june 09f

Anywhere is a place of prayer if God is there

I have prayed on my knees in the morning,
I have prayed as I walked along,
I have prayed in the silence and darkness
And I've prayed to the tune of a song -
I have prayed in the midst of triumph
And I've prayed when I suffered defeat,
I have prayed on the sands of the seashore
Where the waves of the ocean beat -
I have prayed in a velvet-hushed forest
Where the quietness calmed my fears,
I have prayed through suffering and heartache
When my eyes were blinded with tears -
I have prayed in churches and chapels,
Cathedrals and synagogues, too,
But often I've had the feeling
That my prayers were not getting through,
And I realized then that our Father
Is not really concerned where we pray
Or impressed by our manner of worship
Or the eloquent words that we say . . .
He is only concerned with our feelings,
And He looks deep into our heart
And hears the "cry of our soul's deep need"
That no words could ever impart. . .
So it isn't the prayer that's expressive
Or offered in some special spot,
It's the sincere plea of a sinner
And God can tell whether or not
We honestly seek His forgiveness
And earnestly mean what we say,
And then and then only He answers
The prayer that we fervently pray.

Helen Steiner Rice

A new member of the British parliament took his 8-year old daughter on a brief tour of his beloved London. They came to Westminster Abbey and the awesomeness of it struck that little girl. She stood looking way up at those columns, and studying the beauty and grandeur of the Gothic church building. Her father was intrigued at her concentration. He looked down and said, "Sweetheart, what are you thinking about?" She said, "Daddy, I was thinking how big you seem at home and how small you look in here."