The kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these. – Matthew 19:14
For Spiritual Journey Thursday. A double etheree.
Now
I wake,
now I rise,
wiping the sleep
from my sleepy eyes.
Time to eat, time to pray.
Thank you, Lord, for this new day
to live, to learn, to love, to play.
In Your kingdom, where I have a place,
remember Your little child saying grace.
Remember all Your children, needing grace
when we’ve forgotten to seek Your face.
Draw us back to that holy place
in a child’s believing heart.
O Lord, in the morning
cast us not away—
help us, we pray—
You are great,
You are
good.
Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation… Psalm 51: 10-12
Give ear to my words, O Lord, consider my meditation. Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, and my God: for unto thee will I pray. My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.
-Psalm 5:1-3
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For more Spiritual Journey offerings, visit Reflections on the Teche – with gratitude to Margaret Simon for hosting.
lit bits and pieces 
The appearance of this poem looks like an hour glass or praying hands. Namaste! I love the repetition and desire in this poem that is pleading but not overly so. I needed to say this prayer this morning. Cast us not away, even if we forget whose we are.
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I didn’t want to overdo the poem – as soon as I got this photo of my granddaughter, I knew I wanted to write to it. I had to figure out the form and the etheree seemed to fit for crafting with bits of other prayers and pleas. Oh for the simple, comforting, all-trusting faith of a child … no wonder the kingdom belongs to them. How thankful I am for a child’s pure offering of grace – and God’s mercy.
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Fran, thank you for your prayer poem that fills my morning with God’s love.
Sometimes the world interferes and we do forget to seek His face (as evidenced by the recent Presidential debate).
Psalm 5:1-3 is a perfect prayer for me this morning as I ask the Lord to “consider” my thoughts and requests for peace and love. We were placed in a precarious position yesterday when the reality of our home here on Long Island not selling demanded that we make another decision. While this may not seem like a mounting issue, it is because we are scheduled to close on our new home in VA mid-November. With strength of spirit, we reduced the price and placed the outcome in the Lord’s hands. Thank you for your words that help me find clarity and peace.
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Carol, you picked up on a not-so-visible thread in my post … I’ve been longing for grace, which seems almost extinct now in our species, and for the reassurance of forgiving, divine grace. Hence the turning to those Psalms linked with other Scriptures in which God calls His people to seek His face. My childhood pastor told me, when I was newly-married and when my husband entered the ministry, that “God takes care of His own.” Your house in His hands… the best possible place to be! Hang on, for when He moves, it’s fast and mighty … I’ll keep the sale in my prayers. Do keep me posted. It makes me happy to think of you being in VA (my birth state), closer in proximity to me!
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Fran: Thank you for this beautiful poem and picture. They lift my spirits. Also, the reminder from Psalm 51, which is so dear to me. We need reminders to pull us back to God. Beautiful.
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Thank you, Karen. Psalm 51 is in my mind almost daily, as is Psalm 5; I learned to sing them when I was younger so they remain songs playing in my mind, almost every day. They were part of the threads of this post – a plea for grace.
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Oh, do we need grace now more than ever. I love the audience of this prayer a child, but the child in me is listening and praying along too. My kids are all older. Some acknowledge faith, some don’t. These days, I ask before grace at dinner, old prayer (simple child’s prayer from preschool we never grew out of) or “real” prayer. I find that they more than often say “real” prayer and it is good.But, they are still my little ones.
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The child in the second stanza – the descending lines – is grown, has wandered away, and is hurting, hence the longing to be drawn back. Simple faith and trust, so natural to a child, is harder for adults, for myriad reasons. I find such truth and comfort in your final line: “They are still my little ones.” I hear the Lord’s voice in it. Thank you. Linda.
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This is beautiful! Thank you!
Ruth, thereisnosuchthingasagodforsakentown.blogspot.com
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