Faith Seeds: Prayers and Poetry

Longing

power and majesty

with love

prepare a home.

heart readied to receive

promise. Hungers

for city, faithful in journey

pursues longing.

Faith Seeds: Prayers and Poetry

Reflection Questions

1.     Have you ever considered what God’s vision is for you?

2.     Do you find it difficult to see yourself through His eyes for you? Why?

3.     What are some ways in which believers settle for some much less than a full walk with the Lord? Which apply to you personally?

Share: What is a blessing the God has given you when you followed a desire that came from Him?

Faith Seeds: Prayers and Poetry

Hebrews 11:16, “But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; indeed, he has prepared a city for them.”

There is a portion in the poem Dreams, by Langston Hughes, that says: For if dreams die/Life is a broken-winged bird/That cannot fly.

Through life we often learn to keep our dreams close to us to protect them from public ridicule. Sometimes we even have to keep them from well meaning family and friends. However when we keep them even from ourselves, we can begin to live with a meager perspective.

How can we understand the difference between humility and fear when God puts gifts and blessings into our lives and encourages us to use them, but we don’t? Instead, is it non-acceptance of His grace—which none of us deserve anyway.

Does shame sneak into our lives when we don’t lift our sight high enough to desire and believe and act with obedience to a love that turned the world’s definition of blessings upside down.

“The thief comes only to steal and kill, and destroy; I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly,” says Jesus.

Lord, please keep Your heaven in our souls so that our heart’s desires match with Yours and we live in Your abundance instead of our limitations. Keep us longing to dream of Your city.

Psalm of Worship: Psalm 63:8

“My soul clings to Thee; Thy right hand upholds me.”

Faith Seeds: Prayers and Poetry

Choose Path

Forward or backward

decisions clamor

for resolution

design choices.

Further to vision

described by hope,

faith in possibilities, or

depend on past.

Familiar territory

despite pain, brokenness,

forever a companion.

Desire beckons. Choose path.

Faith Seeds: Prayers and Poetry

Reflection Questions

1.     What circumstances trigger a backwards look in your attitude?

2.     Is the reason to not repeat mistakes, or a wish to return to old ways?

3.     Does it affect yourself alone or does it include relationships around you?

4.     When can a memory escape refresh you?

Share: How do you stop second-guessing from interfering with your direction?

Faith Seeds: Prayers and Poetry

Hebrews 11: 15, “If they had been thinking of the land that they had left behind, they would have had the opportunity to return.”

Have you ever wrestled through a major life decision, taken the next step of faith, and known it has been the right choice? And then weeks or months, or sometimes even years, later begin to reflect on that decision and wonder if? Or should I turn back now.

And the answer is no, so you keep going forward. But the memories tug.

Memories are a joy and a blessing, unless we turn them into a longing to escape from today. Or become an obstacle when we re-live past pain and allow its emotional paralysis to infect us now.

And the past’s grip can keep us from new guidance and new opportunities.

We can let emotions alone rule our decisions. We can get stuck in the familiar because it somehow feels safe because it is knowable—controllable. Even the heartaches and disappointments can become a soft jail. 

And the strangers and exiles on this faith journey had no long-term blueprint.

Whatever the hold on their past once was, whether good or bad, they broke it to walk towards God’s definition of freedom. Not an easy walk—maybe even more challenging than they had ever done before.

And they walked with the Lord God, Jehovah. Emmanuel—God with us.

Psalm of Worship: Psalm 138: 3, 8

“On the day I called, you answered me, you increased my strength of soul.

The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.”

Faith Seeds: Prayers and Poetry

Search

always on the move

with mind and heart

hungry for more

searching for substance

a place to rest

secure, grow roots.

instead hummingbird

style flit and dip

with breakneck speed

afraid to stay and

see home.