Monday, October 09, 2006

Mercy

Note: This post is just a little prayer, a heartfelt accompaniment to a piece of music: “Mercy Now” by Mary Gauthier

Heavenly Father... I love You Lord. You are the center of everything, and I am Yours. Bid me, I will obey.

Lord, my heart is full. I am thinking of people important to me, and people I have not met. Lord, there is so much pain in our world, and I would like to lift them up to You. I hope, I pray, that You will bless them. Bless them with heats willing to change, soften their hard hearts, heal their broken hearts.

My father could use a little mercy now
The fruits of his labor
Fall and rot slowly on the ground
His work is almost over
It won't be long and he won't be around
I love my father, and he could use some mercy now


Bless my father, Lord. He has heard the truth, but he clings to the pile of things he has claimed. He is proud of the work of his hands. But those he has loved have fallen away. The motorcycles, the cars, the heavy equipment, the houses, the girlfriends, all of the things that he has grasped in searching for meaning mean so very little. Please Lord, help this rich man become humble, this man of things and actions become a man of obedience and spiritual growth. Draw him close to You my Lord. Send to him people to say words that he can hear.

My brother could use a little mercy now
He's a stranger to freedom
He's shackled to his fears and doubts
The pain that he lives in is
Almost more than living will allow
I love my bother, and he could use some mercy now


Bless my brothers Lord. My brothers and sisters who wander this world, hurt, confused, fearful. Bless those I have come to know through the internet, the bloggers who live with the scars of abuse, and broken marriages, and addictions, and the confusion of not knowing love. Bless my fellow humans. We are all so fearful, and we can use Your mercy.

My church and my country could use a little mercy now
As they sink into a poisoned pit
That's going to take forever to climb out
They carry the weight of the faithful
Who follow them down
I love my church and country, and they could use some mercy now

Bless The Church Lord. Bless my country Lord. Forgive us for our sins, for using authority in ways which do not honor you. Forgive us for actions which lack love, lack compassion. Bless my Church, Your Church. Bless this country Lord. Help it to move from being a “Christian” nation in the way it is a “western” nation. Help us to move from the lip service of being Christian. Move us to be Christ Followers. Help us to hold true to ideals which reflect our desire to obey Your commandments to love each other and love you.

Every living thing could use a little mercy now
Only the hand of grace can end the race
Towards another mushroom cloud
People in power, well
They'll do anything to keep their crown
I love life, and life itself could use some mercy now


Lord You know my fears. I lift up North Korea to You Lord. I pray for that region and beg You to help us step away from paths that lead to destruction. Lord I pray for India and Pakistan. Please send Your Spirit there, help those antagonistic neighbors to learn to resolve their differences. Lord I pray for the weak areas of Russia, the places where there are few guards, and few securities guarding the awful weapons of the Cold War. Lord I pray that Your grace and Mercy be poured out on us. Grant us the wisdom to step back from the dangerous toys we have created. Touch those who rule, especially those who rule with fear and hatred and anger and jealousy. Help them find fresh eyes to view their people and the world.

Yeah, we all could use a little mercy now
I know we don't deserve it
But we need it anyhow
We hang in the balance
Dangle 'tween hell and hallowed ground
Every single one of us could use some mercy now
Every single one of us could use some mercy now
Every single one of us could use some mercy now


Lord... bless us all. Thank you for Your gift of Jesus, Your only son. Grant us the mercy to spread that word of joy and salvation and redemption.

Bless us Lord.

Every single one of us could use some mercy now.

Amen.


9 comments:

jel said...

Let me add an Amen to that 2!

Jada's Gigi said...

Amen..
Mercy came runnin, like a prisoner set free, past all my failures to the point of my need...
Thank you, Lord for your Mercy.
Thank you, brother for your prayer.

Anonymous said...

Hi Will,

I tried to leave a lengthy comment on your previous post only to discover I no longer could.
I switched to the beta version of blogger (which you can't switch back from). After switching, I discovered beta bloggers can't comment on non-beta blogs.
I also tried to email you several times, but kept getting dsn failure messages.

The gist of my attempted comment on your previous post was this:

Mine and Julie's 8th anniversary is the end of this month (although we have been together for 11 years).

An early happy anniversary to you and Brenda!!

I feel the same way about my wife as you do about yours and have the same connections you described.

It is a wonderful thing, isn't it?!

Also, I respect and admire that you feel free to worship in the way you were meant to without fear or concern of judgement by others. That is the way worship was intended to be ( in my humble opinion).

I think and pray about you and your family often. These thoughts always make me smile and my prayers are heartfelt.

I feel I am a better person for having you in my life (if only via the internet).

My only comment on this post is, I pray your prayers are answered.

Be well, happy and loved my friend.

With best regards and much respect,

Justin

Curious Servant said...

Thanks folks... Especially you justin. I am always warmed by your comments.

When Paul was writing his epistles folks were amazed at how the world had shrunk. Rome was only four days away. One could travel to Egypt in a week. Their entire world was under a single government.

Now we have a world where communication and information is vastly shrunken. I can watch cars driving past the Kremlin, or see tourist walking toward the pyramids. I can even get images from Mars that are only hours old, and I can watch movies of today's solar flares.

It is a little much to wish that I could shake hands with foklks such as you... but I am glad we can share our lives this much.

God bless all of you!

Fox's Mom said...

Amen.

Curious Servant said...

A story in today's paper relates how more than 600,000 Iraqis have died violently since 2003.

Lord have mercy.

Christ have mercy.

Ame said...

i am deeply touched ...

your heart revealed ...

laid open ...

yes, Lord, we need Your mercy and are humbled and grateful when You shower so much grace and mercy on us. thank You for raising up men whose hearts love and adore You more than they love the praise of men; men who love themselves, their wives and their children; men who choose daily to remain faithful ... to You.

Anonymous said...

Amen!

Fox's Mom said...

Lord, grant us your peace.