My heart is heavy, but my prayers are thick because there is Hope. As long as there is life, there is hope.
What I see
©9-29-11 Hannah McLean
The depth of her soul
cries out for You
and her mind says
“NO.
I must walk by sight,
it is the only way
to go.”
And she silences the
sound
with the noises all
around
ready and eager to
drown
and overpower
the reality that resists
her way of being.
And she bleeds
and weeps
and sits amid the battered
heap of life’s wounds
a broken vessel
unable to hold
what fills her.
The depth of her soul
cries out for You
and her minds says
“NO.
I must walk by sight
it is the only way
to go.”
And she drowns the
guttural moans
of her internal being
with chemicals
and minerals
and anything that
keeps her eyes away
from the reality
of her decay.
And she bleeds
and weeps
and lies amid the dismay of
life without You
denying the need
and continuing to feed
on lies
till pangs
of pain and hunger
consume
and all that remains is
emptiness.
But the depth of her soul
will never cease
to cry
because You want her.
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Thursday, September 15, 2011
The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness...” Psalm 29:8a
a prayer for the sound of His voice
©9-14-11 hannah mclean
psalm 29
o Lord
lift up Your voice and
shake the wilderness
till the desert
arid
barren
dry lands
in the heart of man
tremble
and crack
aware of the Living Water
that they lack.
speak with Power
speak with Majesty
till the sands of
time
and lies
and pain
and pride
shake free
and fall to the ground
at the feet
of Your Glory.
o Lord
send forth Your Word
open ears to hear
and eyes to see
and hearts to know
to fear
to bow
to kiss Your hand.
for You are
the Only True
and Living God
of every man.
©9-14-11 hannah mclean
psalm 29
o Lord
lift up Your voice and
shake the wilderness
till the desert
arid
barren
dry lands
in the heart of man
tremble
and crack
aware of the Living Water
that they lack.
speak with Power
speak with Majesty
till the sands of
time
and lies
and pain
and pride
shake free
and fall to the ground
at the feet
of Your Glory.
o Lord
send forth Your Word
open ears to hear
and eyes to see
and hearts to know
to fear
to bow
to kiss Your hand.
for You are
the Only True
and Living God
of every man.
Friday, September 9, 2011
Mediations from Daniel: Great Mercy
Great Mercy [Daniel 9:18]
Another meditation from Chapter 9 of the book of Daniel. At the end of his heart-moving prayer to the Lord, upon hearing that the Israelites would remain in captivity in Babylon for 70 years, you will find a verse you should put in your memory and use often as you position yourself in prayer.
Daniel 9:18 “O my God, incline Your ear and hear. Open Your eyes and see our desolations, and the city that is called by Your name. For we do not present our pleas before You because of our righteousness, but because of Your great mercy.”
I am so struck by this verse. So struck. The first 15 verse of this chapter are filled with confession and a spirit of repentance. Daniel lays out the sins committed against the Lord by His people, “we have sinned....we have acted wickedly...we have not listened...to us belongs shame...we turned aside....refused to obey...” He weeps in sackcloth and ashes, and devotes himself to fasting and prayer. He acknowledges the righteousness of God, the unrighteousness of His people, and the justice in their suffering.
And yet, as he is on his face before the Lord, aware that Israel deserves the situation they are in, he pleads for mercy. He says to the Lord, “We are Your people, called by Your glorious name...and we are a disgrace in the eyes of those who look on and rule over us. In the midst of our just desolation, I am pleading with You because You are merciful and we are desperately in need.” He didn’t shy away from the Lord, even in the Lord’s just anger. He didn’t barter with the Lord and say, “We did this and this in the past, or what if we do this and this now or later.” He didn’t credit one ounce of worth to himself or the rest of the Israelites, even though Daniel himself was walking uprightly before the Lord in Babylon. Instead, he fell on his face and said, “The depth of Your mercy is greater than the depth of our sin. We need Your mercy for our sin is great!”
Heavenly Father, may I walk humbly before You. Honest with myself and with You about who and what I am, while clinging to the reality of who and what You are: The One I cling to as Savior and bow to as Lord.
Another meditation from Chapter 9 of the book of Daniel. At the end of his heart-moving prayer to the Lord, upon hearing that the Israelites would remain in captivity in Babylon for 70 years, you will find a verse you should put in your memory and use often as you position yourself in prayer.
Daniel 9:18 “O my God, incline Your ear and hear. Open Your eyes and see our desolations, and the city that is called by Your name. For we do not present our pleas before You because of our righteousness, but because of Your great mercy.”
I am so struck by this verse. So struck. The first 15 verse of this chapter are filled with confession and a spirit of repentance. Daniel lays out the sins committed against the Lord by His people, “we have sinned....we have acted wickedly...we have not listened...to us belongs shame...we turned aside....refused to obey...” He weeps in sackcloth and ashes, and devotes himself to fasting and prayer. He acknowledges the righteousness of God, the unrighteousness of His people, and the justice in their suffering.
And yet, as he is on his face before the Lord, aware that Israel deserves the situation they are in, he pleads for mercy. He says to the Lord, “We are Your people, called by Your glorious name...and we are a disgrace in the eyes of those who look on and rule over us. In the midst of our just desolation, I am pleading with You because You are merciful and we are desperately in need.” He didn’t shy away from the Lord, even in the Lord’s just anger. He didn’t barter with the Lord and say, “We did this and this in the past, or what if we do this and this now or later.” He didn’t credit one ounce of worth to himself or the rest of the Israelites, even though Daniel himself was walking uprightly before the Lord in Babylon. Instead, he fell on his face and said, “The depth of Your mercy is greater than the depth of our sin. We need Your mercy for our sin is great!”
Heavenly Father, may I walk humbly before You. Honest with myself and with You about who and what I am, while clinging to the reality of who and what You are: The One I cling to as Savior and bow to as Lord.
Meditations from Daniel: The Desolate Sanctuary
I’m studying the book of Daniel, and to start, I would just like to preface this meditation with one word: Whoa.
The book of Daniel is incredibly rich. On my first time through, I simply wrote down the verses and things that struck my heart, and as I continue my exploration of this piece of the Word, I have decided to write out some my meditations that seem too meaty to keep to myself.
The Desolate Sanctuary [Daniel 9:17]
In chapter 9, you will find what I would consider to be one of the most heart moving prayers recorded in the Bible. The position of Daniel’s heart is so correct that as he speaks to the Lord, it brings about a crescendo of emotions that draw you into his prayer and into worship. The verse I am considering today hit me like a ton of bricks as the weight of its reality fell on me.
Daniel 9:17 “Now therefore, O our God, listen to the prayer of Your servant and to his pleas for mercy, and for Your own sake, O Lord, make Your face to shine upon Your sanctuary, for it is desolate.”
The word desolate is one of the most heart wrenching words I can think of. It encompasses the following descriptions: barren (fruitless, unable to produce), devastated (laid to waste), abandoned (deserted), lonely (without companionship), destitute (lacking what is required to sustain) and sorrowful (gloom).
A sanctuary is a holy place, anointed for worship. It is a place for God and man to draw near to each other. A place that should ring with prayer and praise. A place where people should gather to be filled and to bring to the Lord all they have to offer Him. A place where hearts should resonate with the presence and beauty of the Lord. The scene surrounding and filling God’s sanctuary should look something like this:
Psalm 68:24–27 “Your procession is seen, O God, the procession of my God, my King, into the sanctuary--the singers in front, the musicians last, between them virgins playing tambourines: ‘Bless God in the great congregation, the Lord, o you who are of Israel’s fountain!’ There is Benjamin, the least of them, in the lead, the princes of Judah in their throng, the princes of Zebulun, the princes of Naphtali.”
Music and praise and crowds of people filing in to worship the Lord; what a lovely, deserving, heart-moving visual.
Daniel knows what should be; he knows that they are stuck in a foreign land and that God’s people are being pulled in various directions of idolatry. He has just been told by God that the length of Israel’s captivity in Babylon would be 70 years, and his heart is torn by the knowledge of a discouraged and wayward people who, to quote Psalm 137:1-4, lamented the loss of their joy and hope, “By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion. On the willows there we hung up our lyres. For there our captors required of us songs, and our tormentors, mirth, saying, ‘Sing us one of the songs of Zion!’ How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land?” These are things Daniel knew, and the grief that was manifested in his prayer was a multi-positional grief. Not only was the pain in his words pleading for mercy for God’s people, but a pain for the silence that rang out where worship was deserved and for the eyes that would grow to believe that the God who is truly great was not, because the sanctuary on which He had placed His holy name was in a state of devastation.
And so Daniel cries out to the Lord, “Shine Your face up on Your sanctuary.” Throughout the bible, this phrase is used repeatedly resulting in favor, peace, blessing, salvation and a bestowing of grace. For the Lord to receive the worship He alone is worthy of, Daniel knew that He must have mercy and act, and that the worth of His people was far too small a rock to stand on to appeal for restoration. Instead, his appeal was for the worth and fame of the majestic name of the one true and living God. In essence, he cried out to the Lord that even the disobedience and wickedness of God’s people would not be able to take from Him the worship, praise and glory due His name in this world; in his prayer he basically says, “We deserve this desolation, but Your sanctuary does not.”
Lord, make my heart zealous for You. May I not choose sin or allow circumstances to rob You of the worship You deserve. May my life reflect the reality of Your worth.
The book of Daniel is incredibly rich. On my first time through, I simply wrote down the verses and things that struck my heart, and as I continue my exploration of this piece of the Word, I have decided to write out some my meditations that seem too meaty to keep to myself.
The Desolate Sanctuary [Daniel 9:17]
In chapter 9, you will find what I would consider to be one of the most heart moving prayers recorded in the Bible. The position of Daniel’s heart is so correct that as he speaks to the Lord, it brings about a crescendo of emotions that draw you into his prayer and into worship. The verse I am considering today hit me like a ton of bricks as the weight of its reality fell on me.
Daniel 9:17 “Now therefore, O our God, listen to the prayer of Your servant and to his pleas for mercy, and for Your own sake, O Lord, make Your face to shine upon Your sanctuary, for it is desolate.”
The word desolate is one of the most heart wrenching words I can think of. It encompasses the following descriptions: barren (fruitless, unable to produce), devastated (laid to waste), abandoned (deserted), lonely (without companionship), destitute (lacking what is required to sustain) and sorrowful (gloom).
A sanctuary is a holy place, anointed for worship. It is a place for God and man to draw near to each other. A place that should ring with prayer and praise. A place where people should gather to be filled and to bring to the Lord all they have to offer Him. A place where hearts should resonate with the presence and beauty of the Lord. The scene surrounding and filling God’s sanctuary should look something like this:
Psalm 68:24–27 “Your procession is seen, O God, the procession of my God, my King, into the sanctuary--the singers in front, the musicians last, between them virgins playing tambourines: ‘Bless God in the great congregation, the Lord, o you who are of Israel’s fountain!’ There is Benjamin, the least of them, in the lead, the princes of Judah in their throng, the princes of Zebulun, the princes of Naphtali.”
Music and praise and crowds of people filing in to worship the Lord; what a lovely, deserving, heart-moving visual.
Daniel knows what should be; he knows that they are stuck in a foreign land and that God’s people are being pulled in various directions of idolatry. He has just been told by God that the length of Israel’s captivity in Babylon would be 70 years, and his heart is torn by the knowledge of a discouraged and wayward people who, to quote Psalm 137:1-4, lamented the loss of their joy and hope, “By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion. On the willows there we hung up our lyres. For there our captors required of us songs, and our tormentors, mirth, saying, ‘Sing us one of the songs of Zion!’ How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land?” These are things Daniel knew, and the grief that was manifested in his prayer was a multi-positional grief. Not only was the pain in his words pleading for mercy for God’s people, but a pain for the silence that rang out where worship was deserved and for the eyes that would grow to believe that the God who is truly great was not, because the sanctuary on which He had placed His holy name was in a state of devastation.
And so Daniel cries out to the Lord, “Shine Your face up on Your sanctuary.” Throughout the bible, this phrase is used repeatedly resulting in favor, peace, blessing, salvation and a bestowing of grace. For the Lord to receive the worship He alone is worthy of, Daniel knew that He must have mercy and act, and that the worth of His people was far too small a rock to stand on to appeal for restoration. Instead, his appeal was for the worth and fame of the majestic name of the one true and living God. In essence, he cried out to the Lord that even the disobedience and wickedness of God’s people would not be able to take from Him the worship, praise and glory due His name in this world; in his prayer he basically says, “We deserve this desolation, but Your sanctuary does not.”
Lord, make my heart zealous for You. May I not choose sin or allow circumstances to rob You of the worship You deserve. May my life reflect the reality of Your worth.
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Picture: The iron lantern
During worship today in the sanctuary, I was praying to the Lord that I would be wholly given over to Him, that He would open my ears to hear His voice and that I would be forever changed because of it.
As I prayed, I felt my heart leap inside of me and my hand instantly raise to cover it, as if it were going to come out of my chest. Then, without pain, I had the feeling of my heart being gently moved from my chest to my hand. I felt my hand holding my heart and I consciously lifted it up to Him in offering. With my hand upraised, He took the heart from my hand and lowered a lantern over it. The lantern was made of iron with windows on each of its four sides, each of the sides were flipped up like the petals of a flower, leaving it open on the bottom. After it encased my heart, the sides flipped down, closing over it, sort of in the shape of an acorn.
And then, to my surprise, He gave it back to me and it returned to its place inside me.
I did not know what it meant. I did not know why He gave it back.
As I sat confused, in my mind came Revelation 2:25.
I looked it up and it said, “Only hold on to what you have until I come.”
I think there is more to this picture, I look forward to its full explanation.
As I prayed, I felt my heart leap inside of me and my hand instantly raise to cover it, as if it were going to come out of my chest. Then, without pain, I had the feeling of my heart being gently moved from my chest to my hand. I felt my hand holding my heart and I consciously lifted it up to Him in offering. With my hand upraised, He took the heart from my hand and lowered a lantern over it. The lantern was made of iron with windows on each of its four sides, each of the sides were flipped up like the petals of a flower, leaving it open on the bottom. After it encased my heart, the sides flipped down, closing over it, sort of in the shape of an acorn.
And then, to my surprise, He gave it back to me and it returned to its place inside me.
I did not know what it meant. I did not know why He gave it back.
As I sat confused, in my mind came Revelation 2:25.
I looked it up and it said, “Only hold on to what you have until I come.”
I think there is more to this picture, I look forward to its full explanation.
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