CD 2

32 prayer poems packed with practical wisdom, theological truths and poetic insights,
wrapped in layers of exquisite music
by Francis Cummings and Linda Louisa,
and interspersed with five of
Carol Sampson’s beautiful songs.

May you feast on the riches,
and turn to these words and music
at times when they will inspire
the Spirit of Prayer
to flow within you,
and help you to make sense
of many things.

Lord Jesus, You showed us in Your parables that You delight in finding things; coins, sheep and prodigal offspring. Discover some new way to mastermind heavenly solutions to meet people’s deepest needs.

We want to celebrate Your endless creativity, Lord;
 

You have set us on a planet spinning fast through space, yet we are not even remotely aware of this hectic pace.

You could have created one tree, one fern, one lion, one yak – and that would still have been a quite amazing feat, but You have made so many species: forests, fish and woodland flora; and plenty to spare to compensate for those the worms devour and the wind blows away. Inspire Your anointed ones to pen in words and music things that reflect Your great variety, and the fullness of Your concern. We lift these faithful ones before Your throne. Let them write for our own and future generations, that a people not yet created may praise the name of the Lord: (Ps. 102:18) SELAH

And this is now a time of creativity for you, My child:
draw upon the stream of teeming themes
that are waiting to burst their banks and take new paths.

Catch this rivulet while the current is flowing,
And let it guide you to the river I have in mind.
Move up, march on and catch the tide.
 

Samuel Johnson urged people “to keep their friendships in good repair.”
So here is an invitation to pray for the friends the Lord places on our hearts.

	Lord, the love that is burning in my heart today is so strong for the flagship friendships that You have taken such care to shape. As Your psalmist declared, the saints in the land are the glorious ones in whom You delight, So I lift these loved ones to You now. SELAH

	From time to time these God-given partnerships dip from sight below the horizon, but You are always seeking fresh ways to bring about deeper union. And just as officers on a warship’s bridge know their chain of authority within a combat zone, so You give special authority to those who worship in love and trust before Your throne.
Let our prayers be wind and Spirit-blown – dethroning hindering powers; and may our e mails, texts and calls have the stamp and seal of Heaven on them all. The flow You direct between us is so precious, Lord. Protect and preserve us when heavy hurtful rocks are lobbed our way – Let no careless words or misunderstanding wreck the powerful vessel of our friendship; no indifference or rivalry shaft or scupper this sacred craft.		SMowbray

Rather let our awareness increase
to the point where we can sense when our friends are in distress.

Father, use our times together,
to release Your power and fervour;
for You delight to grant much favour
when two or three are gathered in Your love.

We promise to keep alert, and make the effort
to connect whenever You direct –
and then may abundant heavenly ointment
grace each one of these most precious appointments.
 

When the Lord inspires some new venture,
we can be sure the enemy will do his best to deter us.
He’ll either tell us that what we are attempting is misguided and impossible,
Or that we are the wrong people to be doing it;
And if that doesn’t work, he’ll suggest we’ve got the timing wrong!
Now there are times when we must hold some vision in our heart
until the Lord gives the specific commission to act on it:
but that’s very different from the enemy’s attempt to postpone it indefinitely.

Lord, You know exactly how we are wired; and when some idea or initiative really is of You, as opposed to some stray passing thought, give us the determination not to allow ourselves to be deterred, earthing overly optimistic hopes and shattering the fears which that lethal magnifying glass distorts and exaggerates.

Baptise our imagination
to embrace the very deepest truths –
May we never seek success to boost our power and fame,
but equally may we not hold back when You are giving clearance
to voice the things that You are showing us.

If Your kindness does not lead us to true repentance,
all we will be left with are regrets and remorse.
And since it is those who have been forgiven most who love best,
help us confess whatever we need to confess,
and then move on again;

For seeking You increases our aspiration
for fresh visitations of Your Holy Spirit among the nations.*

*The last two stanzas were inspired from the chapter A new kind of prayer meeting by Jack Hayford in Intercessory Prayer, edited by Leonard Le Sourd (Hodder, 1990)
 

Lord Jesus, the crowd cheered Your triumphal entry into Jerusalem, but You wept; for You knew that countless souls would lose their lives as the result of the nation rejecting the hour of her visitation.   Unaware of the centrality of Your desire to prepare them for eternity, the people quickly turned when Jesus failed to meet their immediate expectations. How do we ourselves respond when You do not appear to meet our hopes and dreams? Help us be willing to come to You on Your terms, not on ours – and so avoid falling into bitterness in a land where so few pay anything more than lip service to the King of Kings.

Lord, we remember how earnestly You worked
to rescue Germany from the Nazi tyranny
enabling her to take her place once more among the nations –
and how You helped America and South Africa emerge
beyond the lure of the racist call.

Arise and show Your mercy and Your power
as we gather round Your throne to present our cry.
Lift the weak,
humble the proud,
unblock the stalled and deadlocked
as Your Spirit sends seismic shocks
to overturn wrong ways of thinking
and usher in the new.
 

	Deep in his cell, Watchmen Nee fell to his knees to beseech Your grace; and beyond the enormous emotional trauma You dispelled great darkness and moved in power throughout the land of China; while far below ground Richard Wurmbrand resisted intense bleakness and filled the blackness with the sound of Your praise.

Because Your word tells us to remember those who are ill treated as though we were suffering ourselves, we cry out to you for adjustment grace for all who find themselves deprived of all they hold most dear.

May the blood of the martyrs remain the seed
of the mushrooming churches
in the countries for which You call us to intercede.
And now we lift our hearts
to pray for Your heavenly increase,
throughout the Middle East
and all the countries You lead us to in prayer.

Make special use of the Internet and satellite dish
and every other means of revealing your Word
to guide people’s attention
to the only dimension that really matters.
 

When we come together, everyone should be free to bring a hymn, a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation – all for the strengthening of the church.

So many leaders, of churches, as of nations,
have but one way of responding.

Father, grant to many the courage to give your Spirit room to move
Rather than playing it safe,
and chafing sensitive souls by over tight controls,
the vision to draw people in,
thus releasing fresh new roles and giftings.

Lord, You delight in the deeply ordered but also in the far more experimental,
in which rich times of worship interweave with the gently instrumental.

Break open the treasure troves of creativity
that hidebound churches have all but mislaid –
and may we as leaders have the courage
to search and follow where You lead.

We pray now for leaders as they come to mind,
first in the Church and then in the world
to develop a more participatory vision;
and for those whose confidence has been knocked by deep division –
get the devil off their back
and restore them on track.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
 

Lord Jesus,
although some might foolishly claim
that You only suffered pain and shame for a few short hours,
the truth is rather that from the moment Gabriel declared
that a sword would pierce Your mother’s heart,
Gethsemane’s haze overshadowed even the most carefree days.
 

So certain they were right, the indignant Scribes and Pharisees poured out their spite on those who begged You to save their sight. Quite failing to appreciate that You had come to set their captives free, they sought to shun Your light.

Even so will those who live and move
in heavenly freedom be despised by some,
and loved by others,
for salt is both irritant and preservative.
Inspire in us such fulsome hope
that even when we are groping in the pain
of being the butt of those who mock
You keep our feet on the Rock.
For with You is not only fullness of joy
but also the ageless earnestness You displayed in the Garden of Gethsemane,
when the pressures all but overwhelmed Your defences,
and Your prayers drew blood to achieve the pardon for our offence.
 

Lord, since each one of us must choose how we will respond when the invitation comes to take our place in Your suffering bride, grant that our hearts become stronger and not harder through the things that we suffer – even as heat softens wax and strengthens clay. Since the darkness is to You as light, give me grace to press on through the night, for if I take the route of opting out, I can never return.

But You are my redeemer and my intercessor,
who can renew hope and mercy a thousand times,
and so I choose life over death,
using even these great pressures to purify my desire –
for those who pay the price to endure
will reign with You in Paradise.
 

Lord, there is much I do not understand right now, but You who gave fins to fish and wings to birds, always have things in mind for me to do; and even a mystery is only a mystery until revelation makes it part of Your living history. Since it is not so much rules that I must follow as the willingness to seek and be surprised; grant me the time and energy I need to attend to such duties as You call me to – and put certain other things aside. My richest awareness of You catches me unawares, but often disappears within the hour, whereas some trials last for months if not for years. What we so greatly fear, and man declares impossible, You delight to bring about, with a twinkle in Your eye.

When great ordeals come our way, grant us grace to round up praying friends, for though You sometimes afflict with hand picked trials, You always have some special end in sight; and when Your threshing tool has performed its trail blazing track, You return it to its rack.

Now that You have dried our eyes
and moved threatening clouds aside
it leaves room for Your Spirit to remove all limits –
for our light and momentary afflictions
are achieving an eternal weight of glory
that far outweighs all trials.

Jesus has completed
all His Father sent Him to do;
He is risen indeed, in a love that knows no limits –
and so we must seek to both love and forgive.

Your desire for us to be one
is as strong as it is lifelong;
and those who persist in pursuing unity
will reign with You forever
in the glory You enjoyed
from before the creation of the world.


Jesus, You laid down Your life for us,
and the time is near when You will send Your angels
to gather Your elect from the uttermost parts of the earth;
therefore we pledge not to shirk,
but to watch and work
until the times have reached their fulfilment,
and You bring all things together under one Head,
even Christ our King.
 

	Lord, we are moving towards the place where we worship before Your throne, free from all the particles that sully the flow of Your rainfall. Drench and quench each one of us in the unending stream of Your waterfall.
	Let the water of life flow out to all we are concerned for, Yes, let all who hear these words and music moisten dry parched lips and quench their thirst in You as they find and follow Your Spirit’s leading.
	Sluice away the cloying dust and dirt as You rain your living water on us, Lord; clear refreshing liquid that cascades and thunders through our lives. Give us the courage to leap with You outside our comfort zone, beyond the edge of human reason where faith and love hold sway.*

Let us be living stones,
emerging from the ocean depths,
once crushed and broken by the crashing waves and tides,
but now smoothed and sculpted,
honed in Heaven’s light
to become sparkling jewels within Your Kingdom.*
(*adapted from a poem by Nancy Brook)
 

Thank You that You have brought life and immortality to light through the gospel; (2 Tim. 1:10)
and just as You raised Jesus from the dead,
may You also raise my friends and neighbours with Him
and present them alive in Your presence.
May the veil that is over them be taken away. (2 Cor. 4:14)

Harness all the learning You would imbue our minds with,
express all the virtue You would weave in our soul.
Radiate Your presence to a people devoid of You;
for although their needs are often inconvenient,
You want us to be more lenient:
for people matter most of all to You.

Lord, one drop of Your inspiration
dispels the inner strife that is so rife.
We pray for that living water
to envision and empower all who proclaim Your name;
and, whatever may befall,
let us be carriers of Your Kingdom call
 

Lord, let good sense prevail in the decisions that we face; bucketfuls of common sense when all around are feeling tense. We ask for God-given sense to prevail in matters still in great suspense. In human terms they may appear too close to call: but we plead with You to establish outcomes that bring glory to Your name. May those afraid to enter the water, turn at last to You and reach their heart’s true centre: the One who sees and hears their inner plea. Since ingrained ingratitude makes us unclean, may we never take our clean running water for granted, at this time where death and disease lie hidden in the mud when the great floods rush by. Thank You Lord for its constant provision when it is such a scant commodity in so many parts of the world. Lord, the water You gave to be a blessing has all too often become a means for repressing, in both spiritual and political realms.

Overrule the pressures that are building;
guide and challenge those who control the water flow.
Raise up springs where none existed before;
Re-open wells where You are not worshipped any more
and be especially with those who walk enormous distances
hoping not to be turned away as hindrances;
Yes, overrule the pressures that are building;
guide and challenge those who control the water flow.
 

Lord, If there is any theme You would have us develop, any dream envelop; if there is any person You would have us visit, or cup of suffering You would have us drain; any truth You wish to make explicit, any terrain claim by Your Spirit , then stretch out Your hand to achieve these holy purposes.
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Lord, I place this trusted friend
in the care of healing love.
I pray that You will lead him every minute of his day,
and as I carry him in my heart,
alert me when he stands in special need of grace,
so that he may make the most of every chance
that You direct His way.
Bless, cherish and embolden him
to be all that You can make him be.

And Lord, I place my precious friend
in the care of Love eternal.
Place her like a seal over my heart,
for love is as strong as death,
burning like a blazing fire
that many waters cannot quench.
Thank You for all the love she brings,
and all the things we do together;
all the service she performs for You.
Help me carry her in my heart,
and lift her daily before the throne of grace.
Bless, cherish and replenish her
to be all that she can be for You.

Let the peace of Your music
and the truth of your word
address the emptiness in people’s lives
Enfold in love the weighed down crowds
who know so little of Your saving touch.
Reach out to the overlooked ones
and replace dejection with entirely fresh new direction
as we commit them to Your threefold care.

Release the fullness of Your power and presence
in the spheres and regions we hold most dear:
each one of these villages, towns and cities,
and the professions that need the touch of Your refreshing.

Bless, too, this place:
and let each room become the place
of Your embrace:
a firebase that inspires many
to draw near to Your courts.

Let Your special blessing
rest on each person who has heard these words and music.
Let them bear much fruit
as they receive afresh the Spirit of prayer
and come up higher to see what must soon take place

Now may God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through.
May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and He will do it.