You who eat to gladden your gut,
You who indulge to comfort the flesh,
Come to a true banquet!Rejoice your spirit,
Give joy to your soul.
Fatten your prayer on faith.Let words ravish the Heart of God.
Even words unspoken, but burning in your heart,
Call angels to your side.Quiet the world, by stepping apart,
Still your flesh in earnest fast,
Widen the breath of your praise.The majesty of God inclines to your lips.
For it is He, Who has promised.
Whisper and He smiles.Copyright Joann Nelander © 2011 All rights reserved.
Tag Archives: Prayer
Sweetly Count Our Hours
Lord, I’ m offering You a new day.
Already, You know,
‘this isn’t going to be pretty.’
I count on You to do what You have always done.
Take the morsels which Your hand has touched.
As for the rest,
with one mighty exhalation of Holy Breath
Spirit the chaff away.
At day’s end,
as with all my yesterdays,
I will lay my head upon Your Breast,
and sweetly count our hours.
By Joann Nelander
Set the World Aright
The world, in turmoil, convulses.
Peoples flee.
Those who know You,
Run to You.
Those, who are rushing
To the pit in despair,
Flee from You,
As from Leviathan.Show forth Your Truth and Beauty.
Stop sinners in their flight.
Smile, as the Sun from heaven,
That all men may truly see,
And all men know You, O Truth.You are a scourge
To the proud,
But to the man,
Who clearly sees himself,
For what he is, and faints.
Then, coming to his senses,
Lies prostrate in repentance;
To that man You are Hope
And help, and healing.Your Mercy covers a multitude of sin.
Your blood, sprinkled on us,
Cries out “Sanctuary!”
O Altar, O Victim, O Priest.Christ Jesus,
You know my heart,
And yet embrace it.
Your priestly garment
Covers my nakedness.
Your Kingly Mantle identifies me,
As Child of the Great King.
My name is written on Your Thigh.
Like a mother,
You brought me forth at Your Knees,
To claim me eternally.The waters well up,
I am washed,
And carried in the current,
To ride the waves of Your Mercy
And come to rest on Your shore
For all eternity.Celebrate the Mass
Of our Redemption,
Once for all,
And for all time.
The thunder is silent.
The quaking ceases.
The clouds of darkness part.
The Sun of Justice rises,
And the course of the world
Obeys the Will of Your Father.O Christ, O Holy One,
Guide the course
Of this wayward planet.
Set the earth aright,
And welcome its people
Into Your Heart.© 2011 Joann Nelander
All rights reserved.
Prayers Forever Answered
Prayer At Adoration
You, My Lord, light up my darkness. I join my voice to the bright “Hosannas” of adoring angels. With the elect of Heaven here at my side, I call upon these holy saints and angels to remember before the throne of God all who labor in Your vineyard. Make me Your monstrance that I may carry You in my heart and be Your light to all I meet today. Amen.
by Joann Nelander
Move the Hands of God by Prayer
In the silence God invites without words. My prayers are often noisy affairs filled with faces, memories, love and feelings of sorrow. I am often overwhelmed and moved to tears by the poignancy of a fleeting thought. My heart tells me that what seems insignificant holds a treasure. God’s gifts often come in disguise like the beggar at the door who is Christ. The Spirit says minister here in this place at this time; reach back through the years to move the hand of God by prayer.
I am with God, the Lord of All, including Time. I may have missed or misused moments to do good, but God reigns in Eternity, as present in the Past as He is in my heartbeat. God’s hands are not tied by the flow of Time. He is there and here and Eternal Now. My lowly prayer, clothed in The Name, breaks down the wall that stands between my need or regret, and blessing. Like the little donkey that carried the King of Kings, my humble prayer sets in motion the flow of grace to love, to heal, to mend, to restore and bless anew.
Joann Nelander
