
And you must treat it as a powerful stranger,
Must ask permission to know it and be known.
The forest breathes. Listen. It answers,
I have made this place around you.
If you leave it, you may come back again, saying Here.
No two trees are the same to Raven.
No two branches are the same to Wren.
If what a tree or a bush does is lost on you,
You are surely lost. Stand still. The forest knows
Where you are. You must let it find you.

by David Wagoner, from Traveling Light: Collected and New Poems

Also inspired by trees

The children’s book, The Boy Who Grew a Forest (based on a true story).

Youtube video on how to make paper growing trees (from illustrator of The Boy Who Grew a Forest)

Article from themarginalian.org about Ursula K. Le Guin’s Love Poem to Trees, also featuring some stunning artwork.

From the blog

Winter = long nights
Flowers fall, but …
Tree of life

He walks the earth

Discarded (or misplaced) working boots (Photo: Irene Bom)

God empties himself
into the earth like a cloud.
God takes the substance, contours
of a man, and keeps them,
dying, rising, walking,
and still walking
wherever there is motion.

excerpt from the poem, “Feast days”, by Annie Dillard
published in Tickets for a Prayer Wheel

More Annie Dillard
The Holy Other