Pace: Faith Seeds: Prayers and Poetry

                       Pace

Pace is necessary

to reach long distance

stretch—roads wind,

curve, buckle

throughout the route.

Breathe with rhythm

Spirit strength

infusing fresh energy

inhale—exhale beat.

Match soft shoe

choreography

practice until a reflex

                        dancing towards destination.

Reflection Run: Faith Seeds: Prayers and Poetry

Reflection Questions

1.     What dreams are you continuing to pursue despite hardship? What dreams did you set aside? What made the difference?

2.     Do you seek the Lord’s guidance every day or only when major changes arise?

3.     What do you think your first reaction would be if God asked you to completely give up the life you are living now and follow a different route?

4.     What would be your final answer?

Share: How do you reassess a commitment that doesn’t seem to make any progress? What question do you ask in prayer?

Run: Faith Seeds: Prayers and Poetry

Hebrews 12:1, “and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us,”

Run: requires training, energy, discipline, commitment, practice, endurance, and pace.

Or else: we stumble, cramp, tire, fall down, and give up.

Witness the recent events of the World Cup Soccer as the best players across the globe met in the hopes that their training would bring victory. Yet even among the very best some still had an edge.

Viewers admired not only their talents but also their perseverance and preparation to reach their goals. The players knew exactly what they wanted and put in the long hard hours to achieve their dreams.

Are we running the race the Lord has set before us with the same level of determination, or do we fizzle at the first major obstacle? Do we begin to think we need to do it on our own or do we remember His strength is ever present?

It’s so easy that when failures cause us to trip we begin to question if we got the route wrong. Maybe the directions were really for someone else. Or we rearranged the expectations to our own liking.

Lord, please give us each concrete insight as to the race you are calling us to this day, this year, this road without an end in sight. Only when we commit with our whole hearts under Your strength and Your guidance can we reach the finish line.

Psalm of Worship: Psalm 37:5-6

“Commit your way to the Lord,

Trust also in Him and He will do it.

And He will bring forth your righteousness as the light,

And your judgment as the noon day.”

Purify: Faith Seeds: Prayers and Poetry

Purify

The shadows we

wear determines

journey.

Fly or trudge?

When weighted by

sin’s  appeal each

step a cycle

fall—rise—try again

bonded to earth’s grave.

Release the outer

chains, rise higher

above the ground

float free into

possibilities.

Reflection Weighted: Faith Seeds: Prayers and Poetry

Reflection Questions

1.     What sin shadows do you often wear?  Why?

2.     If you trust in Jesus’ redeeming grace what is keeping you earthbound in your soul?

3.     Or what promise has enabled you to fly? Why?

4.     How do you cope with the sin weight of those closest to you?

Share: What kind of traveler are you? Baggage light or baggage heavy?

Weighted: Faith Seeds: Prayers and Poetry

Hebrews 12:1,“let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely,”

Just as last week’s witnesses before and present, visible and invisible, encourage us toward a path of promise, so we need to examine what exactly we carry with us as we walk.

Have you ever stood in a line at an airport and wondered how anyone could be traveling with so much baggage? Have you ever been the person that every one stares at as you try to maneuver an overflowing cart of luggage?

Yet perhaps the person with the lightest visible carry-on is actually the one weighted down the most within. Heart and mind and soul heavy.

Even when we want to or try to unload the sin we carry, we often keep it. We hold on for many reasons: it is familiar, we think we can handle it, we consider it a constant reminder of our weaknesses to avoid, or hide, or pay penance for.

Yet they are in reality invisible chains that strangle fresh hope. They weary our bodies and our souls and our minds with a fatigue and sluggishness that we often don’t even recognize.

They slow down the journey, cause resentment from those around us, and steal our joy. But somehow we can’t quite let go. The grip is too strong. Unless we are willing to receive help, or to share the burden with another, or help someone else with theirs. Then we can lift our vision to see our journey with expectancy and new energy.

Jesus says, “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” We are on this journey by His invitation and by His provision. We can travel light within and without because He walks alongside. Only He can remove  our sin weight. His promise to us.

Lord, please help us to each see the sin we continue to hold onto and relinquish it into Your hands, so that we may travel our days fully released in life.

Psalm of Worship: Psalm 63:8

“My soul clings to Thee;

Thy right hand upholds me.”

Promise: Faith Seeds: Prayers and Poetry

Promise

Stumbling with exhaustion

decisions loom alongside

shadows—no end in sight,

no sign of respite.

Fear nibbles into soul

challenging, mocking.

Suddenly a light

breeze kisses a cheek,

 a caress at neck’s

stiffness, a hint of

song lifts body onward

as surrounding witnesses

pray.