In some of my early gift booklets I explored the medium of poetry as a means of prayer; a way of approaching God in a way that captures the imagination and speaks as prose sometimes cannot quite do. The poems from those booklets, together with many others I’d written subsequently, were later collected in my book Poems to Help You Pray. Here’s one of them.
We are not discouraged, for even though we seem outwardly debilitated, inwardly we are being renewed every day. The inconsequential affliction we endure now is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond measure. 2 Corinthians 4:16, 17
When days are filled with struggle
and nights are racked by pain,
when faculties are failing
and health is on the wane,
when living seems an effort,
past vigour long since gone,
and darkness starts encroaching
where once the sun had shone,
Lord, teach me you’ll be with me,
to comfort and console –
that, though time wastes the body,
it cannot touch the soul.
When youth seems but a memory
and limbs are stiff and sore,
when daily I’m reminded
of things I’ll do no more,
when inwardly I’m willing
but outwardly I’m weak,
and succour proves elusive,
no matter how I seek,
Lord, teach me you’ll be with me,
to cherish and to mend –
that though this life is passing,
the grave is not the end.
When treasures start to tarnish,
as all things surely must,
when childhood dreams have faded
and hopes lie in the dust,
when life no longer sparkles
quite as it used to shine
and nothing can recapture
the joys that once were mine,
Lord, teach me you’ll be with me,
to strengthen and sustain –
that, though the night is falling,
your light will shine again.