1. A PRAYER BY THE SEA. (For Myrna, one of my finest inspirers.)
. . .For we are God’s poesis (handiwork, poem) created in Christ Jesus to do good works,
which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2: 10.
“He who kisses the joy as it flies / lives in eternity’s sunrise.”1
In the cool of the evening2, before the winds and tide wash back to sea,
and while other guests enjoy their barbecue and beer,
I fall into a reflective mood, and pray,
hoping God will come by, as he once did for Adam,
my dear Eve by my side—
Lord, let me be your poesis,
yours, but with “two to tango”, mine as well.
Let this prayer be like the tide
which with every swell
and recession washes this
and that impurity from the side
of Mother Earth. Let this rhyme
work to flush out sin—the love-
lessness that stains my soul,
the ego that wants to rise above
my fellowmen, so caught in earthly slime,
yet looking for some love to make them whole.
Yes, Father, let this prayer be true
to what is, and better, what can be.
Let it be a song sung even in the blue—
a chorus of mermaids which only children see,
singing with them gaily, as children always do,
while begging me with skip-ropes to come and play,
and forget all distant ships which beckon towards a far-off day.
Oh Jesus, let this song be deep calling to deep
at the noise of thy fresh waterspout;3
let it awaken souls from their stuffed media sleep,
and divert them from diversions. Bring out
the self that hungers for truth with righteousness,
for you died to show us how to love, and others to bless.
Yes, Holy Spirit, help us, help me, do works of light.
Give us courage, will and strength needed for becoming,
even when we’re sick (like me) or in the night.
Rouse us from the tawdry and ordinary un-loving
deeds to commitment to the Lord in one-another.
For You are here, found in brother, sister, mother
for the soul.4 Your Daystar5 dawns, the sun
piercing sin-made clouds, and your blood’s the tide
dissolving thrones made of games, rusting cans and plastic fun.
Yes, wash us, wash me Lord, then lead me by your side
to see the near and far-off footprints you left in sand,
leading beyond the sunset, beyond this trash-filled land. HPK
1: Wm. Blake. 2: Gen. 3: 8. 3: Ps. 42: 7. 4: Matthew 12: 49: For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother. 5: See 1 Peter 1: 19.
2. ON FAITH AND PRAYER
If you through faith my kingdom knew,
You’d know my mustard seed will grow,
And tell that THING that blocks your view—
“The fig tree withered, and to the sea you go!”
(See Matt. 21: 19-22 or Mark 11: 20-25)
So keep your sight on me and keep it steady;
Let your prayer be fervent, without fear;
Picture your dream as here already, and it will be.
But no longer hold so dear
The hurts that bind you. Forgive.
No matter contradicts my law of prayer:
You’ll not receive until you give, and let hurts go.
So totally tatter your pride. At the Cross all resentments leave.
Then with the risen Christ you too will rise,
New answers in your heart, new vision in your eyes.—HPK
NOTE: In Matthew 21: 18-22, there is a strange story: Jesus curses a fig tree, on His way to Jerusalem and certain death, because it had no fruit on it. This makes no sense, and may even make Jesus look like an unstable crank, until you realize that in the Old Testament the fig tree, or grape vine, is a symbol for Israel, the fruit-bearing people of God (See Jeremiah 8: 13; cf. John 15). Likewise, when He said, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer,” he was not talking about literal fig trees or mountains, but things which represented the organized religion and unbelief of that time. The “mountain” of Judaism (Micah 4: 1-2) had become loveless, fruitless, legalistic, harsh, full of extraneous rules, with over 200 ways you could break the Sabbath, alone. Rules that Jesus broke, for instance, in healing people on that holy day. The religious “leaders” got furious when Jesus healed a person, of blindness or anything, on the Sabbath, though they did not deny that he did it! Our rules can block faith, and keep us from seeing answers to prayer. So too can unforgiveness. (Mark 11: 25.)
These issues are important for a series I plan to start next week, on the complex issue of healing, and God’s sovereignty, etc. Meantime, I hope you will open yourself, daily, to let Christ come in, save and heal you, lead you further and further into his Kingdom, an active experience of righteousness, joy, peace and love. You may feel far from Him now, but think of the child who wondered where the other set of footprints in the sand went to, until the Lord told her, My child, that was when I was carrying you. The Gospel says Christ carried us, with all our sins, failures and doubts, all the way to the Cross, and now we can have His Spirit within us, who witnesses with our spirit that we are children of God. (Romans 8: 16).
Amazing things are happening! If you doubt it, spend some time watching, on YouTube, Sid Roth’s “IT’S SUPERNATURAL.” Some 54% of American doctors say they have witnessed healings which they cannot explain, and therefore must be supernatural. If you have experienced a healing like that, or witnessed it in others, PLEASE email me at hpkuiper81@gmail.com, or at FB, Pete Kuiper, and I will report on your reports.
