Answer

How blessed we are, Your creation,
Formed by the Creator hands,
Born with a Master plan.
We have a loving Father,
whose blessing fill our every breath.

Yet, how easily we lose sight,
of the blessing of our very life,
and chase after the desires
of our worldly heart.
Searching after the newest thing,
to fill the emptiness within.
Even though we already know,
the answer to what we're looking for

Noise

Lord,
How hard is it to cut out,
The noise of the world around us.
The constantly changing frequencies of our heart,
Tend to tune into the things that aren't you.
How I long to hear your voice loud and clear,
instead of the static of my sin.

I let this happen,
I invited the static to come in.
Instead of tuning into your sweet whispers,
I've settled for the music of the world.
Except that I realized as time went by,
that this music was really just static,
To keep your voice from reaching me.

So here I am, struggling to cut through,
The static of the world around me,.
To retune my heart to the frequency of your love,
So I can hear your quiet whispers,
Singing to me a long song.

All of Me

Emotions rage within my soul,
As tears well in my heart,
Feelings and yearning to matter,
Wage war with my thoughts that I do.
Feeling forgotten by those who I love,
Fight against knowing they remember and care.
The battleground of my heart and soul,
Lies in pieces unable to be whole.

God,
I try to find refuge in you,
Yet I don't do what I should do.
I walk out on my own and fall apart,
Instead of dwelling in your presence.
I'm a failure at being your son,
Yet you continue to bless me,
Which I know I don't deserve.
So here I am, Lord,
Once again for more than the hundredth time,
To lay all of me at your feet.
To the foot of the cross I come,
with the burdens I chained onto my back.

Lord,
Would you break these chains once again
and take this burden from me?
Will you forgive me for my failures,
and wash me clean again?
Even though I know I am unworthy,
May I carry the weight of your cross,
sacrificing ALL of me for the sake of Your love?

Here I am Lord,
All of me, with my brokenness and dreams,
I surrender to the One who created me
and saved me from myself.

Forgotten

Walking life together leaves an imprint on your soul,
of the people with whom you walked along the road.
Memories of time spent bind you together,
even if eventually you walk down separate roads.
Yet, when you no longer walk life together,
each going on separate journeys,
you long for the presence of the others,
for they are a part of your soul.
Yet life goes on with each step forward,
each caught up in their path,
and even though the memories bind you together,
no matter what the distance may be,
they are also a painful reminder,
of how forgotten you feel.
For the life of others go on without you,
leaving you feeling like you are walking all alone,
even though your memories try to tell you,
your journey is not only your own.

Trying to bridge the distance,
to reconnect with the people in your memories,
can sometimes lead to joy,
but can also just lead to hurt.
For if your efforts are unrequited,
it just multiplies the pain.

Burning

A yearning burns within my soul,
A dream of holding a life of my own.
A fire that burns my heart to ash,
for it is still a dream beyond my grasp.
Why does my heart grieve for this dream,
When I have all you have given me?
Seeing the dream fulfilled all around me,
Feels like being stabbed in the heart,
leaving my heart and soul in tatters.
This yearning is so deep and real,
That I feel its who you've created me to be,
Yet I find myself staggering over the pain that I feel.

Is this how you feel Oh Lord?
Is this the pain that you feel each day,
as you watch your children turn away?
Do you yearn your children the way I do,
for them to come running back to you?

Lord,
Why can I yearn for you,
Like I yearn for this dream?
Will a greater presence of you,
fill this void that I yearn to fill?
Even though my heart bleeds with this yearning,
I will give it to you, Oh Lord,
and trust in your loving Will,
and wait for the day,
when this dream will be fulfilled.

Post Christmas prayer

Oh Lord,
On this night You were born to save,
this broken world from its own decay.
You gave up everything to become a man,
for that was Your father's master plan.
So while angels and shepherds worshipped You that day,
we just seem to get lost along the way.
We come before you with our hearts all hidden,
by the wrapping and ribbons and the gifts we've been given.
The meaning of your birth gets lost in the crowds,
shopping at the malls with their heads in the clouds.
It used to be simple, this day was for you,
oh, how I wish this year that this could have been true.

So Father help me to find my way back,
to the true meaning of Christmas that we all seem to lack.
May Christmas become a day about you,
instead of the presents and all the things that we do.

Christmas Night

As a child I learned to sing, “Joy to the World”
Yet on this joyous day,
Joy seems so far away.
Is this really what I was singing for?

What does it all mean,
When the words hit the wall,
And the Sunday school answers
Leaves you reaching for more.

We go about our merry way,
Since it is a gift giving day,
Yet all we do is shop till we drop.
Is this really what You were born for?

What does it all mean,
When the symbols mean no more.
And Santa Clause was just a dream,
That’s not worth living for.

We wish for “Peace on earth and love for all “
Yet ignore the homeless on the street,
Orphans cry, children die, and nation’s bleed,
While we sit all cozy in front of our trees.

What does it all mean,
When the reality hits our world,
And the emptiness of it all,
Leaves you searching for more

We celebrate your birth this day,
Yet your presence seems so far away,
For we worship you the night before,
Just to forget about you as we walk out the door.
Cause this day has become just another day,
To spend money on each other and ignore the world’s pain.

What is left when it all is stripped away,
When the greatest gift becomes a simple game?
Can we ever get back to the childlike faith,
That made Jesus’ birth mean so much more than this?

Lose sight

Oh God,
How easy it is to lose sight
of your goodness,
when the world brings us down.
To focus on the burdens and trials,
instead of on the continual blessings
of your love.
We let the frustrations of each day,
drown out the countless bless that you give.
Only by focusing on your grace and love
can our hearts be set free,
of the burdens that drown us.
Help us Lord,
to come before you with
an attitude of thanksgiving.
To focus on all that you are are,
instead of what brings us down.
May your Spirit set us free from
the daily chains we bind ourselves with.

Shrouded

Here we are Lord,
Shrouded in the mist of
uncertainty and frustration,
we cry out to you.
So many unknowns,
taken over by worry,
we are weary and in need of you.
We desire to be wrapped in your arms,
to trust in your goodness and love.
To focus on your presence,
instead of the unknowns that shake us.
Lord,
Help us to overcome
our fears and frustrations.
To lay these burdens down
at the foot of your cross.
To take joy in the blessings that you give,
instead of focus on the questions in our minds.

Oh Lord

Oh Lord,
I come before you,
with a heart full of praise.
For the wonders and blessings,
which invade my everyday.

Oh Lord,
I come before you,
with a heart full of thanks.
For reigniting the passion,
which was barely a flicker in my soul.

Oh Lord,
I come before you,
with a heart wanting to trust.
To be able to surrender,
everything you have given me,
so I can walk one step closer to you.

捧げます (I will offer)

主よ、
今まで自分勝手なことを、
繰り返して生きて来た。
あなたの祝福を忘れ、
自分だけを信じ、
先に進んだ。
何回も自分のおろかさに気付いても
何回もつまずいても、
自分で進もうとした。

でも、もうそうゆう生き方はごめんだ。
だって、心の底が空っぽで、
生きてる感覚が全くない。
今までの過ちに気付いたから、
あなたの御座の下に、
身を寄せて、
許しを求め祈り続け、
私の全てを
そこで私の主に捧げます。

Oh Lord,
Until now, I have lived life,
repeating selfish things.
I have forgotten your blessings,
and walked forward believing only in myself.
No matter how many times,
I realized my own foolishness,
or how many times I've stumbled,
I've tried to move forward on my own.

But, I've had enough of living this way,
because the depths of my heart is empty,
and devoid of the sense of life.
Because I have realized the mistakes I have made,
I draw near to the foot of your throne,
and seek forgiveness through continual prayer,
and from where I am,
I offer the entirety of my who I am,
to My Lord.

Soul's Resolve

From the depth of my soul,
I come before,
the One who created me.
To bow before,
the savior of my soul,
to surrender all these things.
The life that you have given me,
Your blessings and my gifts.
My dreams of what is to come,
my passions and my joy.
The people in my life,
my heart and my love.
The struggles that I face everyday,
my scars and my pain.
The memories of my past,
the ups and the downs.
I lay all of these down,
at the foot of the cross
of the One who bore my sin.
To let Him know,
my soul's resolve
to surrender all to Him.

Restlessness

Restlessness invades,
and I feel like I'm drifting,
through an endless maze.
My heart searches,
for meaning in this world,
yet is unable to find,
what its looking for.
My soul yearns to be free,
on the dead feeling inside.

How I long to feel,
the burning of life and passion,
and the joy of purpose and meaning.
Yet I search for these,
in all the wrong places,
instead of surrendering them all
to the One who created me.