To Be Emptied: A Prayer
Here is the blank page, Father, where I need you to come and write on me.
Let there be no boundaries here for the love you want to show me—wrapping me up like the girl I am, transcribing the Word of Life on my heart, holding me in your words, the Life of the words that makes me sing.
Let me let go of all expectations today. Let me hang loose, feeling no weight on me. You carried my cross—I can hardly believe it. And you forgive me when I think, in my pride, my vanity, that I can come close to shouldering any of the weight—or that what you did, to begin with, wasn't enough.
Here I am, Father, palms up, heart open, asking you to cleanse me again. Slow me down to see you—trusting you more than myself, your heart more than mine. I surrender. Let me do nothing out of vain conceit but be filled with you, loving as you loved. Lay me down, Lord. Forgive me for any focus on myself.
I am that girl who you see in your painting, your vision more beautiful than I can ever see. Let me shed these scales that blind me to your glory, your humility, your walk through the streets as the people spat on you and called you names. Lord of the Most High, forgive me for my self-centeredness. You have forgiven me for my darkness. Let me walk with You, carrying my cross. Take me out of the crowd.
You remind me to stay here, bring your beauty here—with you in me—into the swarms of darkness. My God, your tears ran down when the agony of my sin tore you from Your Father—all to bring me back, deliver me to Him, in your arms. You bore me, rescued me, delivered me to the hands of the One who made me. I am yours.
And so I trust you; help me to trust you more, surrendering to the joy of loving with a heart that is not my own Take me fully, this blank page, and continue to work out the plan for me as you see me: holy, treasured, a delight, formed from the tree you've planted, grounded, your fullness in me.
Write.
For the Loop Poetry Project this week, please join me in writing a poem inspired by an attitude of self-forgetfulness. Spend some time with God and ask Him to create within you a space of emptiness so that He can fill it. What will he take away? What will he give? What will your imagination show you as you spend this time with him, trusting that he will lead you somewhere new—maybe a place (emotionally) you've never been before.
Share your poem as a comment below or with the kind community of women interested in pursuing poetry for the sake of personal wholeness. I can't wait to read your words.
Love to you,
Jennifer
Clear Path
There is no risk. I follow you
through thickets that scratch my face
and tear my clothes. Not sure
where I am or what road
leads up or down
and I am not afraid.
Nothing harms me
though I am powerless
on my own. You hedge
fingers, heart, mind, toes so
courageous does not
describe who I am.
Just finally
weak, small,
indefatigable.
Touch me and
I am no longer here.